It is rare that I get the chance to review a book with a herpetological theme (there aren’t many of them out there despite my best efforts to pitch my ideas to publishers), but that changes this week! Tadpole Hunter is a mix of research and memoir authored by Arnold Cooke, one of the most important amphibian researchers in Great Britain. Due to his health, I have never met Cooke but I have had plenty of correspondence with him, as his home for the past few decades has been Cambridgeshire, a county that I called home for 6 years, and one where I was intimately linked to amphibian conservation. This close connection to Cooke’s work made reading Tadpole Hunter more of a personal journey than it would for most, as I am familiar with some of the sites, and some of the research mentioned within. The there are the other scientists like Cooke that helped to understand more about the status of amphibians within Great Britain over the latter part of the 20th century, into the 21st, including someone I am very familiar with. Professor Richard Griffiths. For those of you that are unaware, this master of herpetological research was my PhD supervisors.
Tadpole Hunter begins with a brief historical sketch outlining the researchers prior to the 1960s, and what was known regarding the status of amphibians, before launching into a detailed overview of Cooke’s research, and how this impacted our understanding of these overlooked animals. Each chapter outlines a different aspect of Cooke’s research, and how this either influenced or was influenced by the actions of others. It is hard to deny just how much Cooke has had as a researcher over the past 50 years, and reading Tadpole Hunter helps to put all of that into perspective. What is also quite evident is how much we didn’t know 50 years ago, and how much we still don’t. This is both terrifying and also quite exciting. There are many avenues that other researchers (myself included), could help fill these gaps.
If you’re looking for a guide to the amphibians of Great Britain, this is not the book for you. It is written for a more technical audience, and is laced with references throughout. There are a number of these that I have not read, so I’ve been going through with a notepad and making sure I come back to these at some point, they’ll probably make up part of my winter reading. If you’re looking to understand more about the research and conservation of amphibians in Great Britain, the heritage of these endeavours, and get to know the men and women that carried out that work in a more personal way, then Tadpole Hunter is for you. The book is currently only available through Pelagic Publishing, and can be found here. If you’re as crazy about amphibians as I am (or you know someone that is), you’ll love Tadpole Hunter!
I just wanted to make clear that this isn’t a paid promotion, but I would like to thank Pelagic Publishing for sending me an advance copy to review. It’s only because I love the book so much, that I’m happy to promote it in this way through my own choice.
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