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The Tapir's Morning Bath: Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest and the Scientists Who Are Trying to Solve Them
One hundred and fifty years ago, Charles Darwin asked how a rain forest could contain so many species: “What explains the riot?” The same question occupies the scientists who toil on Panama’s Barro Colorado Island today. Tropical and steamy, these six square miles comprise the best-studied rain forest in the world, a locus of scientific activity since 1923.
In The Tapir's Morning Bath, Elizabeth Royte weaves together her own adventures on Barro Colorado with tales of researchers struggling to parse the intricate workings of the rain forest, the most complicated natural system on the planet. Through the lens of the field station, she also traces the history of modern biology from its earliest days of collection and classification through the decline of the naturalist to the days of intense niche specialization and rigorous scientific quantification.
As Royte counts seeds and sorts insects, collects monkey dung and radiotracks bats, she begins to wonder: what is the point of such arcane studies? The world over, rain forests are rapidly disappearing and species are going extinct. While humanizing the scientists in the field, she explores the tension between their research and the reality of a world that may not have time for the answers.
In The Tapir's Morning Bath, Elizabeth Royte weaves together her own adventures on Barro Colorado with tales of researchers struggling to parse the intricate workings of the rain forest, the most complicated natural system on the planet. Through the lens of the field station, she also traces the history of modern biology from its earliest days of collection and classification through the decline of the naturalist to the days of intense niche specialization and rigorous scientific quantification.
As Royte counts seeds and sorts insects, collects monkey dung and radiotracks bats, she begins to wonder: what is the point of such arcane studies? The world over, rain forests are rapidly disappearing and species are going extinct. While humanizing the scientists in the field, she explores the tension between their research and the reality of a world that may not have time for the answers.
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2001
15 people are currently reading
548 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Royte
6 books26 followersElizabeth Royte is an American science/nature writer. She is best known for her books Garbage Land (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year 2005), The Tapir's Morning Bath: Solving the Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 2001), and Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It (a "Best of" or "Top 10" book of 2008 in Entertainment Weekly, Seed and Plenty magazines).
Royte's articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, National Geographic, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, The Nation, Outside, Smithsonian, and other magazines. Her work has been featured in the Best American Science Writing 2004 and the Best American Science Writing 2009M. Royte is a former Alicia Patterson Foundation fellow and a recipient of Bard College's John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service.
Royte's articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, National Geographic, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, The Nation, Outside, Smithsonian, and other magazines. Her work has been featured in the Best American Science Writing 2004 and the Best American Science Writing 2009M. Royte is a former Alicia Patterson Foundation fellow and a recipient of Bard College's John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 11, 2022
There is a little island in Panama that is dedicated to research. Only bona fide scientists are allowed there and they have to submit their projects and book space months in advance. Additionally, there is a team of local support workers to cook, clean and carry out the necessities that enable the scientists to devote themselves to their research rather than mundane things like housekeeping. Which is, in fact, the scientists downfall.
One scientist is measuring rainfall and water in many places on the island as part of general earth-warming-up studies. He notices that the water in a particular pond on the island is steady all day, but rises abruptly in the morning and recedes almost as abruptly later but not quite to the level it was before. He spends a good deal of time on this problem and designs many experiments in order to find out why this happens. Months later, he has still not resolved the problem.
So what did change the water levels? :-)
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book - Royte gets close enough to the scientists to speak of both their research and stories, but the story of the tapir is what makes the book a five-star. All those scientists can't see further than their own.... hehehe
Also recommended Elizabeth Royte's other books, Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash which proved that all our green efforts at garbage disposal are a PR exercise to make us feel better as domestic garbage only accounts for 2% of the US's trash. The other 98% is industrial, retail and restaurant waste. And Bottlemania. 8 glasses of water a day was an advertising campaign dreamed up by Nestle for their new product, bottled water. It is quite unnecessary, billions (not millions) of people around the globe cannot get the much fresh drinking water a day and haven't heard they are 'supposed' to drink that much, but live thirst-free anyway on what they do drink.
Rewritten 10 Oct 2022 because I skimmed through the book last night and thought what I had written was inadequate.
One scientist is measuring rainfall and water in many places on the island as part of general earth-warming-up studies. He notices that the water in a particular pond on the island is steady all day, but rises abruptly in the morning and recedes almost as abruptly later but not quite to the level it was before. He spends a good deal of time on this problem and designs many experiments in order to find out why this happens. Months later, he has still not resolved the problem.
