Dragonflies: Magnificent Creatures of Water, Air, and Land, by Pieter van Dokkum
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Dragonflies: Magnificent Creatures of Water, Air, and Land, by Pieter van Dokkum
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Almost without our noticing, dragonflies dart through our world, flying, seeing, hunting, mating. Their lives are as mysterious as their gossamer wings are beautiful. In this book Pieter van Dokkum reveals many of the dragonfly’s secrets, capturing the stages of this striking insect’s life cycle in unprecedented close-up photographs. He documents scenes of dragonfly activity seldom witnessed and rarely photographed. The book begins on a moonlit summer night, when an alien-looking larva crawls out of the water and transforms into a fully formed dragonfly. In the following chapters we witness dew-covered dragonflies sparkling in the morning sun, then a pair of mating dragonflies moving through the air in a twelve-legged, eight-winged dance. In the final chapter, one generation dies as the next prepares to leave the water and begin its own winged journey. Each stage is documented through van Dokkum’s inquisitive lens and accompanied by information on various species of dragonflies and damselflies, their metamorphosis, and their ecological importance as insect predators.
Dragonflies: Magnificent Creatures of Water, Air, and Land, by Pieter van Dokkum- Amazon Sales Rank: #197034 in Books
- Brand: Van Dokkum, Pieter
- Published on: 2015-03-31
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.50" h x 26.00" w x 10.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 176 pages
Review “As a coffee table book, Dragonflies is the first of its kind. It successfully brings dragonfly biology to the large numbers of people currently interested in these insects primarily for artistic or spiritual reasons.”—Pamela Hunt, Audubon Society of New Hampshire (Pamela Hunt 2014-08-13)“After experiencing dragonflies’ lives—from benignly smiling, ravenous nymphs to stunt-flying adults to raggedy corpses—through Pieter van Dokkum’s eyes, you’ll never see them the same way again.”—Leslie Brunetta, co-author of Spider Silk: Evolution and 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating (Leslie Brunetta 2014-08-22)“These exquisite photographs literally fly off the page and reinforce the maxim that a picture really is worth a thousand words.”—Aaron M. Ellison, author of A Field Guide to the Ants of New England (Aaron M. Ellison 2014-08-22)“Pieter van Dokkum has created a lovely book about dragon- and damselflies suitable for any newcomer to dragonfly watching who is interested in learning all the basics of odonate biology and ecology.”—Maria Aliberti Lubertazzi, science faculty at Rhode Island School of Design (Maria Aliberti Lubertazzi 2014-08-25)“Van Dokkum's vivid compilation of photographs is a treat for nature lovers. The accompanying text is poetically written and a fascinating introduction to the distinct characteristics of these creatures.”?Library Journal, starred review (Library Journal)“This book reveals the beautiful variety of meadowhawks, pondhawks, skimmers, darners, and other types of dragonflies.”?Booklist (Booklist)“[Van Dokkum’s] photography has the feel of watercolor sketches; the photos show what we might see perched along the side of a pond, if we were to pause for a while . . . A great introduction into the world of dragonflies.”—Gwen Pearson, Wired.com (Gwen Pearson Wired.com)“van Dokkum’s splendid photography volume . . . [is] an indispensable addition to the literature of ordonates.”—Sam Sacks, Open Letters Monthly (Sam Sacks Open Letters Monthly)“With such engaging morsels at each turn of the page, Dragonflies is a feast for the mind as well as the eyes.”—American Scientist (American Scientist)
About the Author Pieter van Dokkum is Sol Goldman Family Professor of Astronomy and chair of the Astronomy Department at Yale University. He is a regular user of the world’s most powerful telescopes, and his astronomical images have been widely published. He is also an expert in insect photography, with a focus on dragonflies. He lives in New Haven, CT.
