Released on 29th July
Notebooks from New Guinea: Reflections on life, nature, and science from the depths of the rainforest
By Vojtech Novotny
Vojtech Novotny a highly respected tropical biologist and the leader of an international team of researchers, whose work has provided such accepted estimates as the amount of insects living on our planet. He is also directing the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, recognised for its ecological research, which successfully unites western scientists and the tribal peoples of the New Guinea rainforests. As well as this, Novotny is Professor of Ecology at the University of South Bohemia and the Head of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
978-0-19-960964-2 | Paperback | 11th August 2011| £9.99
Vojtech Novotny a highly respected tropical biologist and the leader of an international team of researchers, whose work has provided such accepted estimates as the amount of insects living on our planet. He is also directing the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, recognised for its ecological research, which successfully unites western scientists and the tribal peoples of the New Guinea rainforests. As well as this, Novotny is Professor of Ecology at the University of South Bohemia and the Head of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Notebooks from New Guinea is a book about natural history and scientific research in the rainforest. Novotny studies the tropical ecology such as the interactions between butterflies and plants, as well as telling stories of his time in the most dangerous places on earth, such as his episodes when he fought bouts of malaria. This book is also about human nature, as Novotny himself is a shrewd observer of not only ecology, but humans also. He accounts the local peoples and their cultures, showing us that he is not an ordinary scientist surrounded by gleaming apparatus, but a delightful and original one who seeks his laboratory in the remotest parts of Papua New Guinea. The book’s reflections on science, nature, and human beings are accompanied by beautiful illustrations from Benson Avea Bego, a self-taught artist from a remote village.
Thorough insight into a much-misunderstood country, and a book that once started is virtually impossible to put down. - Jeff Wilson, BBC Wildlife
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
For an author interview, article, or review copy please contact chloe.foster@oup.com | 01865 353584
