false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179027712m/866915.jpg 866915 8 No mere travelogue of palm-fringed beaches and photogenic natives, Tim Severin's <I>The Spice Islands Voyage</I> is a rewarding mix of historical biography, contemporary adventure travel, and firm (but not shrill) warnings for the future of this exotic East Indonesian island group. As he relates his experiences sailing the archipelago in an indigenous <I>prahu,</I> Severin brings to life both the lush, volcano-spawned isles and Alfred Wallace, the 19th-century British naturalist whose myriad travels here provide the blueprint for Severin's own journey. A shy, self-taught naturalist with a gift for intuitive leaps of genius, Wallace authored a groundbreaking essay (conceived and written in the Spice Islands) on natural selection--an essay his idol, Charles Darwin, may have "mined" for his own theory of evolution. <p> Now, 140 years later, Severin sets forth to see how the clear turquoise waters, teeming reefs, and wildly diverse animal life that entranced and inspired Wallace have fared. Searching out boldly feathered birds of paradise, graceful green sea turtles, blue-capped maleos, and black-crested macaques, he finds reason for both hope and despair. In some regions, a blend of traditional subsistence hunting and human ingenuity has allowed imperiled species to hold their own; in others, shortsighted greed is decimating one of the most varied plant and animal kingdoms on earth. <p> Well written, generously illustrated, and powerfully evocative, <I>The Spice Islands Voyage</I> opens a window onto a fascinating historical figure and the precarious state of the islands he loved. <I>--Rebecca Gleason</I> 852316 1997 The Spice Islands Voyage: The Quest for Alfred Wallace, the Man Who Shared Darwin's Discovery of Evolution total:9|5:2|4:2|3:4|2:1|1:0| 9 32 16 3 5 0 false false Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Aug 02 21:48:32 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 28 13:57:06 -0800 2008 lot about Alfred Russel Wallace in this book. In fact, he dominates it. If you don't know who Wallace was or have little interest in him, then this isn't likely to be of much interest. Ostensibly an adventure/travelogue, Severin's quest to trace the route tak...more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 16:24:27 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 16:25:50 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 22:56:11 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 22:58:33 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sun Nov 15 11:11:39 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 11:11:39 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 05 12:55:03 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 12:55:03 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 15 10:19:05 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 10:19:05 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Feb 26 22:31:46 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 22:31:46 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 03 02:25:11 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 02:25:11 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Dec 25 18:35:22 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 18:35:47 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sun Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Mon Dec 22 13:28:31 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 13:28:31 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue Dec 09 11:37:03 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 11:37:03 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Wed Jul 09 21:58:51 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 21:58:51 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed Jul 09 08:26:34 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 08:26:34 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Mar 09 22:07:32 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 09 22:07:40 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jan 20 23:44:01 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 20 23:44:01 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Oct 09 01:07:22 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 01:07:22 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=866915