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A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park
Simon & Schuster
May 2014
On Sale: April 22, 2014
176 pages ISBN: 1476747415 EAN: 9781476747415 Kindle: B00DPM7T4A Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Photography
A Window on Eternity is a stunning book of splendid prose and gorgeous photography about one of the biologically richest places in Africa and perhaps in the world. Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique was nearly destroyed in a brutal civil war, then was reborn and is now evolv-ing back to its original state. Edward O. Wilsonβs personal, luminous description of the wonders of Gorongosa is beautifully complemented by Piotr Naskreckiβs extraordinary photographs of the parkβs exquisite natural beauty. A bonus DVD of Academy Awardβwinning director Jessica Yuβs documentary, The Guide, is also included with the book. Wilson takes readers to the summit of Mount Gorongosa, sacred to the local people and the parkβs vital watershed. From the forests of the mountain he brings us to the deep gorges on the edge of the Rift Valley, previously unexplored by biologists, to search for new species and assess their ancient origins. He describes amazing animal encounters from huge colonies of agricultural termites to speΒcialized raider ants that feed on them to giant spiΒders, a battle between an eagle and a black mamba, βconversationsβ with traumatized elephants that survived the slaughter of the parkβs large animals, and more. He pleads for Gorongosaβand other wild placesβto be allowed to exist and evolve in its timeΒless way uninterrupted into the future. As he examines the near destruction and rebirth of Gorongosa, Wilson analyzes the balance of nature, which, he observes, teeters on a razorβs edge. Loss of even a single species can have serious ramifications throughout an ecosystem, and yet we are carelessly destroying complex biodiverse ecosystems with unknown consequences. The wildlands in which these ecosystems flourish gave birth to humanity, and it is this natural world, still evolving, that may outlast us and become our legΒacy, our window on eternity.
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