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Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians

Scott Weidensaul

4.36 · Rating details · 88 ratings · 7 reviews

Scott Weidensaul shows how geology, ecology, climate, evolution, and more than 500 years of human history have shaped one of the continent's greatest landscapes. ...more

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Paperback, 288 pages

Published August 1st 2000 by Fulcrum Publishing (first published 1994)

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Nov 15, 2013 Bret James Stewart rated it it was amazing

This book rocks. Weidensaul is a scientist writing about the Appalachian Range. He has written a number of other nature books and is a licensed bird bander. I expected this book to be dry as so many books written by scientists are. It seems they go out of their way to suck any vitality out of the text. Weidensaul, however, as the title implies, brings a love and vitality to the text that is phenomenal. He loves the mountains, and it shows. The book is written more like a story than a scientific This book rocks. Weidensaul is a scientist writing about the Appalachian Range. He has written a number of other nature books and is a licensed bird bander. I expected this book to be dry as so many books written by scientists are. It seems they go out of their way to suck any vitality out of the text. Weidensaul, however, as the title implies, brings a love and vitality to the text that is phenomenal. He loves the mountains, and it shows. The book is written more like a story than a scientific text, so you can relate to it. Combining learning and fun--what a novel idea!

He and I, of course, bring different perspectives to the text. He is coming from an evolutionary perspective, and I from the bibilical/creation perspective. He lives in Pennsylvania, so he probably mispronounces the word as "Appa-lay-shun" rather than the correct way, "Appa-latch-un", but I can forgive him for this :). Other than these, there is no problem.

Weidensaul treats the Appalachians holistically, which is refreshing. He addresses natural history, animals, plants, geology, climatology, etc., tying them all together into one living entity--this is how an area, large or small, should be treated. He does deal with current issues such as global warming, but this is not the focus of the book. What I love most about it is that he is clearly having fun. Whether he is tagging raptors, carefully lifting logs seeking salamanders, or floating the rivers examining aquatic ecosystems, he is having a smashing good time, and that sort of passion transfers to the book. He makes you love what he loves.

The icing on the cake is the artwork. The cover art is fantastic, incorporating what I consider to be the two primary calling cards of the Appalachians: running water and autumnal colour. The interior art is nicely chosen. Some is technical, but most just beautiful. As with the text, Weidensaul has managed to bring an element of personality to the artwork, which makes it stand out of the crowd.

There you have it. If you are interested in a book with accurate and impressive scientific chops, or you're seeking a nature-based philosophical jaunt a la Thoreau (but more active), or travelogue highlighted with tons of anecdotal and factual tidbits, or some mixture of them all, this is a book for you. I urge anyone who is interested in any aspect of the Appalachian Mountains--and everyone should be--to read this book. ...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Tim Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nature, reviewed, science, botany, the-south

It always strikes me as interesting that nature programs on TV – and the rare theatrical release of one – always focus on distant lands and creatures (distant for North Americans and Europeans at least)…lions and wildebeest in the Serengeti, meerkats in the Kalahari, penguins in Antarctica, giant tortoises in the Galapagos, exotic orchids in the tropics, bizarre plants in Hawaii and Australia…all fascinating, all things I love, but what about fauna and flora close to home, at least for someone i It always strikes me as interesting that nature programs on TV – and the rare theatrical release of one – always focus on distant lands and creatures (distant for North Americans and Europeans at least)…lions and wildebeest in the Serengeti, meerkats in the Kalahari, penguins in Antarctica, giant tortoises in the Galapagos, exotic orchids in the tropics, bizarre plants in Hawaii and Australia…all fascinating, all things I love, but what about fauna and flora close to home, at least for someone in the eastern United States? How many people who live in that part of the world really know what practically in their backyard (and depending upon where they live, might quite literally BE in their backyard?).

Scott Weidensaul has produced with "Mountains of the Heart" one of the best examples of popular natural history writing I have read in a while, a book I intend to read again. Thorough and authoritative, yet an easy read and a bit of a page turner, he addressed an immense subject with both passion and in depth knowledge. Discussing the geology, ecology, fauna, flora, and conservation of the entire Appalachian mountain chain from central Alabama to Belle Isle, Newfoundland, you will never find a better book on the subject (though that won’t stop me from looking, as I love this part of the world).