So what did change the water levels? :-)
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book - Royte gets close enough to the scientists to speak of both their research and stories, but the story of the tapir is what makes the book a five-star. All those scientists can't see further than their own.... hehehe
Also recommended Elizabeth Royte's other books, Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash which proved that all our green efforts at garbage disposal are a PR exercise to make us feel better as domestic garbage only accounts for 2% of the US's trash. The other 98% is industrial, retail and restaurant waste. And Bottlemania. 8 glasses of water a day was an advertising campaign dreamed up by Nestle for their new product, bottled water. It is quite unnecessary, billions (not millions) of people around the globe cannot get the much fresh drinking water a day and haven't heard they are 'supposed' to drink that much, but live thirst-free anyway on what they do drink.
Rewritten 10 Oct 2022 because I skimmed through the book last night and thought what I had written was inadequate.
November 6, 2022
Most disappointing read this year from the title and subject category fare. It could be for all the non-fiction I've read in 2022 also. Although there were some poorly written memoirs in there as well.
Too many people and the mundane academia calling card collars/ badges of such within this copy and too few tapir or animal lengths. But even worse is the pacing or any "tell" order of continuity. We go from parasite to table length flower to ant to bat to anything in between almost randomly between preaching about trees or use of trees. Anywhere.
This is like 1000 short note entries for a story or magazine piece preparation with the BCI center as the only object keeping them together. It is a chore to read. No flow or continuity whatsoever. 300,000 species' namecalls of plants, insects etc. etc. The place itself is pure 1000's of types of nature. And this is like reading an encyclopedic list of all their names. And some flowery detail of attempts to describe them between the listing.
Past history of other classifiers and nature study experts is hodgepodge included. Or not. Depending upon what tragedy or horror they may have experienced trying to do it on their own.
But please, please for a glorious place like this! One in which humans find it hard to stay alive to any adulthood and may never have located clean water in the process? Some order and some category attempts should have been made for including group divisions? You do know about the humans who board at the BCI center and who pays for them. Almost. And who drinks and who eats. And who marries and who is unfriendly etc. And how superlative their past educations were and future jobs will be. Endlessly.
100,000 species and homo sapiens Academia genus is not the core I wanted to read about. Not to this copy balance at all. Shocked at how many gave this high marks. Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest? Hardly entered that territory, not even in theory stages but for naming a few. There are TONS of great non-fiction on species themselves out there. Smaller the category and more concise the title- usually the better they are.
Too many people and the mundane academia calling card collars/ badges of such within this copy and too few tapir or animal lengths. But even worse is the pacing or any "tell" order of continuity. We go from parasite to table length flower to ant to bat to anything in between almost randomly between preaching about trees or use of trees. Anywhere.
This is like 1000 short note entries for a story or magazine piece preparation with the BCI center as the only object keeping them together. It is a chore to read. No flow or continuity whatsoever. 300,000 species' namecalls of plants, insects etc. etc. The place itself is pure 1000's of types of nature. And this is like reading an encyclopedic list of all their names. And some flowery detail of attempts to describe them between the listing.
Past history of other classifiers and nature study experts is hodgepodge included. Or not. Depending upon what tragedy or horror they may have experienced trying to do it on their own.
But please, please for a glorious place like this! One in which humans find it hard to stay alive to any adulthood and may never have located clean water in the process? Some order and some category attempts should have been made for including group divisions? You do know about the humans who board at the BCI center and who pays for them. Almost. And who drinks and who eats. And who marries and who is unfriendly etc. And how superlative their past educations were and future jobs will be. Endlessly.
100,000 species and homo sapiens Academia genus is not the core I wanted to read about. Not to this copy balance at all. Shocked at how many gave this high marks. Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest? Hardly entered that territory, not even in theory stages but for naming a few. There are TONS of great non-fiction on species themselves out there. Smaller the category and more concise the title- usually the better they are.
September 19, 2016
_The Tapir's Morning Bath_ by Elizabeth Royte is an interesting look at the world of field biologists working in the American tropics. The author spent about a year living and working with scientists at a scientific station that was located on Barro Colorado Island (often abbreviated as BCI), an isle that rises steeply from near the middle of Gatun Lake, the enormous midsection of the Panama Canal. Isolated by the waters of the Chagres River (dammed in 1910 to form the canal), BCI was once the highest peak of the now submerged Loma de Palenquilla range. Its summit rises 119 meters above the lake's surface and covers some 1,564 hectares or about 6 square miles.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) runs a lab on the island's northeastern shore, a facility that has operated continuously since 1923, its backyard the most-studied tropical rain forest in the world. The preservation of the island and the lab was the brainchild of James Zetek, a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist who had been working on mosquito control in the Canal Zone during its construction.
