
Notebooks from New Guinea
Field Notes of a Tropical Biologist
Novotny(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 11. August 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-19-960964-2 (ISBN)
Description
This is a unique and delightfully engaging account by a leading tropical biologist of doing science at one of the last wild frontiers in the world. Vojtech Novotny is a highly respected Czech scientist. His widely cited work, of profound importance to ecology and evolution, is not done, like much modern science, in a lab full of gleaming apparatus. Instead, he chose as his 'laboratory' the remotest parts of Papua New Guinea, where he has established a research station. Supported by a team of Papuans whom he has trained up so that they can combine their wide and intimate knowledge of the plants and animals of their tropical forest with the knowledge of modern science, Novotny studies the ecological interactions of butterflies and plants.
Clearly this is no ordinary scientist. Combined with his intrepid courage (PNG is one of the most dangerous places on Earth, with a very high homicide rate), he is a shrewd observer of human nature. In the richly varied notes and reflections of this very individual volume are not only descriptions of natural history and scientific research in the rainforest, but accounts of the local peoples and their culture, the challenges of working across very different cultures, and amusing portraits of the antics of Western tourists, separated by a few 'intermezzi' - episodes when the author fought bouts of malaria.
Novotny is that rare combination of excellent scientist and superb storyteller. The faithful translations by David Short bring these notes and reflections on science, nature, and human beings to a wide audience, without any loss to their richness, warmth, humility, and wisdom. The volume is illustrated with beautiful drawings by a self-taught Papuan artist, Benson Avea Bego, who lives in a remote village.
Clearly this is no ordinary scientist. Combined with his intrepid courage (PNG is one of the most dangerous places on Earth, with a very high homicide rate), he is a shrewd observer of human nature. In the richly varied notes and reflections of this very individual volume are not only descriptions of natural history and scientific research in the rainforest, but accounts of the local peoples and their culture, the challenges of working across very different cultures, and amusing portraits of the antics of Western tourists, separated by a few 'intermezzi' - episodes when the author fought bouts of malaria.
Novotny is that rare combination of excellent scientist and superb storyteller. The faithful translations by David Short bring these notes and reflections on science, nature, and human beings to a wide audience, without any loss to their richness, warmth, humility, and wisdom. The volume is illustrated with beautiful drawings by a self-taught Papuan artist, Benson Avea Bego, who lives in a remote village.
Reviews / Votes
Entertaining, informative and absorbing. * Frances Q. Brearley, Times Higher Education * This is a profoundly original book...Vojtech Novotny is so incredibly insightful and affable. * Jonathan Wright, Geographical * The results are spectacular: an exercise in witty and whimsical amateur anthropology that puts the professionals to shame. * Jonathan Wright, Geographical * Entertaining stories...[a] delightful book. * Jeff Wilson, BBC Wildlife * Thorough insight into a much-misunderstood country, and a book that once started is virtually impossible to put down. * Jeff Wilson, BBC Wildlife * This is the best first-hand account of Papua New Guinea I have ever read. * Jeff Wilson, BBC Wildlife *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Illustrations
20 B&W halftones
Dimensions
Height: 190 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
294 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-960964-2 (9780199609642)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
05/2009
Oxford University Press
€46.00
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E-Book
05/2009
OUP eBook
€15.49
Available for download
Person
Vojtech Novotny is a tropical biologist. He is Professor of Ecology at the University of South Bohemia and the Head of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at the Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic. He is leading an international team of researchers studying relationships between plants and insects in tropical rainforests. This work has provided, among other results, the currently accepted estimate of the number of insects living on our planet. Novotny is directing the New Guinea Binatang Research Center, a research station in Papua New Guinea, recognized for its ecological research, which successfully unites western scientists and the tribal peoples of the New Guinea rainforests.
Content
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION: HOW I GOT TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA...AND WHAT CAME NEXT; ISLAND OF A THOUSAND TONGUES AND A WILD, WILD LANDSCAPE; OLD AND NEW CUSTOMS OF A TRIBAL SOCIETY; FOREIGNERS AND THEIR ODD IDEAS; HOW TO DO SCIENCE IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA; IN CONCLUSION: TRAVEL REPORT