In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist’s Life in the Field

by Bernd Heinrich

Why would a grown man chase hornets with a thermometer, paint whirligig beetles bright red, or track elephants through the night to fill trash bags with their prodigious droppings? Some might say—to advance science. Bernd Heinrich says—because it’s fun.Heinrich, author of the much acclaimed Bumblebee Economics, has been playing in the wilds of one continent or another all his life. In the process, he has become one of the world’s foremost physiological ecologists. With In a Patch of Fireweed, he will undoubtedly become one of our foremost writers of popular science.Part autobiography, part case study in the ways of field biology, In a Patch of Fireweed is an endlessly fascinating account of a scientist’s life and work. For the author, it is an opportunity to report not just his results but the curiosity, humor, error, passion, and competitiveness that feed into the process of discovery. For the reader, it is simply a delight, a rare chance to share the perceptions of an unusual mind fully in tune with the inner workings of nature. Before his years of research in the woodlands and deserts of North America, the New Guinea highlands, and the plains of East Africa, Heinrich had a sense of the wild that few people in this century can know. He tells the whole story, from his refugee childhood hidden in a German forest, eating mice fried in boar fat, to his ongoing research in the woods surrounding his cabin in Maine.

Genres: Nature, Science, Nonfiction, Biology, Ecology, Memoir, Natural History

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Bernd Heinrich was born in Germany (April 19, 1940) and moved to Wilton, Maine as a child. He studied at the University of Maine and UCLA and is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Vermont.

He is the author of many books including Winter World, Ravens in Winter, Mind of the Raven, and Why We Run. Many of his books focus on the natural world just outside the cabin door.

Heinrich has won numerous awards for his writing and is a world class ultra-marathon runner.

He spends much of the year at a rustic cabin that he built himself in the woods near Weld, Maine.

Reviews

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be passing this book on to the kids when they're a little older. Excellent description of what being a field biologist is really like.

Just finished reading this last night and loved it, even through all the discussion of taking the thoracic temperature of insects. (Actually, that was fascinating, too; I had no idea that some insects can regulate their own temperatures, or that there are whole groups of moths which are active in the wintertime (in Maine!)) I liked this book for all the little details of nature which he notices and which make me wonder what I have been missing because I haven't looked closely enough. But mostly I liked the book for the autobiography that meanders through it. Bernd Heinrich was a young boy in Germany during World War II, and his description of the hardships of life immediately after the war are sobering. But it was interesting to me that he credited this abject poverty with the beginning of his lifelong fascination with the natural world. He had no toys to play with and needed to help hunt and gather to survive in the woods where they lived. He spent hours watching and collecting beetles. Of course it helped that his parents were also field biologists/naturalists, but as an American parent whose children have lots of toys... it makes you stop and think.

[Nola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another lovely example of Heinrich's fine writing. It covers part of his life that I had already read about in other books of his, but with totally different intriguing facts and stories. When I started to read the book, I had been afraid that he might repeat himself in this book, but there is so much depth to his life that he had entirely new material.

His ability to communicate clearly is unparalleled in my experience, and he also has a talent for fine story-telling. I would say that the subject matter is fascinating, which it is, but I have a feeling that I would not find it nearly so interesting in the hands of another author.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another classic book by Bernd Heinrich! Gave some interesting early history about his formative years and of course his amazing talents of observation and field biology work at his summer cabin in Maine! Another great read by an amazing talent! Enjoyed it a lot!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Riot RHC 2023 Task 2. Read one of your favorite author’s favorite books.

This guy sure loves insects......

This one was VERY slow for me. Sure, it had some interesting facts, but the author's writing style (my internal voice read this in a monotone) was not for me.

[Sasha Ringgenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meandering thoughts about nature with maybe too much focus on insect thermoregulation for the average reader.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as some of his others. This one got into a lot more scientific talk than most. I was looking for more stories like A Year in the Maine Woods.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part biography and part field studies of a variety of insects. But when I finished the book I realized it was all an autobiography. First there is chronological story that gives us the necessary background and then his stories of field work gives the reader a fuller view of the author. When a man's passion and his work are one and the same his work tells a lot about the man. The reader may think the later chapters are about hornets and beetles but it is through these field observations that the author's insatiable curiosity, patience, and resilience present themselves.

[Paul Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all have that friend who's a tinkerer... who wants to know how everything works... who borrows your Nintendo and takes it apart. Well maybe that last part doesn't happen to everyone. (Thanks Brian!) This book is a direct tap into a tinkerer's brain.

[Dennis Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books written by my favorite naturalist. It tells the amazing story of his youth during WWII and coming to the USA. His early studies are every bit as fascinating as his later work on birds.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating and fun. A life-long ecologist's tale of how life's challenges gave him a unique insight on macro-ecology.