50 eläintä jotka muuttivat maailmaa

Fifty Things That Changed the Course of History

by Eric Chaline

Eläimet ovat luonnollinen osa ympäröivää maailmaa, ja niiden merkitys ihmiselle ja ihmiskunnan historialle on mittaamaton: eläimiä on hyödynnetty kautta aikojen ravintona, raaka-aineiden lähteenä, liikkumisen ja kuljettamisen välineenä ja lukemattomin muin tavoin. Toisaalta ihminen on kamppaillut vaihtelevalla menestyksellä torjuakseen monien vahingollisten eläinten aiheuttamia tuhoja.

50 eläintä jotka muuttivat maailmaa on kauniisti kuvitettu teos, joka esittelee mittavan määrän ihmisille tärkeitä tai muuten merkittäviä eläimiä hevosesta heinäsirkkaan. Mielenkiintoiset tarinat hahmottavat historiaa vuosituhansien ajalta ja muistuttavat lukijaa siitä, miten riippuvainen ihminen on aina ollut ympäröivästä luonnosta.

Kirjan kirjoittaja Eric Chaline on Cambridgessa ja Lontoossa opiskellut toimittaja, jonka erityisalaa ovat historia ja filosofia. Hän on kirjoittanut useita kirjoja, joista suomeksi on julkaistu mm. 50 konetta jotka muuttivat maailmaa (Moreeni 2013).

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Animals, Science, Nature, Natural History, Historical

223 pages

First published August 11, 2011

About the author

Author, journalist and editor, winner of the Lord Aberdare Prize, 2018

Reviews

[Eling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have gone 1.5 stars if I could have. I really, really, really wanted to like this book. There were some gems of information here & there, but I found the inconsistent writing tone & style of the author to be distracting, and the poor overall organization extremely frustrating.

Each animal is categorized as being either EDIBLE, MEDICINAL, COMMERCIAL, or PRACTICAL (often more than one), but the book itself is not organized around these categories. Or chronologically, geographically, or anything else that would make sense when discussing how something relates to history. Instead, and it took me three-quarters of the way through the book to figure this out, the animals are arranged in alphabetical order BY SCIENTIFIC NAME. Seriously?

Fifty Animals cannot decide if it is reference book or a narrative about animals & history. The author on several occasions spontaneously (and casually) switches to a first person narrative. He also makes seemingly unnecessary references to present-day figures/pop culture, including Hannibal Lector, Jamie Oliver & Lady Gaga.

Each separate animal has its own heading page with the randomly selected information of "Native Range", "Class" & "Size" in the sidebar. There are textbook-like photographs & illustrations in the sidebars as well, but they rarely have anything to do with the information in the body of the page, and there is one page of photo credits in the back, but NO INFORMATION AT ALL about the illustrations. Vermeer's "Girl With A Pearl Earring" is reproduced on page 169 with NO CREDIT OR REFERENCE to the original painting or artist ANYWHERE in the book. The caption accompanying the painting reads, "BEYOND PRICE: Natural pearls are so rare that they were valued as highly as mineral gemstones." Each entry is seemingly random in length-- 2 to 8 pages but with no seeming relationship to the relative importance of each animal.

On another occasion, the author refers to angora rabbit fur as "wool": "The Angora rabbit's wool is said to be five times warmer than sheep's wool." RABBITS DO NOT HAVE WOOL.

I really do think there is some good information here. I just don't think it is organized to emphasize its supposed main subject, or in a way that allows the reader to draw any overarching conclusions on their own; nor does the author bring any of the information together. Instead of lending any insight into the historical or evolved relationship between "History" and "Animals", the book ends up reading as a string of reports on animals randomly strung together.

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charmingly written series of little essays, packed with insightful comments. For example, were you aware that human predation of elephant ivory is selecting for the evolution of elephants with no tusks? That a hundred or so years ago only about 1% of African elephants were tusk-less, but today near a third of them don't grow such poacher-attracting ivory?