The island is a nearly ideal laboratory for researchers. It is home to 65 terrestrial mammal species (including agoutis, peccaries, deer, sloths, howler monkeys, anteaters, tayras, and tapirs), 70 bat species, 381 bird species, 58 species of reptiles (including crocodiles), 32 amphibian species, and 1,369 species of vascular plants, including 300 tree species. The animals are reached by a series of maintained trails and some are so well studied that good population figures are had for a number of species (there are about 2,500 agoutis on the island for instance).
In order to ease her way into the island residents' culture and also to get a handle on both what life is like as a field biologist and what it was they were studying, Royte volunteered to be a free field assistant to anyone who wanted her. At first the scientists were reluctant but soon she was eagerly sought by a variety of researchers. The heart of the book is really her work in the field with these biologists, describing both what they were studying and the field biologists themselves, what motivated them, what they hoped to achieve, and their views on both their research subjects and larger issues in science.
One scientist she spent a lot of time in the field with was Chrissy Campbell, who was doing a study of spider-monkeys. Her study a difficult one, requiring her to follow the island's one spider-monkey troop all day until it bedded down at 6pm and then be back in the field at 6am to follow it again (if she was late she had to spend all day locating it and was often not successful). She sought to collect fecal samples from the troop's five adult females and record their behavior, hoping that analysis of the samples in the lab and correlation with the behaviors she recorded would reveal information on female hormones, adult behavior, and the relationship between the two.
Another scientist she worked with was Bret Weinstein, who was doing a study of tent making in bats. This behavior (which consisted of a bat biting and bending leaves into shapes to conceal and protect them as they slept) was noted to have evolved three separate times among bats and was found only among small, canopy fruit eating bats of the American tropics. Weinstein hoped to discover the reasons behind the tent-making, a job that kept him up all hours of the night, running through the jungle at night chasing faint signals on radio transmitters he attached to some of his study subjects.
She was field assistant to Paul Trebe, himself a field assistant to a scientist who was back at his university in the U.S. His laborious daily job was to visit scores of traps every morning on BCI and on several small adjacent islands (one island had 99 traps) for the nocturnal spiny rat, collecting information on that species population size, age structure, sex ratio, and reproductive output, which along with manipulating conditions on some of the small islands enabled the scientist back home to do complicated studies that impacted on such issues as the animal's role in seed dispersal and as a reservoir for infectious agents.
Other researchers Royte worked with included a geologist studying the forest's effects on runoff and the canal watershed, two scientists doing a diversity study of lianas, and a researcher studying the effects of leaf-cutter ants on tree growth.
While in the field and talking to the island's residents, Royte noted that there was a rivalry between field biologists and those who worked in laboratories. Field scientists often had a "working-class pride," and "cultivated a spunky disdain for lab jocks." She said that pure animal-behavior studies were "decidedly out of fashion in these molecular times" and was perceived by many as a "soft" science. Many on the island griped that molecular biologists got the lion's share of money and prestige, though some did acknowledge they provided useful insights (particularly in the area of taxonomy).
Royte pondered the often incredibly narrow focus of researchers there, joking once that she "damned tropical biology as a black-art discipline and scientists as high priests of esoterica." Sometimes researchers labored on projects that seemed to have little application and gained deep knowledge about very narrow aspects of an organism but were often "ignorant of the whole." Royte wrote that the increasing number of scientists and decreasing amounts of funding available (consumed partially by huge university bureaucracies) forced scientists to specialize early, to carve out a niche that no else had in order to "avoid competition and make names for themselves." She also noted that sometimes seemingly very arcane research results can yield surprising answers to larger puzzles.
A very good book, I enjoyed her descriptions, the obvious research she did, and a subject she came back to repeatedly in the book, why tropical rain forests are so diverse.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) runs a lab on the island's northeastern shore, a facility that has operated continuously since 1923, its backyard the most-studied tropical rain forest in the world. The preservation of the island and the lab was the brainchild of James Zetek, a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist who had been working on mosquito control in the Canal Zone during its construction.
