Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life Of Beavers And Why They Matter
  • Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life Of Beavers And Why They Matter
  • Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life Of Beavers And Why They Matter
ISBN: 160358739X
EAN13: 9781603587396
Language: English
Release Date: Jul 5, 2018
Pages: 304
Dimensions: 1.02" H x 9.02" L x 6.02" W
Weight: 1.3 lbs.
Format: Hardcover
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Book Overview

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award (Longlisted)

Washington Post 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction

Science News Favorite Science Books of 2018

Booklist Top Ten Science/Technology Book of 2018

A marvelously humor-laced page-turner about the science of semi-aquatic rodents. A masterpiece of a treatise on the natural world.--The Washington Post

In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of Beaver Believers--including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens--recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. Eager is a powerful story about one of the world's most Read More chevron_right

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Book Reviews (5)

5
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5
   Ben Goldfarb, Take a Bow!
Mr. Goldfarb has woven an elegant treatise on every aspect imaginable about the maligned beaver together. It is my hope that thousands of caring people will read and enjoy the book and then pass it on to wildlife biologists, council people, ditch riders, farmers, ranchers, landowners and any other person whose life could be enriched by contact with these amazing landscape architects. If the knowledge and wisdom shared in this tome is widely shared, I can not imagine that there will be a huge movement towards reintroduction, especially in this time of global weather change and the huge demands that people place on limited water resources. Seldom, I learned so much from a book or enjoyed so much. It is my hope that Mr. Goldfarb continues to write in depth books on other aspects of our abused and misunderstood natural systems. In my estimation, this ranks as a catalyst for action with Silent Spring.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
4
   Entertaining and informative
I have always been fond of beavers, and this book has strengthened my knowledge greatly. David Quammen's writing is reminiscent of Ben Goldfarb, another of my favorite writers of nature. I was highly entertained, while I was learning. I had no idea of the environmental havoc that was created by the absence of beavers! I hope to take some vacations to some of the places he visits in the book and see firsthand what those cute little rodents are up to!
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
5
   Beavers are Awesome!
At just the right time, Ben Goldfarb published this book on the beavers. Beavers are often unconsidered rodents that irritate people by chewing trees and damming streams and culverts, thereby causing flooding. While acknowledging the challenges inherent in living with beavers, the book highlights the benefits of living with the ecosystem and people. There is growing recognition of these benefits and gradually increasing the tolerance of them among engineers and natural resource managers. Goldfarb does an excellent job of researching specific examples of situations in which beavers are allowed to do what they do best, building dams that retain water, thereby creating wetland habitat that helps prevent drought, flooding, and harmful effects of a warming climate. He also calls the recalcitrant agencies that continue to view beavers as pests or pelts narrowly. The book is interesting and engaging for the general reader and a must-read for anyone who appreciates and/or attempts to manage nature.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
5
   BEAVERS CONSERVE WATER, IMPROVE HABITAT AND MINIMIZE FLOOD DAMAGE.
Ben Goldfarb's new book on the beavers challenges us all to better understand what we have lost and what we can gain with the help of the industrious beaver. This book rises to the level of George Perkins Marsh's Man and Nature, Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac, Rachel Carson's, Silent Spring and Andrea Wulf's The Invention of Nature. Anyone who lives by a creek, a river or lake should be familar with the remarkable beaver. Goldfarb provides a critical look at the effect that beavers have on remarkable issues for America, drought relief, flood control, fisheries and biodiversity. He makes it clear enough for the general reader but detailed enough for a professional ecologist.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
5
   and was not disappointed once it arrived
I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of this pre-order and was not disappointed when it arrived. Evidently, Ben Goldfarb did, and he shares his knowledge in a thoroughly entertaining and informative manner.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
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