Deserts: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #215

by Nick Middleton

Deserts make up a third of the planet's land surface, but if you picture a desert, what comes to mind? A wasteland? A drought? A place devoid of all life forms?

Deserts are remarkable places. Typified by drought and extremes of temperature, they can be harsh and hostile; but many deserts are also spectacularly beautiful, and on occasion teem with life. Nick Middleton explores how each desert is unique: through fantastic life forms, extraordinary scenery, and ingenious human adaptations. He demonstrates a desert's immense natural beauty, its rich biodiversity, and uncovers a long history of successful human occupation.

This Very Short Introduction tells you everything you ever wanted to know about these extraordinary places and captures their importance in the working of our planet.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Geography, Nature, Ecology, History, Historical

153 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Nick Middleton is a British physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.

Nick Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer, he has travelled to more than 50 countries. Going to Extremes is a television programme for Channel 4 about extreme lifestyles, in which Middleton experiences life in the hostile conditions other cultures must endure. He has appeared on BBC 2's Through the Keyhole.

Reviews

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it on the bus. If it was much longer, I probably wouldn't have read it. Now I know more about deserts.

[Intikhab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick Middleton has masterly covered the great varieties within deserts, their climates, landscapes, wildlife, and human use. The book covers in sufficient details of various types of deserts, which are climatically subdivided into deserts with cold winters, coastal deserts, and hot deserts. I found it an interesting read. It tracks mankind's spiritual links with deserts as the world's all the three great religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - have had their origins in desert. The book also touches the co-relation between deserts and the deadly scientific invention of nuclear bombs. Military establishments of USA, Russia, China, France, British, India, and Pakistan all used deserts to test their nuclear devices. The author's command over the subject is splendid. It is certainly a very good book to get exposed to the vastness of deserts.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review:

Deserts: A Very Short Introduction (2009) by Nick Middleton surveys the geographic, climatic, biological, and human aspects of deserts. Table of contents:

Introduction 1
1: Desert climates 9
2: Desert landscapes 33
3: Nature in deserts 57
4: Desert peoples 82
5: Desert connections 114
Epilogue 126

Middleton's account is very readable. He begins by defining what he means by "desert" while pointing out that a robust definition remains elusive. Except where deserts butt up against oceans, their boundaries are not sharp, but rather deserts tend to grade smoothly into less arid regions. Deserts themselves are also diverse, ranging from the hyper-arid Atacama, parts of which have never received measurable rain since record-keeping began, to sporadically wetter deserts such as the Sonoran of Mexico and the southwestern USA. And while many people associate deserts with hot weather - not without some justification as the hottest weather on Earth does occur in deserts - many deserts can also get very cold.

Middleton specifically excludes the polar desert of Antartica, which is one of the driest places on Earth in terms of precipitation. Perhaps ironically, Antarctica is also the world's largest reservoir of frozen fresh water. It's so cold that most precipitation that falls on Antarctica remains frozen for up to hundreds of thousands of years as it slowly grinds back to the ocean via glaciers. But no worries, Antarctica is a vast topic that more than justifies having its own VSI, and now it does (The Antarctic: A Very Short Introduction (2012)).

The book is full of interesting tidbits about deserts and the living things that inhabit them. For example, I don't think I previously knew the link between deserts and modern cereal crops such as wheat. Specifically, one strategy for plant species to survive in a desert or a semi-desert is to grow rapidly when water is available, produce lots of seeds, and die. The seeds can then wait around for months or even years until the rains return. This life habit turns out to be a very useful trait for farmers, who also want plants that take advantage of water and soil nutrients to grow rapidly and produce a bounty of edible seeds within a single growing season.

I spotted two errors of fact in the book, and one poor choice of terminology. The first error was not Middleton's fault, as the fact of the matter changed shortly after the book came out. Middleton cites the supposed highest temperature ever recorded on Earth as occurring in El Azizia in northern Libya in 1922. This record was then declared invalid by the WMO in 2012, thus reverting the record back to Death Valley, Caifornia.

The second error is where Middleton puzzlingly refers to the Exodus myth from the bible as if factually real:

Descendants of Abraham, patriarch of the Jewish people, left Egypt to spend 40 years in the desert until God revealed the Ten Commandments and the Torah (Judaism’s religious texts) to Moses on Mount Sinai, on the Sinai Peninsula, today part of Egypt. Moses then led the Jews to the promised land of Israel.