The island is a nearly ideal laboratory for researchers. It is home to 65 terrestrial mammal species (including agoutis, peccaries, deer, sloths, howler monkeys, anteaters, tayras, and tapirs), 70 bat species, 381 bird species, 58 species of reptiles (including crocodiles), 32 amphibian species, and 1,369 species of vascular plants, including 300 tree species. The animals are reached by a series of maintained trails and some are so well studied that good population figures are had for a number of species (there are about 2,500 agoutis on the island for instance).
In order to ease her way into the island residents' culture and also to get a handle on both what life is like as a field biologist and what it was they were studying, Royte volunteered to be a free field assistant to anyone who wanted her. At first the scientists were reluctant but soon she was eagerly sought by a variety of researchers. The heart of the book is really her work in the field with these biologists, describing both what they were studying and the field biologists themselves, what motivated them, what they hoped to achieve, and their views on both their research subjects and larger issues in science.
One scientist she spent a lot of time in the field with was Chrissy Campbell, who was doing a study of spider-monkeys. Her study a difficult one, requiring her to follow the island's one spider-monkey troop all day until it bedded down at 6pm and then be back in the field at 6am to follow it again (if she was late she had to spend all day locating it and was often not successful). She sought to collect fecal samples from the troop's five adult females and record their behavior, hoping that analysis of the samples in the lab and correlation with the behaviors she recorded would reveal information on female hormones, adult behavior, and the relationship between the two.
Another scientist she worked with was Bret Weinstein, who was doing a study of tent making in bats. This behavior (which consisted of a bat biting and bending leaves into shapes to conceal and protect them as they slept) was noted to have evolved three separate times among bats and was found only among small, canopy fruit eating bats of the American tropics. Weinstein hoped to discover the reasons behind the tent-making, a job that kept him up all hours of the night, running through the jungle at night chasing faint signals on radio transmitters he attached to some of his study subjects.
She was field assistant to Paul Trebe, himself a field assistant to a scientist who was back at his university in the U.S. His laborious daily job was to visit scores of traps every morning on BCI and on several small adjacent islands (one island had 99 traps) for the nocturnal spiny rat, collecting information on that species population size, age structure, sex ratio, and reproductive output, which along with manipulating conditions on some of the small islands enabled the scientist back home to do complicated studies that impacted on such issues as the animal's role in seed dispersal and as a reservoir for infectious agents.
Other researchers Royte worked with included a geologist studying the forest's effects on runoff and the canal watershed, two scientists doing a diversity study of lianas, and a researcher studying the effects of leaf-cutter ants on tree growth.
While in the field and talking to the island's residents, Royte noted that there was a rivalry between field biologists and those who worked in laboratories. Field scientists often had a "working-class pride," and "cultivated a spunky disdain for lab jocks." She said that pure animal-behavior studies were "decidedly out of fashion in these molecular times" and was perceived by many as a "soft" science. Many on the island griped that molecular biologists got the lion's share of money and prestige, though some did acknowledge they provided useful insights (particularly in the area of taxonomy).
Royte pondered the often incredibly narrow focus of researchers there, joking once that she "damned tropical biology as a black-art discipline and scientists as high priests of esoterica." Sometimes researchers labored on projects that seemed to have little application and gained deep knowledge about very narrow aspects of an organism but were often "ignorant of the whole." Royte wrote that the increasing number of scientists and decreasing amounts of funding available (consumed partially by huge university bureaucracies) forced scientists to specialize early, to carve out a niche that no else had in order to "avoid competition and make names for themselves." She also noted that sometimes seemingly very arcane research results can yield surprising answers to larger puzzles.
A very good book, I enjoyed her descriptions, the obvious research she did, and a subject she came back to repeatedly in the book, why tropical rain forests are so diverse.
February 12, 2017
This book is about the animals, plants, and ecology of the rain forest. More than that, though, it's about the scientists who study those things, specifically at a well-established research station on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. The author lived with the scientists there, helped with their field work, and immersed herself in their culture. While helping researchers observe the behavior of spider monkeys, bats, and leaf-cutter ants, she observed the researchers' often quirky behavior. Her portrayals of the researchers (largely young people working on PhD theses) are sometimes hilarious. Some of the experiences she had with them sound incredibly strenuous, and a couple sounded recklessly dangerous. Ah, youth.
