The Well-read Naturalist
@wellreadnaturalist.bsky.social
Mild mannered reviewer of #books on natural philosophy, #naturalhistory, #HistSci, & #HistMed. Gentleman naturalist. Tweedy. Beardy. Has been found out standing in many fields. Plays well with otters. (he/him; Gaian, polytheist) www.wellreadnaturalist.com
Pinned
From This Point
In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Jacobellis v. Ohio, involving whether the state government of Ohio could ban the showing of the Louis Malle film The Lovers (Les Amants), which the state h...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com
If you have an interest in astrobiology, astronomy, biology, Earth science, or simply enjoy reading a book that will cause you to say “Wow!” with great regularity whilst reading it, I very much encourage you to read "The Pale Blue Data Point" (@uchicagopress.bsky.social). #Booksky
Reposted by The Well-read Naturalist
A landmark account of the dynamics of living systems and the methods for studying them.
The new Princeton Science Library edition of Howard C. Berg's Random Walks in Biology is now available!
Learn more and explore a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Physics #Biology #ReadUP
The new Princeton Science Library edition of Howard C. Berg's Random Walks in Biology is now available!
Learn more and explore a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Physics #Biology #ReadUP
November 28, 2025 at 3:04 PM
A landmark account of the dynamics of living systems and the methods for studying them.
The new Princeton Science Library edition of Howard C. Berg's Random Walks in Biology is now available!
Learn more and explore a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Physics #Biology #ReadUP
The new Princeton Science Library edition of Howard C. Berg's Random Walks in Biology is now available!
Learn more and explore a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Physics #Biology #ReadUP
Absolutely! 😃📚📚📚
In LOSING EDEN Sara Dant debunks the myth of the American West as “Eden” and instead embraces a more realistic and complex understanding of the region.
Save 50% off this book and more during our Holiday Sale: bit.ly/UNPholiday2025
Save 50% off this book and more during our Holiday Sale: bit.ly/UNPholiday2025
November 28, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Absolutely! 😃📚📚📚
"Black Gold; The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal" (@ucpress.bsky.social) presents a detailed and multi-faceted narrative history of the industry that includes the effects it has had upon American society, organized labor, governmental policy, and U.S. natural resource management. #Booksky
Black Gold
In his new book "Black Gold; The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal," Prof. Bob Wyss presents a detailed and multi-faceted narrative history of the industry that includes the effects it has had up...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"Black Gold; The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal" (@ucpress.bsky.social) presents a detailed and multi-faceted narrative history of the industry that includes the effects it has had upon American society, organized labor, governmental policy, and U.S. natural resource management. #Booksky
Reposted by The Well-read Naturalist
FRANK FARLEY AND THE BIRDS OF ALBERTA emphasizes Farley’s role as an intermediary between bird lovers and academic ornithologists while highlighting the ecological transformations that occurred with prairie settlement.
https://bit.ly/4fLGh2E
##birders #birding #ornithology #environment
https://bit.ly/4fLGh2E
##birders #birding #ornithology #environment
November 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
FRANK FARLEY AND THE BIRDS OF ALBERTA emphasizes Farley’s role as an intermediary between bird lovers and academic ornithologists while highlighting the ecological transformations that occurred with prairie settlement.
https://bit.ly/4fLGh2E
##birders #birding #ornithology #environment
https://bit.ly/4fLGh2E
##birders #birding #ornithology #environment
Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my family, I'm heartened to see how it encompasses so much of what I hope the U.S.A. will one day fully embrace about itself: multi-racial, multi-cultural, LGBTIA+, and most importantly everything we learned from Sesame Street.
November 27, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my family, I'm heartened to see how it encompasses so much of what I hope the U.S.A. will one day fully embrace about itself: multi-racial, multi-cultural, LGBTIA+, and most importantly everything we learned from Sesame Street.
When I first published this essay in 2014 about Dr. Franklin having been opposed to the Bald Eagle as the national bird of the U.S.A. and proposing the Wild Turkey instead, I never expected it to become so uncomfortably relevant in 2025. #Thanksgiving
www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2014/11/benj...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2014/11/benj...
