Lizard
Published on 1. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-78023-828-9 (ISBN)
Description
Lizards stimulate the human imagination, despite generally being small, soundless and hidden from sight in burrows, treetops or crevices. They can blend into a vast range of environments, from rocky coasts to deserts and rainforests. Their fluid motion can make us think of water, while their curvilinear forms suggest vegetation. Their stillness appears deathlike, while their sudden arousal is like resurrection.
Lizards are at once overhyped and underappreciated. Our storybooks are full of lizards, but we usually call them something else - dragons, serpents or monsters. Our tales vastly increase their size, bestow wings upon them, make them exhale flame and endow them with magical powers.
This illuminating book demonstrates how the story of lizards is interwoven with the history of the human imagination. Boria Sax describes the diversity of lizards and traces their representation in many cultures, including those of pre-conquest Australia, the Quiche Maya, Mughal India, China, Central Africa, Europe and America. Filled with beguiling images, Lizard is essential reading for natural history enthusiasts, students of animal studies and the many thousands of people who keep lizards as pets.
Lizards are at once overhyped and underappreciated. Our storybooks are full of lizards, but we usually call them something else - dragons, serpents or monsters. Our tales vastly increase their size, bestow wings upon them, make them exhale flame and endow them with magical powers.
This illuminating book demonstrates how the story of lizards is interwoven with the history of the human imagination. Boria Sax describes the diversity of lizards and traces their representation in many cultures, including those of pre-conquest Australia, the Quiche Maya, Mughal India, China, Central Africa, Europe and America. Filled with beguiling images, Lizard is essential reading for natural history enthusiasts, students of animal studies and the many thousands of people who keep lizards as pets.
Reviews / Votes
Lizard and Dinomania present author/researcher Boria Sax at his multidisciplinary best: mixing and relating biology, botany, paleontology, anthropology, biography, history, mythology, art history, popular culture and more, into coherent wholes. The skillful way he interweaves these various themes reminds this reviewer of the pictures and models of DNA strands as the complexity of the finished product emerges. . . . Boria Sax and Reaktion Books receive extremely high marks for the quality of these books: not only good binding, but exemplary reproduction of illustrations in both black and white and color. An editorial choice was made to place illustrations throughout - rather than in special sections - something for which all readers should be grateful. * The Independent Scholar * One of the most appealing features of this book is that it is packed with thought-provoking information on the adaptations and behaviors of selected reptile species . . . This colorful and lavishly illustrated book, while providing considerable information on the biology of lizards, is enriched with many connections to human culture-its art, religious practices, folklore, mythology, astrology, literature, history-and comparisons between reptile and human characteristics and behavior. * The American Biology Teacher *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
100 illustrations, 60 in colour
Dimensions
Height: 187 mm
Width: 134 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
330 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78023-828-9 (9781780238289)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Boria Sax teaches at Sing Sing prison and online in the graduate literature programme at Mercy University. He has published many books, which have won awards and been translated into numerous languages. His most recent is Avian Illuminations: A Cultural History of Birds (Reaktion, 2021).