The author provides information the history and evolution of the biological sciences, with a focus on Barro Colorado, and touching on funding and academia. It was interesting to get a look at how scientific knowledge progresses in these areas. She is, in turn, excited at small discoveries, amazed at how little is actually known, concerned about the loss of ecosystems while so little is known, and slightly cynical about the workings of the system.
The author provides information the history and evolution of the biological sciences, with a focus on Barro Colorado, and touching on funding and academia. It was interesting to get a look at how scientific knowledge progresses in these areas. She is, in turn, excited at small discoveries, amazed at how little is actually known, concerned about the loss of ecosystems while so little is known, and slightly cynical about the workings of the system.
September 28, 2011
A reread of The Tapir's Morning Bath, after ten years on the shelf and numerous loans to others, has not disappointed me. A field study of Barro Colorado Island, a Smithsonian Research Institute Center in Panama, provides a look at not only the leaf cutter ants, spider monkeys, lianas, and assorted flora and fauna of this tropical rain forest, but is study of the scientists who study them. Elizabeth Royte, a formidable writer and scientist herself, shows them as real people with all of their ideals and idiosyncracies, questions and doubts. She does not presume to answer the questions of what, where and why this research is important but she sets the stage for us to form our own answers by involving us in the life of the Island.
This book may not be for everyone, but for closet naturalists like me and anyone interested in the magic way the world works, it is engaging and even exciting. (I have spent an hour watching an earthworm to see if it knows which way is up. It does.) Having a glimpse into the lives of researchers at Barro Colorado Island shows me I am not alone.
This book may not be for everyone, but for closet naturalists like me and anyone interested in the magic way the world works, it is engaging and even exciting. (I have spent an hour watching an earthworm to see if it knows which way is up. It does.) Having a glimpse into the lives of researchers at Barro Colorado Island shows me I am not alone.
April 1, 2011
If you like Elizabeth Royte's writing style you'll probably enjoy this book. Her style is very personal and while she seems to me to be very bright and inquisitive I don't think she takes herself too seriously. Her flaws and doubts are there for you to see. Much like Garbage Land and Bottlemania you travel along with her and meet scientists (or specialists in a particular field) and learn some facts along the way. This book is more heavily weighted towards the individual stories of the scientists she focuses on but I thought there were many interesting facts and theories about the tropical rain forest. I rated this book four stars but overall I would rate it 3.75 stars if possible. And yes, tapirs are mentioned twice in the book.
November 17, 2017
I thought there would be more tapirs and fewer humans and their research. Meh.
May 8, 2023
Amazing account of BCI field biologists- what the field biology culture is like and insight into some of the animal cultures the scientists studied. Really engaging writing, felt myself craving a sequel since I got to know the people and place so well.
Ecology comes up, and the difference between studying a single species vs understanding the forest. How discoveries are made and reasons field biology often isn’t as respected as lab biology. Bats, monkeys, ants, tree canopies. Why field biology can be an extremely demanding and lonely job.
It was interesting how much scientists on the island were driven by making discoveries about animals, collecting data for a dissertation, or even just being able to watch animals all day. Ethics around protecting the island came up, as well as the fact that scientific studies don’t necessarily lead to conservation.
Ecology comes up, and the difference between studying a single species vs understanding the forest. How discoveries are made and reasons field biology often isn’t as respected as lab biology. Bats, monkeys, ants, tree canopies. Why field biology can be an extremely demanding and lonely job.
It was interesting how much scientists on the island were driven by making discoveries about animals, collecting data for a dissertation, or even just being able to watch animals all day. Ethics around protecting the island came up, as well as the fact that scientific studies don’t necessarily lead to conservation.
September 12, 2020
Very slow read but fascinating look at the ecosystem in Panama and lives of scientists devoted to research. So bummed that our reservation to see this spot got cancelled during our trip to Panama! Now we have to go back!
July 21, 2011
I really enjoyed this. It's basically the story of a journalist's stay at Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in Panama, a research institute where scientists come to study the tropical rain forest and its inhabitants. While there, Royte helped with various projects involving bats, spider monkeys, rats, moths, and ants, among others, getting to know the scientists who had come to work there and learning about their goals and the things they were hoping to find out during their time on the island. And it's partly a lament for the days of old, when people studied things because they were there and interesting, and when they didn't have to be so driven by grant money, or be so specialized in their studies. I thought she asked good questions about the nature of scientific research in these times, and I found it really well-written and engaging. It's a book about people more than it is about science or about the rain forest itself, and about Royte's interactions with it all in particular. But I thought it was very well done, and I will probably actually read this one again at some point.
