Overview

For forty years, Bernd Heinrich has been ensconced in the woods of the northern, or boreal, forest, living in his log cabin amidst a vast sea of spruce, fir, and larch in the mountains of western Maine. In a land of winter snow, summer heat, and at times fire, drought, and flood, all life confronts vast and occasionally rapid environmental changes, as one day, and one season, may be a completely different environment from the next. The Common Uncommon captures the rhythms of Heinrich's seasonal life. From the forest he first encountered as a child of German refugees, Heinrich combines his powers of observation with professional expertise, as he notes the beautiful, but not entirely idiosyncratic characteristics-the ""common uncommon""-of spiders, ants, chestnut trees, porcupines, owls, and mice. From the elusive single-cell organism called a euglena, which swims in fresh water and is part animal, part plant, to the resourceful wood frog, which nearly freezes into ice each winter while protecting its cells with glucose, Heinrich's musings on life in the forest stunningly capture the five states of Being, Becoming, Interbeing, Remembering, and Returning. With sharp, evocative prose, The Common Uncommon is a narrative of small surprises in nature, some delightful and some?brought on by climate change?devastating, all seen through the hawk eyes of a world-renowned naturalist.

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9781324021100

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Reviews

""As E.O. Wilson recognized long ago, Bernd Heinrich is one of our greatest living naturalists. His new book, The Common Uncommon, reveals the breadth and depth of his knowledge of the legendary North Woods of Maine. With an eye as sharp as a hawk, he views his world from the forest floor up to its canopy, finding much which eludes the average observer. Who else could write so clearly, evocatively, and engagingly of the peculiarities of porcupines, the antics of squirrels, the ingenious way in which frogs survive winter, and the habits of spiders? The Common Uncommon is a nature lover’s odyssey, with this brilliant scientist as our affable guide."" -- Amy Tan, New York Times-bestselling author of The Backyard Bird Chronicles

As E.O. Wilson recognized long ago, Bernd Heinrich is one of our greatest living naturalists. His new book, The Common Uncommon, reveals the breadth and depth of his knowledge of the legendary North Woods of Maine. With an eye as sharp as a hawk, he views his world from the forest floor up to its canopy, finding much which eludes the average observer. Who else could write so clearly, evocatively, and engagingly of the peculiarities of porcupines, the antics of squirrels, the ingenious way in which frogs survive winter, and the habits of spiders? The Common Uncommon is a nature lover's odyssey, with this brilliant scientist as our affable guide.--Amy Tan, New York Times-bestselling author of The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Author Information

Bernd Heinrich is an acclaimed scientist and the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Winter World, Mind of the Raven, and Why We Run. Winner of the 2013 PEN New England Award in nonfiction for Life Everlasting, he resides in Maine.

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