Science and Nature Book Club with Teri


We read nonfiction books about science, nature, and many times both science AND nature combined.

While it's great to have the book read before the meeting, it's not a requirement and you are still welcome to join! Just be prepared for spoilers :)

We meet the first Tuesday of the month at 6pm at Auntie's Bookstore unless otherwise noted.

Interested in what we've already read? Click here and see our past reads!

 

December Selection

In December we will be discussing The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson.

Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an OctopusThe Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world’s most elusive fish—the eel—and a reflection on the human condition

Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery.

Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel’s point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea.

Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson’s journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant.

 

Leader: Teri (she/her)

Contact: teri@auntiesbooks.com

This group meets at Auntie's the first Tuesday of every month at 6pm unless noted.

 

Books: 
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World By Patrik Svensson Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062968821
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - April 13th, 2021

DECEMBER 2023 DISCUSSION SELECTION


An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us By Ed Yong Cover Image
By Ed Yong
$20.00
ISBN: 9780593133255
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - August 29th, 2023

FEBRUARY 2023 DISCUSSION SELECTION