The Web of Life: A first book of ecology

by John H. Storer

Tells how the natural world operates and points out the necessity for soil, water, forest and wildlife conservation

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Bibliobites Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at a library sale earlier this year and I’m so glad I did. I only wish I’d had it sooner. A very good, basic introduction to ecology. I was afraid it would be dated (copyright 1956), but because Storer stuck with basic principles, it was not. It’s not beautiful nature writing, and it’s not super engaging reading full of funny anecdotes, just a systematic look at the natural laws governing ecology. It’s also not full of evolution of climate scare. I would highly recommend that everyone get it for their homeschooled high schoolers but it appears to be out of print. So: get it if you can.

[Aditya Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that enlivens your life. The web of life is a sublime phenomenon. Alan Paton in his book Cry, the Beloved Country writes:

"The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams in every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed."

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I recently viewed a documentary by Sir David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet Biodiversity. How can all creatures big and small be interconnected is the question that drove this program. So much of the science was explained in this little paperback book that I read over 10 years ago. I am saddened that what is happening on our planet gets little notice. I am further saddened that some people what to connect it to politics. There is only a chance that if we all realize what is happening and do what we are able to do we can reverse some of the damage. Thank you to all those willing to open your eyes and allow the science in this book published in 1953 to change the way we live and treat this beautiful blue planet. Dates read are approximate. And please don't trust politicians to do your thinking for you.

[HT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old book. Gives a simple overview of Earth came to be with focus on rocks, soil, plants and some birds. It is focused on the US with seldom mentions of other geographies.
I think the book is meant to be short and read quickly, as many of the descriptions did not satisfy an analytic approach. Cannot verify whether all of this information written 60 years ago still hold true, but from my exposure it mostly does.

[J.D. Steens · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little book ties life to air, water, rocks and sunlight. Plants convert inanimate matter to animate matter, and provide "packaged energy from sunlight." Animals consume plants and other animals consume the plant eaters. All of this occurs in delicately maintained communities of intricate interactions of predator and prey and mutual dependence. This the author calls the web of life where food supply and population are in balance.

Storer comments that human intelligence "for the first time in the world's history" has given "a living creature the power to escape partially from the natural laws that control all other forms of life." Then Storer notes a central paradox as humans are subject to the same natural laws after all: Human intelligence "has achieved almost unlimited power to destroy its environment, and almost unlimited power to multiply. These two together add up to almost unlimited compulsion toward destruction of environment, which eventually means self-destruction."

This conclusion has been repeated tiresomely by environmental writers since this book was published in 1953, yet our trajectory remains the same.

[Darren Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1953 about the interdependence of wild life to one another, and this theme is repeated for each of the world's ecosystems. I gained a deep appreciation of the beauty of the nature world that is ever changing, cyclical, and both fragile and resilient. This book can inspire one to think how a seemingly insignificant decision can forever change the balance or shape of a ecosystem (eg. moving a mountain starts with just one rock).

[Bill Dilworth]

The Web of Life by John H. Storer (1953)