Part travelogue, part biography, An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles charts the discoveries of famous naturalist and explorer Alfred Russel Wallace. Born in 1823, Wallace devoted much time to fieldwork, first in the Amazon then in Asia. During his travels he identified what is known as the Wallace Line, which divides the flora and fauna of Asia from that which is a combination of both Australian and Asian origin. He is perhaps most famous for independently developing the theory of evolution due to natural selection.
Structured as"conversations around the campfire, based on common travel in the Malay archipelago", An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles skillfully interweaves tales of Wallace's travels and discoveries in with Paul Sochaczewski's own observations of the region. Offering unique insights into the magic of Southeast Asia, this book will appeal to armchair travellers and experienced globetrotters alike.
He is a gifted storyteller and the layers of thought, humor, history, commentary and outrageousness Sochaczewski has given us provides a very special view of Wallace that goes beyond biography, beyond travelogue, beyond memoir.
- Daniel Navid, international environment and development law expert, former UN diplomat
Paul Sochaczewski has shown us that the dreams can go live, if one just heads out and looks for the kinds of intriguing, bizarre, exciting, and mind-bending stories that he writes so well.
- Jeffrey McNeely, chief scientist, IUCN-International Union for Conservation of Nature
Paul Spencer Sochaczewski is a Bangkok-based writer and writing coach. He is also chairman and creative director of International Golf and Life Foundation, a Swiss-based NGO which promotes environmental and social responsibility in golf.
While with WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature International, Paul created global campaigns to protect rainforests and biological diversity and then developed the WWF Faith and Environment program.
He has written more than 600 by-lined articles for publications including the International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Travel and Leisure, CNN Traveller, Reader’s Digest, Destinasian and Geographical. He wrote Redheads, a comic conservation adventure set in a mythical sultanate on Borneo, The Sultan and the Mermaid Queen, which describes rarely written-about Asian people, places and events, Distant Greens, which looks at golf’s curious facets. Heco-authored two books with Jeff McNeely: Soul of the Tiger: Searching for Nature’s Answers in Southeast Asia, which examines the eco-cultural revolutions that have influenced people-nature relationships, and Eco-Bluff Your Way to Instant Environmental Credibility.
Paul wrote about the nature of Malaysia in Malaysia: Heart of Southeast Asia and served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Indonesian Heritage Encyclopedia. He was project initiator for Tanah Air: Celebrating Indonesia’s Biodiversity.
Website: www.sochaczewski.com
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