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Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Lovely Tribute By David Wineberg Disclosure: dragonflies are now and have always been my favorite insects. I remember dragonflies landing on my arms or hands or legs, lowering their wings and sharing the warmth of my skin on a cool August afternoon. I remember them allowing me to get right in their faces with a macro lens and letting me snap a photo of their gigantic, panoramic eyes. Or coming down over them to get a close-up of their stained glass wings. I adore watching them hover and suddenly backflip and snatch a fly and come back to position to eat it in the air right in front of me. Any book that documents their lifecycle with spectacular close-ups will win favor with me.Unlike cuddly mammals, insect babies are not cute. But it is most fascinating to learn how the dragonfly morphs into its adult state all in the course of one night, (relatively) safe from birds and other predators in the dark. Van Dokkum even has underwater shots of dragonfly nymphs, wingless, totally unrecognizable, nowhere near the masters of the sky they will become, if they survive defenseless under water.This is a coffee table book, not meant to cover all 450 types of dragonfly in the USA, let alone the thousands worldwide. But it is a colorful tribute to a versatile, ancient, and most beneficial component of our existence.David Wineberg
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Oh beautiful dragonfly... By Cherie Barstow This is one of the few non-fiction books I've read this year. I usually stick to fiction for the escape from reality it provides, but I do like to indulge in some good non-fiction now and again, especially if it relates to a subject I am particularly passionate about. And dragonflies are indeed one of those passions... beautiful, splendid, awe-inspiring dragonflies!!!I have been an avid lover of dragonflies for a long time. When I lived in the Boston area, I was surrounded by many more dragonflies than I have been since moving to California, probably due to the lack of ponds, marshes, and streams in the immediate vicinity of where I live now. And I do very much miss seeing them on a daily basis, precluding winter of course, like I used to.Dragonflies are often seen as a symbol of change, reflecting a profound understanding on the deeper meaning of life, due to their metamorphosis from nymph to adult, and the fact that their underwater nymph stage is very different from their adult life spent soaring through the air. There is plenty of other symbolism associated with the dragonfly, but more often than not, these symbols deal with self-actualization and strength, particularly the strength to make positive change in yourself. The site http://www.dragonfly-site.com/meaning-symbolize.html describes a lot of the symbolism I've come to associate with dragonflies over the years. When I moved from Massachusetts to California, and made some major life changes in the process, I got a dragonfly tattoo on my ankle which spoke to me of these very same changes I was experiencing in my own life. But I digress...I found this book quite informative and interesting, filling me in on several facts about these graceful, elegant insects, all without getting too bogged down with scientific and technical terms. For example, did you know that the majority of a dragonfly's lifespan is actually spent underwater in their nymph stage? The adult dragonfly, once it's gone through it's metamorphosis, is usually only a few months beyond that. This book is not a field guide, but instead geared towards the layman dragonfly lover or beginning hobbyist, those who love these mysterious and transformative creatures as much as I do, and want to learn as much as they can about them. It's filled with page after page of beautifully photographed images, all while explaining their life cycle, hunting habits, mating habits, and lots more. If you live in the Northeastern United States, you may recognize a lot of the dragonfly species photographed within its pages as this is where the author hails from, and he claims that about 1/3 of the photographs were taken from the pond near his home. The remainder come from various locations in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, and The Netherlands.I think this would make a great coffee table book, the pictures within so fascinating to look at again and again. At the end of this 176 page volume is an appendix with specific recommendations for further reading, especially useful if you wish to further study dragonflies in the field.This book will be published in March 2015, by Yale University Press, and I may well pick up a hardcover copy at that time. For now however, I am extremely grateful to NetGalley and Yale University Press for allowing me to review an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this exquisite, exceptional book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Dancer on the Wind: By LastRanger This little coffee-table book is truly extraordinary! With absolutely stunning micro and macro photography author Pieter van Dokkum introduces you to one of the world's most amazing predators, the dragonfly. These winged warriors have been around for millions of years and are so well adapted to their environment that they have changed very little since they first took wing during the Carboniferous Period. Having honed his photography skills as an Astrophotographer while working his "day job" as Professor of Astronomy at Yale, Dokkum can often be found out tramping around a local state park photographing insects, especially dragonflies and mayflies. Starting with the dragonfly nymph stage Dokkum follows the life cycle of these amazing insects from birth through metamorphous to reproduction and finally, death. "Dragonflies: Magnificent Creatures of Water, Air, and Land" was not meant to be a biology text-book or a field guid but it still provides the reader with some rather interesting "Nature Lore". Divided up into eight chapters, the pictures and brief essays share some of Dokkum's observations and knowledge for an intimate look at the Odonata order. I can't say enough good things about these beautiful pictures. The Portraits and anatomical studies are true works of art. The shots of dragonflies all frosted with the dew are breathtaking and the level of detail for the wings and eyes reveal the secrets of flight and vision. The book opens with what looks to be a woodcut by Nel Koen, recalling latter day images of Fairies and Wood Sprites. Look for a two page spread comparing a modern day dragonfly to a Cretaceous fossil, both done in black and white in amazing detail. Anyone who has tried to photograph small, flying, songbirds will appreciate the difficulty that Dokkum experienced when catching these speedy insects "on the wing". I could go on but this is a book that you really need to see for yourself. If book size is an issue for you just know this one is a bit smaller that the usual coffee-table book, but I can't see anyone being disappointed in the final product.Last Range
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