I also love books that tackle both fauna and flora. Though I started out in my younger days loving birds, insects, and reptiles, I over the years expanded to fungi and especially plants. It is very fitting indeed in covering one of the botanically diverse areas of the world Weidensaul spends a good deal of time on plants.

Wait you non botanist you. It is more interesting than you think. Do you know why leaves change color in fall or how they undergo this change from green to brilliant oranges, reds, and yellow? Why some trees turn one color while others turn completely different colors? Or did you wonder what effect this had on the animals of the forest (learn just exactly what foliar fruit flagging is).

Plants – especially trees, as the region is among the richest in the world in trees – are definite stars of the book. The author makes engaging the sad, sad tale of the American Chestnut and the on-going plight of the Fraser Fir (and what this all means for the rest of the forest), the role of oaks in modern forests (and why it is possible to have too much of a good thing), and sings the praises of the magnificent White Pine.

Did you know that many Appalachian tree species can survive winter temperatures as low as 80 degrees below zero, far colder than the mountains ever get today? Bet you didn’t know that! Anyway, on to the fauna.

Almost an entire chapter is devoted to the awesome annual hawk migrations down the length of the Appalachians, a spectacle beloved by bird watchers throughout the United States. The many unique and highly local species of the mountains salamander fauna, one of the richest in the world, are recounted in great detail. Another unique fauna, the mussel fauna, again one of the world's richest, is also discussed, a subject not much known to the lay naturalist (it wasn’t to this one). Weidensaul discusses some of the Appalachian fauna winners - such as black bears, successfully co-existing with people in crowded Pennsylvania and elsewhere, moose, which are rebounding in the northern Appalachians, and the raven, formerly a bird of deep wilderness but that one that is increasingly adapting to disturbed habitat - and its losers as well - such as brook trout, a species in decline in all but the most pristine streams, the red wolf, long gone from most of the range and yet to be successfully reintroduced to the mountains, and the passenger pigeon, once a the most common land bird in the world, thriving on the vast crop of acorns in the Appalachians, now extinct.

This is a really good book, one that I think anyone interested in natural history would enjoy
...more

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Nov 29, 2017 Randy Crouse rated it really liked it

An excellent well researched and well written book. Covers many topics in detail that are seldom discussed outside scientific literature. For example, there is an interesting section on the black bear and it's re-emergence as an almost urban animal that has adapted itself to living near and even amongst humans. The author shares many personal first-hand experiences. Anyone with an interest in or love for the Appalachian Mountains will learn from and enjoy this book. ...more

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Aug 10, 2019 Dan Carey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nature, non-fiction, e-books

This book is all over the map, both literally and figuratively. The Appalachian mountains are an extensive chain, and Weidensaul wants to cover all of it, including those parts that are only technically (i.e., geologically) included in it. Consequently, the book strikes me as unfocused, and therefore only moderately satisfying.

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Apr 24, 2018 Brian Carrigan rated it it was amazing

very interesting

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Jul 21, 2012 Mary rated it it was amazing

This is such a gorgeous book. By turns laugh-out-loud funny and incredibly poignant, Weidensaul blends detailed, accurate science with true passion and understanding. I use this book in a class I teach and it holds the students enthralled, just as I myself am drawn in by his imagery, language, and sheer humanity every time I re-read it. There is one line in this book that I return to again and again. Weidensaul has just concluded a succinct, articulate discussion on the hemlock wooly adelgid, wh ...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Linda rated it really liked it

Loved this so much. This author speaks my language when it comes loving and learning about the natural history of the Appalachians.

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About Scott Weidensaul

Scott Weidensaul

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Born in 1959, Scott Weidensaul (pronounced "Why-densaul") has lived almost all of his life among the long ridges and endless valleys of eastern Pennsylvania, in the heart of the central Appalachians, a landscape that has defined much of his work.

His writing career began in 1978 with a weekly natural history column in the local newspaper, the Pottsville Republican in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania ...more