Gluttons and Libertines: Human Problems of Being Natural

by Marston Bates

Human problems of being natural

244 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 1971

About the author

Marston Bates (July 23, 1906 – April 3, 1974) was an American zoologist. Bates' studies on mosquitoes contributed to the understanding of the epidemiology of yellow fever in northern South America.

Born in Michigan, Bates received a B.S. from the University of Florida in 1927. He received an A.M. in 1933 and a Ph.D. in 1934, both from Harvard University. He lived for many years in Villavicencio between the mountains and the llanos in central Columbia. From 1952 until 1971 he was a professor at the University of Michigan. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958. He was the author of many popular science books. He was married to Nancy Bell Fairchild, daughter of the botanist David Fairchild and granddaughter of Alexander Graham Bell.

In 1960, he published the ecological science book The Forest and the Sea, an introduction to how ecosystems work. He compares a rain forest and a tropical sea, their similarities and differences, and through it demonstrates how to understand biological systems.

Books:

"The Nature of Natural History" (1950; Charles Scribner's Sons; New York; 309 pp.)
"Where Winter Never Comes: A Study of Man and Nature in the Tropics" (1952; Charles Scribner's Sons; New York)
"The Natural History of Mosquitoes" (1954; MacMillan; New York)
"The Prevalence of People" (1955; Charles Scribner's Sons; New York)
The Forest and the Sea (1960; Random House/1988; Lyons)
The Land and Wildlife of South America (1964; Series: LIFE Nature Library)
Gluttons and Libertines: Human Problems of Being Natural"(1968; Random House)
A Jungle in the House: Essays in Natural and Unnatural History (1970; Walker and Company)

Reviews

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bates reflects on the human condition through this book. Some of the writing is timeless. On p. 183 I read: "As a professor, I have never been able to see why an American university needs quite so many administrative officers: large buildings filled with people busily writing memoranda to one another or to the faculty and filing them away or mailing them out. My own university has seven vice-presidents, each, I presume, with a complex of assistants, aides and secretaries. Goodness knows how many deans, associate deans and assistant deans there are, not to mention chairmen of departments with their administrative assistants, and directors of this or that Institute or Center for something-or-other. And they all feel overworked and understaffed…the marvel is that the university despite all of this, somehow manages to keep going…" Surely this was written with contemporary NIU in mind. Wait, Marston first published this book over 55 years ago and presumably refers to the University of Michigan! I suppose some things are timeless.

However, Bates increasingly wanders from his topic as the book progresses. The inclusion of the Piltdown Man hoax, and the entire chapter on "Crackpots, phonies, and squares" seems to me an example of this departure.

Nonetheless, there are some gems, such as: "...Learning in man doesn't seem to differ greatly from learning in other animals: his uniqueness is in the development of teaching" (p. 206)---a satisfying validation of my profession.

Finally he writes: "Culture has swamped biology...animal nature [is] out of control because of the cultural overlay..." (226).

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

...well that was weird.

Found this in a bookstore and as I thumbed through it it seemed to have some interesting bits, so I snagged it. ...apparently I happened to land on the few solid pages in here the first time I picked it up, because as I actually sat down and read it, I found it to be TOTALLY different than I imagined it would be, and was just...strange.


I took it along to a concert where I waited in line for about 3 hours, so I was basically forced to finish it or sit there and twiddle my thumbs...definitely wouldn't have finished it otherwise.