Benjamin Franklin on Hereditary Honors, Eagles, and Turkeys
You've likely heard many times that Benjamin Franklin would have preferred the Wild Turkey as the official bird of the United States rather than the American Bald Eagle. Unfortunately, the manner in w...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
When I first published this essay in 2014 about Dr. Franklin having been opposed to the Bald Eagle as the national bird of the U.S.A. and proposing the Wild Turkey instead, I never expected it to become so uncomfortably relevant in 2025. #Thanksgiving
www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2014/11/benj...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2014/11/benj...
Dame Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock's enthusiasm in this @rigb.org podcast for her subject and her journey in science is both inspirational and infectious. I very much look forward to hearing her Christmas Lectures! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
Tripping the light fantastic: Space science and 200 years of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES - with Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Podcast Episode · Ri Science Podcast · 11/26/2025 · 45m
podcasts.apple.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Dame Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock's enthusiasm in this @rigb.org podcast for her subject and her journey in science is both inspirational and infectious. I very much look forward to hearing her Christmas Lectures! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
This looks to be a very interesting book indeed! #Booksky
Daniel Hahn's Worlds of Wonder takes you on a beautifully illustrated journey through the most beloved classics of children’s literature, spanning more than 20 countries and 150 years.
Out now. Learn more and order a copy today—just in time for the holidays!
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Out now. Learn more and order a copy today—just in time for the holidays!
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
November 26, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This looks to be a very interesting book indeed! #Booksky
Reposted by The Well-read Naturalist
The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Plants is now available worldwide!
Discover a dazzlingly illustrated guide to the plant life of the dinosaur age, from intricate ferns to the most majestic megaflora:
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#Nature #FieldGuide #Plants #Mesozoic #Paleontology
Discover a dazzlingly illustrated guide to the plant life of the dinosaur age, from intricate ferns to the most majestic megaflora:
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#Nature #FieldGuide #Plants #Mesozoic #Paleontology
November 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Plants is now available worldwide!
Discover a dazzlingly illustrated guide to the plant life of the dinosaur age, from intricate ferns to the most majestic megaflora:
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#Nature #FieldGuide #Plants #Mesozoic #Paleontology
Discover a dazzlingly illustrated guide to the plant life of the dinosaur age, from intricate ferns to the most majestic megaflora:
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#Nature #FieldGuide #Plants #Mesozoic #Paleontology
Pornographic songbooks‽ 😳
Indeed; 'twas so. Learn more in this @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social interview with Prof. Sarah Bull about her book "Selling Sexual Knowledge: Medical Publishing and Obscenity in Victorian Britain" (@universitypress.cambridge.org). #Booksky #HistSci #HistMed
Indeed; 'twas so. Learn more in this @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social interview with Prof. Sarah Bull about her book "Selling Sexual Knowledge: Medical Publishing and Obscenity in Victorian Britain" (@universitypress.cambridge.org). #Booksky #HistSci #HistMed
Sarah Bull,
Podcast Episode · New Books in the History of Science · 06/30/2025 · 44m
podcasts.apple.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Pornographic songbooks‽ 😳
Indeed; 'twas so. Learn more in this @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social interview with Prof. Sarah Bull about her book "Selling Sexual Knowledge: Medical Publishing and Obscenity in Victorian Britain" (@universitypress.cambridge.org). #Booksky #HistSci #HistMed
Indeed; 'twas so. Learn more in this @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social interview with Prof. Sarah Bull about her book "Selling Sexual Knowledge: Medical Publishing and Obscenity in Victorian Britain" (@universitypress.cambridge.org). #Booksky #HistSci #HistMed
70% off‽ 😲
November 26, 2025 at 2:18 PM
70% off‽ 😲
I don't know what punishment awaits in the afterlife for whomever invented the gasoline-powered lead blower, but I hope it is particularly nasty.
a cartoon of spongebob squarepants holding a fire extinguisher
ALT: a cartoon of spongebob squarepants holding a fire extinguisher
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I don't know what punishment awaits in the afterlife for whomever invented the gasoline-powered lead blower, but I hope it is particularly nasty.