August 27, 2015
There was never a point in my life where I didn't want to program computers. It's a family joke that I was born reaching for my keyboard and complaining about compilers. What other people do for a living is a mystery. How do you coax yourself out of bed in the morning if there's no computer to greet you? The idea of pure science where you create nothing, leave no poetry of construction, seems empty. A life built around adding some small digits to the morass of "big data" seems anonymous and small. Could I spent my life studying the eardrums of butterflies?
The author explores the goals and reality of field work, searches for meaning in biological research, and it's an interesting tale. I don't think she finds much meaning (though she tries to work herself through several theories), but she finds peace, companionship, and a spark of being connected to the world. Who's to say it isn't a better job than mine, but I'm not running off to the Panama field station any time soon.
The author explores the goals and reality of field work, searches for meaning in biological research, and it's an interesting tale. I don't think she finds much meaning (though she tries to work herself through several theories), but she finds peace, companionship, and a spark of being connected to the world. Who's to say it isn't a better job than mine, but I'm not running off to the Panama field station any time soon.
January 30, 2015
This book serves as an introduction to the scientific research that's being done on Panama's Barro Colorado Island which is sponsored by the Smithsonian. The author spends time with various researchers helping them document whatever they are studying - some are animal based and some are plant based. It really gave me a good idea of what the day-to-day life of the researchers consists of - mostly very mundane and dirty work but very important in terms of understanding our physical world - how we are impacting it and what effect it has on us. I will be visiting Barro Colorado on a trip to Panama so I'm glad I know something about it now. It will be fascinating to see if my mental image and the real thing coincide at all. This book was published in 2001.
May 12, 2008
An excellent book about the role and importance of science in human culture, set in my favorite - the tropics. Naturalist observation versus abstract geneology. The freedom to think, make connections, be creative as a scientist or observer versus the pressure to publish, earn grants, deliver dissertations. Does concentrating on studying the movement of certain ant colonies on Barro Colorado Island (an island in the middle of the Panama Canal) really matter in the grand scheme of worldwide habitat destruction?
February 28, 2008
A great example of bad science journalism. An urban writer finds herself more interesting than the amazing beauty and diversity of the tropics she encounters. And then she gets all huffy that exhausted researchers aren't overly receptive to her self-serving interference. There is no tapir in the book, by the way.
Nevertheless, there's some good information in here, despite her best efforts to smother it in endless musings on how she is pregnant and not in NYC.
Nevertheless, there's some good information in here, despite her best efforts to smother it in endless musings on how she is pregnant and not in NYC.
August 1, 2008
Great gossipy account of scientists at the Smithsonian field station in Panama where lots of people I know have worked. Unfortunately, science content is lacking. I learned next to nothing about the rainforest.
January 25, 2009
I enjoyed both of Royte's more recent books. This was more memoir than science, and while that's not a bad thing, it's certainly not what I was led to expect. Some wonderful moments, but ultimately not memorable, I'm afraid.
August 16, 2015
What a great book for armchair naturalists/travelers! Elizabeth Royte writes well, makes science understandable and has a good sense of humor. My first book by her, Garbage Land, was just as enjoyable.
August 23, 2015
I went to the cork oak forests and factories of Portugal on an investigative journalism trip with the author of this and two other books I rated 5 stars. She is an incredible researcher and writer.
December 27, 2017
3.5 stars
An enjoyable read if you like topical ecology. A writer spends a year at the well-respected field station (STRI) on Barro Colorado Island studying the scientists themselves.
An enjoyable read if you like topical ecology. A writer spends a year at the well-respected field station (STRI) on Barro Colorado Island studying the scientists themselves.
November 4, 2024
Experiences in the tropics which are both amazing and sobering. The rumination on overspecialized science and the death of the traditional naturalist was especially sad to me and still very relevant. Also contains what has to be one of the earlier uses of the word “meme” in its current meaning.
Would give this a 4.5/5 if I could
Would give this a 4.5/5 if I could
December 20, 2020
The author spends time on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), volunteering to assist researchers in their fieldwork. She provides sketches of various researchers, describing their projects, working conditions and aspirations. A bit of the history of BCI describes the founders of the research station.
