Alan C. Ziegler. Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution. University of Hawai`i Press: 2002. xviii + 477 pages (including index). $59.00 cloth.
Anyone working in the environmental field in Hawai`i will sooner or later (and almost always sooner) cross the paths of a handful of people whose combined wisdom, knowledge, and breadth and depth of experience are staggering. And for most of the 35 years he has lived and worked in the islands, Alan Ziegler has been one of those people. Now, finally, the University of Hawai`i has published the book he has been working on for years. I would not dare say it commits to paper all that Ziegler knows about Hawai`i, since his knowledge is so encyclopedic. Yet it certainly gives most of us all that we could possibly want to know – and if we want to know more than he provides, helpful, comprehensive references at the end of each chapter give readers the means to do just this.
Inevitably, some of the territory covered in the book has been trod before. Sherwin Carlquist’s Hawai`i, a Natural History may have been the first modern effort, followed by the anthologies edited by E. Alison Kay and, most recently, the third edition of the Atlas of Hawai`i, edited by Sonia and Jim Juvik. Ziegler freely and generously acknowledges his debt to all these and more. As he writes in the introduction, “no single one of these publications É contains up-to-date coverage of all the relevant subjects, including related ecological and evolutionary aspects. Nor do most simultaneously maintain the depth of discussion at a relatively uniform level. Thus, this volume was prepared in an attempt to fill these perceived needs.”
But more than updating past natural histories, Ziegler broadens his reach to include archaeology and anthropology (building on the work of Patrick Kirch), history, and government. Finally, he includes a chapter on the very development of natural history in Hawai`i, chronicling the work of Hawaiians, explorers, missionaries, surveyors, and businessmen who strove in their own ways to understand the islands’ geology, flora, and fauna.
One of the outstanding qualities of Alan Ziegler has been his willingness to become politically engaged. It is a quality that has set him apart from many of his colleagues who seem to fear such engagement would damage their reputation or hinder chances for academic advance. Ziegler, who was head of the Vertebrate Zoology Division of the Bernice Pauahi Museum in Honolulu, has participated as a plaintiff in legal action and was for years the main obstacle standing between Hawai`i and introduction of freshwater eels. Yet in no way have these stands, or countless others Ziegler has taken over the course of his third of a century of work in Hawai`i, compromised the deserved respect he receives from his peers.
Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution was written with the idea it might serve as a college textbook. It is admirably suited to this purpose. But unlike many college texts, the book also will be a valuable reference work on any library shelf, and for lay persons as well as specialists.
To those who have had the pleasure of Ziegler’s acquaintance, Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution confirms his rightful place in the pantheon of pioneers in Hawaiian geology and biology. The book’s eminently literate narration conjures up Ziegler’s own voice. To all others, the book will be only the most encyclopedic, authoritative account of Hawaiian natural history published to date.
— Patricia Tummons
Volume 13, Number 8 February 2003
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