Bulow Hammock: Mind in a Forest

Linking natural history with the imagination in the tradition of Peter Mathiessen and Stephen Jay Gould, the award-winning author investigates the relationship between the human mind and the natural world through an exploration of Bulow Hammock, a subtropical woodland in Florida.

Hammock refers to a hardwood grove in Florida's open marshes and pine woods. Bulow Hammock, north of Daytona, is one of the last stands of forest on the East Coast; action by conservationists saved it from developers, and it is now a State Park. A frequent visitor to the Hammock, Wallace is fascinated by the complexity of life in this woodland-marsh where sub-tropical and north-temperate vegetation meet. As in his prizewinning Idle Weeds and The Klamath Knot , he makes an intensive study of a particular ecosystem. We see Bulow Hammock at different seasons, under varying conditions; Wallace introduces a new dimension as he ponders on the evolutionary process and the relationship of the human brain to other organisms. This is a beautifully proportioned mix of personal reminiscence and natural history; the book deserves a prominent position on the nature bookshelf.
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