Middleton doesn't qualify this with "According to the biblical account..." nor does he give any other indication that this could be merely the sort of "in universe" point of view one might take when discussing the life of Harry Potter. Rather, he writes as if he really thinks the Exodus literally happened. If so, that puts him at odds with archaeologists, scholars, and ancient historians who have looked into it. See for example:

Did Moses Exist?: The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver (2014)
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origins of Its Sacred Texts (2002)
Christianity in the Light of Science: Critically Examining the World's Largest Religion, Chapter 11: The Credibility of the Exodus

The poor terminology is where Middleton refers to "protozoa." According to Peter Holland in The Animal Kingdom: A Very Short Introduction, that term has fallen into disfavor among many biologists for being a misnomer. "Protozoan" literally means "first animal," but animals are multicellular organisms, while the creatures described as "protozoa" are single-celled. So while not necessarily an error, and still having its own Wikipedia article, "protozoa" might not be the best term to use in a VSI in keeping with academic rigor.

[Mahendranath Ramakrishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. The author Nick Middleton manages to get across his idea to the reader that contrary to popular cultural depictions of a desert as a bleak, desolate and unforgiving landscape, a desert is a very unique ecosystem with organisms that have armed themselves with fantastic adaptions to thrive in such harsh climates. More importantly, Nick writes that deserts have played a great role in human evolution and the dawn of civilization. Some of the world's oldest and grandest civilizations flourished along rivers near desert-fringes.

[Greg Bem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this small welcome into the world of deserts, where I learned a little more about a type of place I visit often.

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing that comes to one's mind when thinking about deserts are the vast expenses of sandy dunes, with an occasional palm-tree oasis and a few hardy souls on camel backs traversing them. This romantic image has more than a grain of truth to it, but deserts are in fact very diverse geographical areas. This very short introduction aims to explore deserts and explain what makes them so unique and fascinating. Despite what one may think, deserts as geographical locations are not that easy to define. The prime characteristic of all the deserts is their incredible dryness, so aridity is used as the primary criterion for distinguishing deserts from other areas. Even so, it turns out that there is much more of continuity between deserts and non-deserts than one may think. However, the dryness criterion does distinguish the two of the World's most prominent deserts - the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Desert.

The book's more interesting chapters deal with life and human presence in deserts. Deserts may not be the liveliest of places, but many life forms have managed to evolve strategies of survival suited for this extreme environment. Even more fascinating is the fact that humans have for millennia not only survived but actually thrived in deserts. According to this book, about one billion people live in deserts today. Another fascinating topic covered in this book (albeit very briefly) is the fact that three of the World's major religion - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - have their origins in deserts. There is probably a lot more that can be said about this fact, but it's probably better left for a stand-alone treatment.

On the surface of it deserts may not be the most fascinating geographical location, and writing about them is not bound to elicit a lot of excitement, but they are unique places and this book does a very good job of introducing them to the general readership.

[JV]

A noção de que um observador atento ao ver um campo aberto pode essencialmente avaliar seus íncolas(Fr. paysant, Eng. pesant) é basilar para o conceito de nação. O paisagismo seria então o característico do país. Há também noutras línguas a relação "paisagismo-país": em inglês land e landscape; em alemão Land e Landschaft; em Dinamarquês landskab é "região, distrito, província". O peculiar amanho da terra e suas qualidades geofísicas, componentes da paisagem, são os índices da complexa relação sociedade e natureza - desafio primário que toda nação tem de resolver de modo único.

O presente livro mostra que o deserto apresenta um paisagismo(no sentido acima abordado) tão rico quanto o do campo. Claro, na medida em que a proposta "very short introduction"/ menos de 160 páginas permite. O autor aborda os climas dos desertos, sua morfologia, fauna e flora e as sociedades humanas desenvolvidas nesses ambientes.

Não comentarei as informações lidas pois constituem o cerne do livro. Mas, para ressaltar sua importância basta citar que essa paisagem serve de cena de fundo das primeiras cidades, civilizações, do judaísmo, cristianismo e islamismo, e que pelo menos 50% da massa terrestre é desértica. Descobri que eu mesmo moro num deserto (semiúmido, para ser exato).

