The Song of the Dodo

Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions

By: David Quammen

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

“Compulsively readable—a masterpiece, maybe the masterpiece of science journalism.” —Bill McKibben, Audubon

A brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope and far-reaching in its message, The Song of the Dodo is a crucial book in precarious times. Through personal observation, scientific theory, and history, David Quammen examines the mysteries of evolution and extinction and radically alters our understanding of the natural world and our place within it.

In this landmark of science writing, we learn how the isolation of islands makes them natural laboratories of evolutionary extravagance, as seen in the dragons of Komodo, the elephant birds of Madagascar, the giant tortoises of the Galapagos. But the dark message of island studies is that isolated ecosystems, whether natural or human-made, are also hotbeds of extinction. And as the world’s landscapes, from Tasmania to the Amazon to Yellowstone, are carved into pieces by human activity, the implications of this knowledge are more urgent than ever.

An unforgettable scientific adventure, a fascinating account of an eight-year journey of discovery, and a wake-up call for our time, David Quammen’s The Song of the Dodo is an exquisitely written book that takes the reader on a globe-circling tour of wild places and extraordinary ideas.

The ecologists behind Island Biogeography

Quammen presents great basic ecology and stories of the ecologists and evolutionary biologists who founded the fields of evolution and Island biogeography. Quammmen' story includes the story of the controversial priority dispute between Wallace and Darwin and hte myth of Darwin's finches. Quamman includes fascinating anecdotes and theories about swimming elephants and Komodo dragons, and how they interact. Follow Quammen and Case as they do field research. Learn about Preston’s canonical lognormal distribution as an explanation of extinctions and Soule’s founding of conservation ecology. The cataloguing a list of extinct island species is a bit tedious but sad and important.

Awesome book

I love all of Quammen's works but this makes it up to the top of the list. I haa been on my reading list for a long time and it lived up to my anticipation. Happy I finally got around to listening to it.

Excellent

yet another excellent book by David quammen and the reading was very well done. Would recommend.

Amazing story

Weaving of so many elements of history and science into a travelogue that illuminates the state of the planet in our time.

Excellent read

This is a truly great book about biodiversity. Narrated with a sense of exploration and adventure. Nicely read too. Highly recommend

Can be quite repetitive, BUT

An excellent overview of the concepts of extinction, island biogeography, and evolution. Highly recommend.

A Fun Story Of How Good Intentions Are Not Enough

This is a really wonderful book. It's a brilliant mosaic, of sorts, formed by weaving together information and personal experiences to create a picture of what's happening to so many of Earth's life forms and how human's efforts at creating restricted and protected reserves for endangered animals are falling short of their well-intentioned efforts. The author (David Quammen) enlightens the listener with the latest research on the amazing amount of information that must be factored in when setting aside parcels of land for the protection of these animals. The tapestry that he pulls together is eye-opening, a bit depressing and yet very beautiful as we humans become more and more awake to the fact that we are closely related to these other magnificent beings in ways that have simply heretofore been unimaginged and it is our responsibility to see that they are not deprived of their right to life, liberty and their pursuit of happiness.

Well written. Good content.

This book is a phenomenal read for anyone interested in the Extinction of species.

An incredible book

The scope of this book was breathtakingly vast, and I'm very pleased to have bought it and listened. It's true that the literal answer of why the dodo is gone is quite short, and if that's all you wanted in a book you'll be disappointed. But this book is about more than the extinction of one animal. I hope things like this are widely read/ experienced

Cerebral, but has heart too

Quamman is one of the best science writers out there. Elizabeth Kolbert is also solid. Quamman takes the reader down these mathy/modeling paths but never leaves them behind.