The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know

by Mark J. Plotkin

The Amazon is a land of superlatives. The complex ecosystem covers an area about the size of the continental U.S. The Amazon River discharges 57 million gallons of water per second--in two hours, this would be enough to supply all of New York City's 7.5 million residents with water for a year. Its flora and fauna are abundant. Approximately one of every four flowering plant species on earth resides in the Amazon. A single Amazonian river may contain more fish species than all the rivers in Europe combined. It is home to the world's largest anteater, armadillo, freshwater turtle, and spider, as well as the largest rodent (which weighs over 200 lbs.), catfish (250 lbs.), and alligator (more than half a ton). The rainforest, which contains approximately 390 billion trees, plays a vital role in stabilizing the global climate by absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide--or releasing it into the atmosphere if the trees are destroyed. Severe droughts in both Brazil and Southeast Asia have been linked to Amazonian deforestation, as have changing rainfall patterns in the U.S., Europe, and China. The Amazon also serves as home to millions of people.

Approximately seventy tribes of isolated and uncontacted people are concentrated in the western Amazon, completely dependent on the land and river. These isolated groups have been described as the most marginalized peoples in the western hemisphere, with no voice in the decisions made about their futures and the fate of their forests. In this addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know� series, ecologist and conservation expert, Mark J. Plotkin, who has spent 40 years studying Amazonia, its peoples, flora, and fauna. The Amazon offers an engaging overview of this irreplaceable ecosystem and the challenges it faces.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ecology, Nature

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 30, 2020

About the author

Mark J. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist.

Reviews

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another mediocrity armed with a few Wikipedia pages ready to do the best thing that can be done for the Amazon: cut down some trees so his name will be listed in the grand book of "published authors". And you dear reader just pay your taxes so the government would have enough surplus to pay for a small army of Plotkins and their living expenses. Amazon is blooming every time a white entitled man burns fossil fuels in order to leech up some grants.

[W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep… this is what everyone needs to know. Nature is cool and humans suck, so we need to try to suck less.

From Pink Dolphins to Psychedelics to corrupt Chinese Foreign Investment, this books covers it all. The Amazon is diverse, vibrant, incredibly important, and in danger.

This book really proves it to you. So stop taking everyone else’s word for it and read this!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating nonfiction account of what the Amazon is like; as someone who has visited four different times in different areas, I found this interesting. While a book like this has the potential to be boring, it was far from that - Plotkin is an excellent author, and his question and answer style was interesting rather than limiting. Really great read.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

NF
199 pages

An enjoyable, informative, and important read.

[Gail Koslowski-Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally enjoyed it. Informative. Recommend it.

[Fritzov · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is clearly written by someone that knows his stuff.

[Spurthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of the content in the book can also be found in Dr.Plotkin's podcast "Plants of the Gods". This is a great read to learn about the Amazonia and the culture of the indigenous people.

[Sarah Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by a very well known ethnobotanist, this book is exactly what it claims to be, and considering it is a 2020 Oxford paperback it is remarkably cheap. It has a good index and some notes, but no bibliography or suggestions for further reading.
The book is organized into seven chapters with numerous bullets, a little like a powerpoint presentation. Considering the author's profession, the chapter on plants isn't too exhaustive. The book presents a comprehensive historical review, from ancient times when the continents were joined to the present, when the original peoples are fighting back against capitalists. He explains that the ecosystems are so complex that the pollution of one part may effect all, and describes the considerable poisoning of rivers due to gold mining . There is a good chapter on animals, and how they interact with vegetation and have been hunted for fun almost to extinction. The original peoples had no refrigeration, obviously, but they also had many taboos which governed their hunting.
This is a concise, useful book. Unlike his previous book, "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice," it does not get into medicinal plants, but then too the previous book has no index. The book covers geology; soils and vegetation; rivers; Amazonian biota (plants); animals; indigenous peoples; history: the struggle for the Amazon and Amazonia's uncertain future. These are chapter headings. I have just recently learned that it is appropriate to use the semicolon when making a list, so this was a useful, if tardy, realization.
Mark Plotkin is a very hopeful, energetic author. He is a pleasure to read, and also to watch. You can find many of his presentations on Youtube.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and informative read. Plotkin presents the information as a series of questions and answers in a way that, while breaking up the flow of the narrative, does serve as a reasonably effective structure. In this way he is able to give the history, ecology, demography and politics of this vast region in an easily accessible format. While the book could not be called engaging by any means, he does facilitate all the information that the subtitle of the book promises.

[Elliott Rinehart · Rating 3 out of 5]

When reading this book it is easy to imagine that it’s a bad blog post.

[Nancy Seamons · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Amazon is critical to the world environment. Everyone should read this book to become aware of its importance.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great read! I did not know much about the Amazon before, and I learned a lot. The book is divided into hundreds of little sections that feed into each other to produce a coherent understanding.