Steve's Herpetological Blog

An insight into the life of Steve, his research and the many books he reads

Steven Allain

#StevesLibrary: The Body

Bill Bryson is one of those authors that I respect for taking on the challenge of writing books on the most impossible topics. The Body: A Guide for Occupants is no exception. How on Earth do you go about summarising…

#SciFri: Visiting the Maidstone Museum

It’s always great when you’re out and about, and you stumble across an amazing local museum. That’s what happened recently when visiting Maidstone recently. I hadn’t really been before, and wanted to have it crossed off of my list, while…

#StevesLibrary: Winged Obsession

There aren’t many books out there on the illegal wildlife trade, which is a shame as it is an interesting and often overlooked area of conservation. Some of you may remember back to last summer when I read Stolen Worlds,…

#StevesLibrary: Silent Spring

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, especially being a conservationist. Thankfully, I finally have and I’m glad I did. Despite the fact that Silent Spring was published 60 years ago,…

#StevesLibrary: The Soul of an Octopus

It isn’t often that you read a book that makes you revaluate the relationship between humans and animals, as much as The Soul of an Octopus did. I’m not going to lie, for a while I had a fear of…

#SteveReviews: The Green Planet

We have been blessed in recent years with a number of new landmark series featuring Sir David Attenborough. Now, with The Green Planet, plants can finally step out of the shadow of animals and delight us in all of their…

#StevesLibrary: Sex, Botany and Empire

After reading The Naming of the Shrew recently, I was eager to find our more about Carl Linnaeus in an easily digestible format. That is where Sex, Botany & Empire comes in. The author, Patricia Fara is a historian of…

#StevesLibrary: The Book of Humans

A book that has been waiting patiently on my bookcase for me to read for a while, is The Book of Humans by Adam Rutherford. If you’re familiar with Rutherford, then you’ll know that he’s an intelligent and witty communicator….

#StevesLibrary: The Naming of the Shrew

There are many things that you learn during the course of a zoology degree, and the subsequent years regarding the scientific naming of animals and plants. These include such facts as the binomial system of taxonomy that we use today…

#StevesLibrary: The Drunken Forest

I had to end 2021 on a positive note, and so I chose to read The Drunken Forest by Gerald Durrell, for the simple fact that Durrell’s writing is always something that helps fill you with optimism and hope. Durrell…