I heartily recommend every one of these very interesting and informative books. 🏆 #Booksky
In need of some new trivia or interesting conversation starters for the Christmas dinner table? Discover more about the fascinating (and sometimes bizarre) ways that medieval people perceived the natural world in our Medieval Animals series.
📚 www.uwp.co.uk/nadolig-chri...
📚 www.uwp.co.uk/nadolig-chri...
November 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I heartily recommend every one of these very interesting and informative books. 🏆 #Booksky
My wallet right now:
November 25, 2025 at 4:24 PM
My wallet right now:
Both are excellent choices indeed!
Thrilled to see two PUP science titles on the @wsj.com Holiday Gift Books: Science guide! Find out why Intraterrestrials and Sharks would make great gifts for the natural history lovers in your life: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Both are excellent choices indeed!
While David Runciman's @ppfideas.bsky.social podcast isn't specifically about natural history, he does sometimes take it up as a topic, as in this new episode in which Henry Gee ("The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire" from @panmacmillan.bsky.social) is interviewed.
The Rise and Fall of Homo Sapiens
Podcast Episode · Past Present Future · 11/23/2025 · 54m
podcasts.apple.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
While David Runciman's @ppfideas.bsky.social podcast isn't specifically about natural history, he does sometimes take it up as a topic, as in this new episode in which Henry Gee ("The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire" from @panmacmillan.bsky.social) is interviewed.
The number of holiday book sales announcements is increasing rapidly. I'm trying to amplify those with large natural history lists but there are just too many for me to keep up with them all. 😵💫 #Booksky
November 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The number of holiday book sales announcements is increasing rapidly. I'm trying to amplify those with large natural history lists but there are just too many for me to keep up with them all. 😵💫 #Booksky
Reposted by The Well-read Naturalist
Nominations are open for the BSHS Pickstone Prize 2026, recognising the best scholarly English-language book in the history of science.
📆 Deadline: 31 Jan 2026.
Anyone may nominate (self-nominations welcome).
Submit via our online form on the BSHS website www.bshs.org.uk/the-bshs-pic...
📆 Deadline: 31 Jan 2026.
Anyone may nominate (self-nominations welcome).
Submit via our online form on the BSHS website www.bshs.org.uk/the-bshs-pic...
November 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Nominations are open for the BSHS Pickstone Prize 2026, recognising the best scholarly English-language book in the history of science.
📆 Deadline: 31 Jan 2026.
Anyone may nominate (self-nominations welcome).
Submit via our online form on the BSHS website www.bshs.org.uk/the-bshs-pic...
📆 Deadline: 31 Jan 2026.
Anyone may nominate (self-nominations welcome).
Submit via our online form on the BSHS website www.bshs.org.uk/the-bshs-pic...
As @soundmirrors.bsky.social asked but has replies disabled in the post containing the question, yes, the Loeb Classical Library edition of the Natural History, complete and unabridged to the best of my knowledge, is in ten volumes from @harvardpress.bsky.social. www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
November 24, 2025 at 10:08 PM
As @soundmirrors.bsky.social asked but has replies disabled in the post containing the question, yes, the Loeb Classical Library edition of the Natural History, complete and unabridged to the best of my knowledge, is in ten volumes from @harvardpress.bsky.social. www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
On this date in 1859, the first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was published by John Murray. All 1,250 copies sold immediately.
There are many options today for reading its eventual six editions. I prefer this one published by the @nhm-london.bsky.social. #Booksky
There are many options today for reading its eventual six editions. I prefer this one published by the @nhm-london.bsky.social. #Booksky
On the Origin of Species (Natural History Museum Facsimile Edition)
If you're like me, you may very well have more than one copy of some of your favorite books. Perhaps they are different editions, perhaps one is a loaner and the other your prized copy. In the case of...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
On this date in 1859, the first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was published by John Murray. All 1,250 copies sold immediately.