Cito esse trecho de T.E. Lawrence que não poderia faltar numa versão estendida:

„The common base of all the Semitic creeds, winners or losers, was the ever present idea of world-worthlessness. Their profound reaction from matter led them to preach bareness, renunciation, poverty; and the atmosphere of this invention stifled the minds of the desert pitilessly. A first knowledge of their sense of the purity of rarefaction was given me in early years, when we had ridden far out over the rolling plains of North Syria to a ruin of the Roman period which the Arabs believed was made by a prince of the border as a desert-palace for his queen. The clay of its building was said to have been kneaded for greater richness, not with water, but with the precious essential oils of flowers. My guides, sniffing the air like dogs, led me from crumbling room to room, saying, 'This is jessamine, this violet, this rose'.

But at last Dahoum drew me: 'Come and smell the very sweetest scent of all', and we went into the main lodging, to the gaping window sockets of its eastern face, and there drank with open mouths of the effortless, empty, eddyless wind of the desert, throbbing past. That slow breath had been born somewhere beyond the distant Euphrates and had dragged its way across many days and nights of dead grass, to its first obstacle, the man-made walls of our broken palace. About them it seemed to fret and linger, murmuring in baby-speech. 'This,' they told me, 'is the best: it has no taste.“

[Rasmus Tillander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lukihäiriöisenä petyin hieman kun tässä ei ollutkaan kyse jälkiruoan kulttuurihistoriasta, mutta siis aavikot, ainakin näin Nick Middletonin esittämänä, on myös tosi kiinnostavia.

Vaikka olen katsonut oman osani Avaraa luontoa ja opiskellut kuivien erämaiden heimoista oli tässä silti tosi paljon uutta tietoa helposti lähestyttävästi esitettynä. Kuten sarjan brändiin sopii. Itselle kiinnostavimpia olivat aavikkojen syntyyn, rakenteeseen ja eliöstöön liittyvät osat. Tuntuu, että hahmotan veden ja ravinteiden kiertoa ekosysteemissä ylipäänsä paremmin kun luin tämän. Ja nyt tiedän, että dromedaarit näkevät silmäluomiensa läpi. Ja ylipäätänsä tiedän jotain aavikoiden luokitteluista. Mutta siis kyllä myös aavikoiden suhdetta inhimilliseen kulttuurin kuvaavilla osioilla oli ansiosa.

Suurin miinus siitä, että tämä olisi kaivannut lisää kuvia. Jouduin useamman kerran keskeyttämään lukemisen ja googlaamaan miltä, joku siistinkuuloinen kasvi tai kivimuodostelma näyttää.

[Amy Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this- a just technical-enough overview of the ecology and geology of deserts. The book usefully addresses history and anthropology of desert communities, although I think I would've liked a few more pages on desertification.

[Jafar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is well written and covers the most important areas about deserts. However, I am so disappointed to see that the author, who is internationally recognised scientist, calls the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well-written and interesting.

[Usfromdk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to two stars than four; some parts of the publication were a bit too pop-science-y for my taste and some of the content covering human geography aspects in particular I considered to be somewhat weak. I definitely take issue with the author's decision not to cover polar regions (Antarctica in particular) in a book like this, but I did not subtract any stars because of this decision. Given the page-count devoted to the topic, I think the author spends too much time telling us what specific phenomena are called in various places of the world and too little time talking about the specifics/technical aspects; some people might find it interesting to know that a common specific desert phenomenon is called X in one part of the world, Y in another part of the world, and Z in a third part of the world, but I'd rather have learned a bit more about the phenomenon itself. It's to be expected that it's somewhat limited what you can cover in a publication of this nature, but that only makes decisions of this nature even more important than they might be in a more comprehensive text, and I did not like the way Middleton prioritized here in some specific contexts.

On the plus side the book is easy to read and you don't need any background in relevant fields like geography, geology, or biology to read and understand the coverage. And it does give you a useful starting point, and contains some interesting information you most likely did not know if you're unfamiliar with the topic.

[Naz Hassan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middleton is through in this exposition. He is careful to present factual information in an interesting way, and the book never seems to be bogged down by sheer facts that the reader would otherwise be annoyed by. Middleton's coverage goes beyond the desert as a place with a lot of sand. He discusses what deserts mean to people, possible theories of how deserts formed, select animals and plants which show a fascinating tendency to adapt, and other, page turning nuggets of information about the driest places on earth. A fascinating introduction to those who are interested in Desert geology, geography, and anthropology.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oxford's Very Short Introduction series is wonderful. Written by experts in the field, these little books pack a lot into few pages. The authors of the ones I've read, including Deserts, express a passion for their subject and inspire critical thinking unlike most introductory materials.