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little book, but there is nothing especially profound in it. The author did a small bit of research on each of the fifty subjects in this book -- enough research to write approximately two pages on each animal and its impact on humanity. Though the book doesn't seem to be aimed at children, this is the sort of book that I would have loved when I was a kid. I would have carried the book around and I would have hand-written word-for-word each chapter into my "research" notebook (when I was older I learned about plagiarism, but that didn't really apply to my childhood habits). Unfortunately this book didn't exist when I was a kid, but I had no trouble finding other books that listed and described animals. Basically, this is the kind of book that one would pull off the shelf every now and then for some light reading. Four stars is generous, especially since the book has some editing issues. Here's an example sentence: "However, after the arrival of the first humans in the Americas that equines became extinct." Wait, what? Regardless, I maintain that this is a fun book with pretty pictures and a nice texture to the pages.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is essentially a collection of encyclopedia entries, which is what I wanted it to be. I liked the selection, especially that it included animals like the mosquito, honeybee, and cochineal, who have arguably had greater affect on human history than any of the large mammals.

Where this book lost me a little was the editorializing. The writing was a little weak and a few phrases were repeated more than once. Also, recommending a creationist web site is not something I have come to expect from books about animals. It was a little unusual.

I'm not sorry I read this book, because I like reading fact books about animals, but there are better choices out there. I don't necessarily recommend this one.

[Lindsay Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. Well researched. However, the entire book has the distinct feel of chatting with the most insufferable person at a cocktail party.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. The entries are all 2, 4, or 6 pages long, except for humans who rate 8 pages. All the other entries are in alphabetical order by Latin name, except for humans, who are put in last, so he starts with the mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) and ends with the Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopsis). It covers all the expected animals such as horse, cow, pig, sheep, camel, goat, cat & dog, but also includes Iguanadon (for the dinosaurs), the dodo (for human-created extinction), earthworm, leech & locust.
Each entry has several illustrations, but there should be some indication of the origin of the illustration, such as where, when & by whom it was created. He gives the copyright holder of some illustrations, but not all. Many entries have sidebars with additional information or quotes, which give the source.
A good book for short sessions of reading, either from beginning to end, or just open up and read that entry. Or you could just go to the entries that interest you. The index gives the common name as well as the Latin name, plus other items of interest like Native Americans, Charles Schulz, Shrek (the film), "Silk Road," and zonkey. There's also a bibliography of Further Reading and Useful Websites.
Don't read the entry on Schistosoma mansoni while eating or just before going to bed; even the illustrations are unsettling.

[Rebecka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book had a very fun concept, which was the main reason I had for picking it up. I was a bit disappointed at the facts about each animal; to me it felt very basic and I didn't gain much new knowledge. Still, I thought it was quite fun to reflect upon the impact of animals in our history. Also, I feel like it is a great conversation starter; which animals do YOU think has changed the course of history?

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and interesting collection of essays on fifty mammals, reptiles, fish, fowl, and insects that had profound impacts upon civilization. Good for browsing. Attractively designed with lots of color illustration.

[Zia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a fun one and kept my attention by not spending too much time one one subject. I am a bit of a scattered brain so the lack of organization of information was actually kind if nice 😅

However, there were some animals that did not seem to fit with the categories, nor did some need to be in the book.

If you read a lot about animals you may not like the book because it gives basic understanding of each animal, but if you are more on the clueless side (me) it is an enjoyable assortment of information.

[Aditi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most entries contain a short biological description, followed by the animal's impact on human civilization. The impact is material, abstract, or both. There are quite a few mythical stories, which illustrated in some respect the importance of the animal in people's lives. Of course, as each entry is only 4-6 pages long, there cannot be any details, and there aren't, but there are interesting tidbits of information and also pictures (I loved the "Leeches" container)! The entries I liked the most: Leech, Oriental Rat Flea, Cochineal, Spiny Dye-Murex, and Donkey.