Royte's description of working conditions demonstrates that research requires a commitment to carry out mundane tasks in less than favourable environment over extended periods of time. Much of the repetitive fieldwork is done by field assistants rather than the researchers themselves.
She compares the early naturalists who had a broad knowledge of natural history with the current researchers who have more detailed knowledge, but only in a specific area of specialization.
The title comes from a situation where a researcher was studying rainfall and runoff. While monitoring the level of a pool, he was surprised to see a short-term increase in level each morning. It turned out that a tapir was in the habit of bathing in the pool every morning.
An interesting book as it gives insight into the work required to carry out research in the animal and plant worlds.
Royte's description of working conditions demonstrates that research requires a commitment to carry out mundane tasks in less than favourable environment over extended periods of time. Much of the repetitive fieldwork is done by field assistants rather than the researchers themselves.
She compares the early naturalists who had a broad knowledge of natural history with the current researchers who have more detailed knowledge, but only in a specific area of specialization.
The title comes from a situation where a researcher was studying rainfall and runoff. While monitoring the level of a pool, he was surprised to see a short-term increase in level each morning. It turned out that a tapir was in the habit of bathing in the pool every morning.
An interesting book as it gives insight into the work required to carry out research in the animal and plant worlds.
March 12, 2021
Lovely book for field station junkies about BCI in Panama. The author is very perceptive.
January 23, 2026
I'm sick of misleading titles. Might seem petty, but she never actually talks about tapirs.
December 12, 2009
This is a great book, well-written and certainly interesting to the right audience. People with a keener interest in biology would eat this stuff up (as did the person who recommended it to me). I found the personal stories of the scientists much more compelling than the specifics of their research, more an indication of my failings than the writer's. It did give me a broader appreciation of the tropics, and thus a better understanding of my current environs. A good book that I wish I was more interested in.
April 5, 2011
I thought this was okay. I guess not much of a page turner because it took me ~ three months to read.
It was one of about 50 books on the back shelf of a coffee shop in the Mission in SF on sale $3.80. It was a little bit wild to find because it describes the scientists living and doing ecological research on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. That is where I did my undergraduate study abroad in ecology. So I enjoyed the incestuousness of it, but probably not every reader would have that experience.
Extra star because I like that picture of a tapir.
It was one of about 50 books on the back shelf of a coffee shop in the Mission in SF on sale $3.80. It was a little bit wild to find because it describes the scientists living and doing ecological research on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. That is where I did my undergraduate study abroad in ecology. So I enjoyed the incestuousness of it, but probably not every reader would have that experience.
Extra star because I like that picture of a tapir.
June 20, 2014
Royte does a good job expressing the outsider's awe at the BCI ecosystem and seems genuinely invested in the cycle of drudgery and fleeting payoff that is scientific fieldwork. The patience and endurance of some of these scientists and their willingness to do basic research for its own sake makes this a compelling read. When viewing the handful of sections at a large zoo it is easy to forget that the rainforest are teeming with millions of species (of just beetles), and this book exposes a bit of the vast complexity of the living world.
March 31, 2013
I wouldn't describe this book as "mischievous" in any way. Still reading... This book, along with the day trip we took to Barro Colorado, the island in the midst of the Panama Canal studied by the Smithsonian, et al, helps me remember so many fantastic things about Panama: the life of the forest, ants, antbirds, trees with buttresses, vines, heat, humidity, colorful birds, science, and more. A good trip, a good book that talks about one of the most studied environments in history.
April 20, 2010
This is one of the my favorite book ever. It accurately describes the joys and miseries of fieldwork, and really conveys the beauty of the forest and why field biologists do what they do. When I read it at home, it makes me nostalgic for the field, and when I read it in the field, I always feel I can relate to it.
August 28, 2016
I gave it two stars since I've only read about that much of it, I completely forgot I had it until the day it was due back at the library. When I first tried to check it out the lady at the desk had to re-enter it into the system and said, "We pulled this book from the shelves, you could have just walked out of here with it!" Now I wish I had, at least then I'd have finished it.
January 21, 2015
This is a slow and relaxing read. The stories about this woman helping a bunch of scientists on an island is very informative about the way science really gets done. Love the stories of collecting monkey specimens as they drop out of the trees.
This would be a great read for anyone thinking of going on a scientific trip.
This would be a great read for anyone thinking of going on a scientific trip.
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