There are many options today for reading its eventual six editions. I prefer this one published by the @nhm-london.bsky.social. #Booksky
There are many options today for reading its eventual six editions. I prefer this one published by the @nhm-london.bsky.social. #Booksky
"The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America" (@liveright.bsky.social / @wwnorton.com) by @dhbaron.bsky.social is the subject of the new @planetarysociety.bsky.social Book Club Edition podcast. #Booksky #astronomy
www.planetary.org/planetary-ra...
www.planetary.org/planetary-ra...
Book Club Edition: The Martians by David Baron
Author David Baron has written the definitive, true story of a time when nearly everyone in America was utterly convinced there was a supremely…
www.planetary.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America" (@liveright.bsky.social / @wwnorton.com) by @dhbaron.bsky.social is the subject of the new @planetarysociety.bsky.social Book Club Edition podcast. #Booksky #astronomy
www.planetary.org/planetary-ra...
www.planetary.org/planetary-ra...
Reposted by The Well-read Naturalist
'All who read him will learn much on Britain's landscapes and those that once inhabited them'.
An excellent review of Stephen Knight's 'Nature and Medieval Literature' in Mediaevistik!
Read the full review here: www.peterlang.com/document/167...
An excellent review of Stephen Knight's 'Nature and Medieval Literature' in Mediaevistik!
Read the full review here: www.peterlang.com/document/167...
November 24, 2025 at 9:57 AM
'All who read him will learn much on Britain's landscapes and those that once inhabited them'.
An excellent review of Stephen Knight's 'Nature and Medieval Literature' in Mediaevistik!
Read the full review here: www.peterlang.com/document/167...
An excellent review of Stephen Knight's 'Nature and Medieval Literature' in Mediaevistik!
Read the full review here: www.peterlang.com/document/167...
Reposted by The Well-read Naturalist
It's officially gift buying season!
We've updated our top picks for beautiful little nature #books, ideal as stocking fillers or an extra delight for hard-to-buy-for friends.
Check out our full list here & solve your gifting woes early this year:
uk.bookshop.org/lists/stocki...
#NatureWriting
📚💙
We've updated our top picks for beautiful little nature #books, ideal as stocking fillers or an extra delight for hard-to-buy-for friends.
Check out our full list here & solve your gifting woes early this year:
uk.bookshop.org/lists/stocki...
#NatureWriting
📚💙
November 24, 2025 at 11:20 AM
It's officially gift buying season!
We've updated our top picks for beautiful little nature #books, ideal as stocking fillers or an extra delight for hard-to-buy-for friends.
Check out our full list here & solve your gifting woes early this year:
uk.bookshop.org/lists/stocki...
#NatureWriting
📚💙
We've updated our top picks for beautiful little nature #books, ideal as stocking fillers or an extra delight for hard-to-buy-for friends.
Check out our full list here & solve your gifting woes early this year:
uk.bookshop.org/lists/stocki...
#NatureWriting
📚💙
Happy Fibonacci Day to all those celebrating. (November 23 = 11/23).
The date November 23, 5813 will be particularly auspicious, if any numerate humans are still around then, of course.
The date November 23, 5813 will be particularly auspicious, if any numerate humans are still around then, of course.
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Happy Fibonacci Day to all those celebrating. (November 23 = 11/23).
The date November 23, 5813 will be particularly auspicious, if any numerate humans are still around then, of course.
The date November 23, 5813 will be particularly auspicious, if any numerate humans are still around then, of course.
After what I see as a rather long hiatus since the last major updates of two of the cornerstone field guides to the birds of North America, Peterson and Sibley, the third, National Geographic, has recently published a new, fully revised, significantly expanded, and extensively updated 8th Edition.
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of the United States and Canada, 8th Edition
After what I see as a rather long hiatus since the last major updates of two of the cornerstone field guides to the birds of North America, Peterson and Sibley, I was particularly pleased to learn tha...
www.wellreadnaturalist.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
After what I see as a rather long hiatus since the last major updates of two of the cornerstone field guides to the birds of North America, Peterson and Sibley, the third, National Geographic, has recently published a new, fully revised, significantly expanded, and extensively updated 8th Edition.