There were two instances where the book made me cringe a bit - first where he listed "creationwiki" as suggested reading (I forgot in what context). From most of his statements, he does not appear to be a creationist himself, but I wonder why he felt compelled to write about it, to sell the book to creationists perhaps? The other was where he suggests that considering humans have so far shaped the environment to suit themselves, rather than adapt like other animals, climate change is no biggie - we will/might shape it to suit us.

There are also times when he comes off as unsure of what he's talking about. The author is more of an enthusiast rather than a historian, an anthropologist or a biologist, and the book reflects that.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is an interesting read it should be noted that there is a heavy emphasis on how each of the animals have affected people, so the title should be 'Fifty Animals That Changed the Course of Human History' (and yes I do think there is a history outside of what humanity gets up to). Each of the animals chosen has been selected for their importance to man from their edible or medicinal uses to their role in mythology and science (Darwin's Finches have their own entry). Each entry is fairly short so doesn't have a huge amount of detail but the provide a good starting point for those new to the subject. There are some references to creationists, including a reference in the further reading section, but this does give the entries a more balanced view and the author does make it clear what is accepted scientific fact and what is creationist lore (assuming you read the complete entry and not selectively read like they seem to...). Not a bad read but a bit too human focused for my liking, particularly the treatment of the Homo sapiens entry being out of place (left to the end rather than alphabetical order like the rest) and being twice as long as the rest.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for animal nonfiction and this one was super cool. A collection "biography" of sorts, a natural history if you will, of just what the title says it's going to be.

Each two-page spread focuses on an animal (and in my ignorance of all things science a few that I would consider non-animals but are living organisms that certainly have changed the course of history!) with a straightforward explanation of how they changed history with several factoids randomly and a few appropriate pictures and additional images. I devoured this one whether it was the cow or the cat, the falcon or the earthworm.

I love the color scheme and academic approach that makes me feel smart while still making me feel smart while reading it. I also enjoyed the inclusion of classifying each animal with their "edible, medicinal, commercial, and/or practical" purposes and text boxes. Plus I can't not love the silk bookmark woven into the spine. A way to a librarian's heart.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun and interesting blurbs! Sadly, I have found I don't like reading an entire book of blurbs. I liked skimming it and picking out an essay here and there, but I had this for six weeks and wasn't able to finish, so I just returned it to the library.
Even so, it's a fun book and in my imagination, I would love to use it as a companion text in a 5th-grade world history class (or whatever they have, now, that substitutes for world history). I felt the book has the potential to engage students; each chapter is about a different animal and no chapter takes more than four pages. There are pictures and relevant quotes and interesting facts but it's not overwhelming. It seemed the chapters could easily be springboards into learning about world history and cultures as well as trade & economics and environmentalism & conservation in addition to learning about animals!

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book, as it was a break from my usual fictional reading. I enjoyed finding out facts about fifty different animals, historical references and the impact the animals have had on the world. There was old information I had forgotten, and new facts that will stay with me now (I especially enjoyed reading about bees) This would be a good book if you were still at school and had a project or assignment as even though the entries are short, they are fact filled and seem to be based on real research. I would recommend this book as an 'occasional' read too- when you don't want something burdensome to read, and if you enjoy facts and figures as I occasionally do.

[Clare Rhoden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession: I wasn't expecting this book to be so interesting! Actually it's very well done, insofar as the information is intriguing and objective, and modern in its outlook - it takes into account the effects of our interactions with ohter animals. The illustrations could be higher quality, but I guess that would mean a much more expensive book. I imagined myself ducking in and out of this book to check on specific entries of interest, but instead I read it from cover to cover. Congratulations to Eric Chaline! I hope he regularly puts out updated versions.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great illustrations and book design. 50 seems to be a rather arbitrary number though, it could easily have been 20, or 100, and my own inclination would be for the former, a more thorough review of each species rather than the passing glimpse offered in this book. And why Humans??? DUH. History is a manmade concept and only exists in relation to humans. Its like saying you are one of the people who influenced your own destiny.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information, and soooo interesting! Beware, if you are around me any time in the near future I am sure to share an amazing animal fact with you.

