A Plague of Frogs : The Horrifying True Story

by William Souder

In the summer of 1995, a group of Minnesota children came upon a pond populated by frogs with nine legs, missing legs, a row of limbs fanning out from their backsides, and eyes in the wrong places. Since then, deformed frogs have been turning up in lakes around the world. Written by the only journalist granted access to secret hot spots where these deformed frogs are tested, and brainstorming sessions among the researchers, this compelling, fast-paced narrative is the first to offer a complete picture of what is quite possibly a global catastrophe in the making.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Biology, History, Environment, Science Nature

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2000

About the author

William Souder’s books include biographies of John Steinbeck, Rachel Carson (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year) and John James Audubon (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize). He lives in Grant, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ribbiting account of human nature, egos, pet hypotheses, and how the scientific process really works. Great science thriller. Yes, that is a genre. In the same vein as The Hot Zone by Richard Preston.

I am still trying to find out where one of the sites in this book is. It should be in my neighborhood, but the author obviously changed just enough facts to protect the family that lives on this lake.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. Then I got about 3/4 of the way through it, got bored, and set it down for a few months. As I'm out of books to read, I picked this one up again figuring I'd read a few more pages of it but discovered that I couldn't put it down again.

This story follows the mysteries of the Minnesota frog deformities. A Plague of Frogs analyzes all of the events leading up to the original discovery of the frogs and all of the research that went into trying to figure out what was wrong. The book touches on the final answers, but as nothing was truly 100% figured out, there isn't too much detail.

This book definitely made me stop and think about the water supply, water quality, and the environmental indicators frogs are. I will definitely have more respect for frogs when I see them in the wild now and will definitely stop and think if I see any deformed ones. I would highly recommend this book for those who are interested in reading about natural environmental indicators and for those who were alive when the deformed frog scare was happening and wish to know more.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, finally done. As with many science stories it was a bit on the technical side, but gets tired of deformed frogs? This was intersting not only in regards to the mutagenesis problem but also a very good example of how science (meaning scientists) work. It was funny to read that the egos I experienced in the field are found everywhere! Everyone wants to be right. Not surprisingly, science is not that simple.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Souder follows the case of deformed frogs discovered in Minnesota in 1995 by a group of school children on a school trip to a local farm pond. The story takes the reader from the first discovery to the realization that deformed frogs (meaning frogs ranging from missing legs to multiple legs; eye and jaw deformities, internal deformities, etc.) were being found throughout the northern part of the USA and in Canada. Souder is very thorough in his reporting and investigation. I found the best aspect of the book to be the description of the relationships between state and federal regulators, academic researchers and the public. Each entity has it's own perspective and drivers, and egos are always involved. My own experience as a regulator in a state environmental agency comports well with what is described in this book. The public demands answers to shocking information that might indicate they and their children are being poisoned, the regulators are expected to take action (often without enough information), the academics disagree on the cause and want to study the problem and be the first to produce journal worthy papers, and multiple federal agencies are jockeying for money and the ear of their bosses in Washington. Swirl in personality, disagreements and downright dislike between various actors and the stage is set for disarray and conflicting outcomes. The main complaint I have about the book is that it tends to get very detailed when reporting on various scientific meetings that were held over the course of several years while the investigations were at their peak. The book was published in 2000 so the science on the frog deformities may have changed in the last 22 years. The politics of what happens when a serious environmental concern arises hasn't changed at all.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look into science, frogs and bureaucracy. It was interesting to learn about frogs, their life cycle, development, habitats, and what great environmental indicators they are. It was also interesting to learn about the science of studying them. It was eye opening, yet not surprising, to learn that something was amiss, everyone knew something was amiss, yet nothing definitive was ever learned. There were so many varying factors to studying this issue, including multiple agencies, personalities, funding bodies and politics.

[Colleen Villasenor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the scientific investigations and debates following the discovery of deformed frogs in Minnesota in the 90s. Some of the debates over possible causes became quite heated. It was interesting learning the processes involved in the various experiments, the many agencies, and the scientists who hotly debated the causes as much as they may have collaborated. This was also a look at some of the changes in the environment and the effect that it has on vulnerable species, and ultimately, on us.

[Michelle Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned A LOT about frogs, relationships, scientific communities, government agencies! And, then there there were the connections for me~Aptos CA is where my husband is from and I love teaching Science to my students.

While some parts did not keep my entire attention, enough did that I finished the book and really enjoyed it.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's summer, why did I get this? do I really want to read something...holy crap this is good..."

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

got kinda repetitive after the first hundred pages but that's okay because i LOVE frogs

[Josemaria Laguinge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I picked this book up I couldn't put it down, once I got to 3/4 of the book I got distracted and bored. Then I picked it up again and I loved it, it delves greatly in the process of a scientific investigation, the constant problems that come up from shortage of money for the investigations, lack of government support in case of public organizations and the ego of different scientists getting in each others way.

All this while also interviewing the different points of view from all the hypothesis, you see every other scientist with their arguments, as human like you and me that sometimes lack the objective reality to asses certain problems.
It's an easy read with solid introductions to some relatively advanced concepts even if you are not familiar with biology at all. A great read that I highly recommend for anyone interested in how science works at a grand level with the obstacles that one faces with investigation from the classic correlation doesn't equal causation problem to some more advanced.

I'm biased because I love frogs so much and I love science like this, investigating a case and such, it's crazy that the politics around pollution haven't changed much. Honestly this would've been my favorite book as a kid, I enjoyed it a lot despite the getting bored part, that is something too subjective to just judge this book around that.

[Sunny Bundy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I wasn't the target market for this book. I found it interesting, but the level of detail was way, way too much. I kept expecting all the seemingly needless detail to build to some gripping conclusion, but it didn't. For the most part, the mundane details weren't even scientific; they were about government beurocracy and academic's personalities and feuds. The book cold easily have been half as long and still told the same story in a more succinct and compelling way.

[J.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at what appeared to be a sudden rise in deformities in frogs in the northern US and Canada in the mid-1990's. Learned more about frogs than I'd ever care to know! But it was well-written and informative, and held my interest to the end.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give up after trying to finish this for the last two months. it got to a place where it was all political nonsense and pride stopping progress and I just could not get motivated to plough through it all. sorry earth.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very interesting to me, but you arent a nerdy scientist you probably wont care.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and cogent. Did not hold my interest as well as I would like. Good overview of the general debate.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject was interesting, but the book kind of meandered and never really came to any conclusions.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3+ stars. Extremely informative! Read during a non-fiction phase and so glad I stumbled across it.

[LL]

Birthday present from Paul--I'm not sure if I'm really expected to read this.