Sonoran Desert Spring

by John Alcock, Marilyn Hoff Stewart (Illustrator)

"Spring on the Sonoran Desert can be a four-month-long spectacle of life and color. Within these well-written pages, Alcock exposes us to the plant and animal life of a land many regard as desolate. To Alcock, the desert has a constant evolutionary beauty he never seems to tire of. Alcock's approach to his subject is an elegant combination of science and literature. Only the desert itself, arrayed in its April apparel, can rival the beauty of this book."—Arizona Highways

"Deserts are not as bereft of life as they seem; their barren landscapes can support a remarkable variety of plant and animal life, though it may require a patient and skilled naturalist to reveal its mysteries. John Alcock is just such a naturalist. . . . Alcock provides delightful insights into how insects provision their developing young, how parasites find their victims and how flowers attract pollinators. A book of this kind allows its author, more accustomed to the rigours and constraints of writing academic papers and books, to relate revealing anecdotes and simply to express their fascinating for natural history. . . . Books such as this serve a vital function in bringing the mysteries of the desert to the attention of a wider public." —Times Literary Supplement

Genres: Nonfiction

147 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 1994

About the author

John Alcock (b. 1942) is an American behavioral ecologist and author. He is currently the Emeritus' Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. His research interests include the evolution of diversity in insect populations, studying the adaptive value of different ways in which males find mating partners. He has authored several books, including The Kookaburras' Song: Exploring Animal Behavior in Australia (1988), Sonoran Desert Summer (1990), The Triumph of Sociobiology (2003), and Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (ninth edition, 2009). He authored Sonoran Desert Spring (1994) which was illustrated by Marilyn Hoff Stewart, and also authored In a Desert Garden: Love and Death Among the Insects (1999) illustrated by Turid Forsyth.

Alcock is one of the original scientists to participate in the Ask A Biologist program and continues to participate in interviews as well as answering questions from students around the world.

Reviews

[Echo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is okay for something clearly written by a scientist. It's not overtly dense, it's readable for a layperson. That said, I've read enough environmental non fiction to want something more literary. Alcock has an irritating emphasis on evolutionary biology, and frankly I don't care to look at the miracle of desert life purely through which behaviors are most fit for breeding. When he mentions human behavior it is with a pessimism I find rather exhausting. I get that this was written in the 80's but this take on humanity leads to an unhelpful hopelessness in what we can achieve. Still, there's enough interesting information on native desert species to keep me reading.

[Stuart West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant combination of natural history and behavioural ecology, bringing the desert to life. Made me desperate to go there. Finally managed it 30 years later.