On the downside, I felt some disagreement with the author in certain areas, but do not have enough animal knowledge to truly argue my thoughts. Also, the illustrations weren't captioned...it would've been interesting to understand them better.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written and illustrated. An excellent collection of information and stories to show why animals and plants alike are so important to our world and human existence. It makes me wish I were a whale even more though!

[Amy Derwae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read! Plenty of surprises, too...

[Mi Camino Blanco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Acepta que unos dias eres paloma y otros te toca ser estatua" Dilbert, de Scott Adams

[sayguh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read with a kid (my son is 11)

[Howard Gibbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty Animals is an interesting book that gives the readers some very interesting information on the animals that author choose. Some of the animals are or should be expected such as the horse, cow, sheep, goat, dog, cat, pig, cod, goat, herring, chicken, turkey, and other ones that are typically seen in relation of humans.

On the other hand there are some that most people would expect unless they gave it a lot of thought such as spiny dye-murex, bald eagle, cochineal, seal, rabbit, chimpanzee, lion, seal, and oyster. And there are others that are quite unexpected such as cobra, louse, dodo, schistosome, leech, rat flea, Darwin's finches.

The book is quite well written, and an easy read and is suitable for younger readers. The only criticism I have is that lack of citations as it does tend to make me curious about some of the information that was presented. There are sections entitled "Further Reading" and "Useful Websites" but none of these entries are linked to the individual animal entries.

[Kristina Svensson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Titeln Femtio djur som ändrat historiens gång kunde varit ett klickbete hos en sunkig blaska. Det retar mig att jag föll för den och köpte boken utan att tänka efter. Det hade räckt om jag läst ett par rader för att se vilket tilltal som författaren valt, och då hade jag lämnat kvar boken hos Akademibokhandeln. Jag köpte inte boken helt på vinst och förlust, jag öppnade den och tyckte att den var snygg. Snygg är den fortfarande nu när jag plockat fram boken efter att den blivit liggande oläst i några år. Formgivaren har lagt in foton, teckningar och olika extrarutor vilket gör boken lättläst. Dessutom är den lätt att bläddra i. Det är i princip femtio artiklar om femtio djur, exempelvis kor (miljöbovar) och dront (utrotad av människan). Förvisso har jag bara läst en liten del av boken men min uppfattning är att de delarna var en tunn soppa kryddat med subjektiva åsikter. Jag la undan boken när jag ramlade över kraftigt faktafel.

[Margo Glynn]

This is a fascinating book, and I enjoyed it and learned plenty.

There is something innately repetitive in discussing how all of these species affected human history, and the use of both BCE and BP is an increasing annoyance in and beyond this book (what’s wrong with “ago”?). The author chooses to be flippant or witty at times when it would’ve been better to be thorough (cats may be functionally useless in urban homes, but they still have important roles on farms and ranches). And in several entries, you can stop reading after the first half because the second half is the same, reworded. I’m too full of criticism for a book I did like very much.

That said, it would be difficult to argue with the selection of animals. Chaline acknowledges the greatest minds in natural science and fills the book with amazing facts about the history of human and animal interaction.

[Seema Rao · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite a coffee table book and not quite a popular science book. It offers some interesting takes on common animals and the way that they shaped existence. Nice in that it isn't totally human-centered, but not easy to read cover to cover.

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, this was dull. And so heavily interspersed with personal commentary, that it made it hard to decipher what was actual research and what was just the author's opinion.

The author doesn't even like turkey! Who doesn't like turkey!? Why did we need to know that!?

[Coolkuutti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pettymys. Tässä esiteltiin lajeja ei yksittäisiä eläin yksilöitä. (Jotain Laikan tyyppistä siis)

[Ian Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK, but did not hit my sweep spot of high level summary vs deep depths. Inevitable with 50 animals in one book, I guess.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting!

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book extremely fascinating and a necessary read for all animal lovers and scientific enthusiasts.