Steve's Herpetological Blog

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

#StevesLibrary

#StevesLibrary: Top 10 books on Rewilding

These Top 10 lists I’ve been writing every now and again seem to be popular, so I may try to write one every month or so. The topic of this list is books on rewilding. But what is it? Rewilding…

#StevesLibrary: Gone – Stories of Extinction

Many of you will be aware that I am extremely passionate about conservation and trying to prevent extinction. I do not feel that the majority of humans understand or have the ability to comprehend extinction and unfortunately a book a…

#StevesLibrary: Gathering Moss – A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

Regular readers of the blog will know that I am doing my best to try to combat plant-blindness. I’ve been visiting more botanical gardens and purchased some books on the topic of plant conservation. One of these is Robin Wall…

#StevesLibrary: Turing and the Universal Machine

Okay, time for something a little different. Jon Agar’s Turing and the Universal Machine: The Making of the Modern Computer is a concise, thoughtful entry in the Icons Science series that does more than recount the life of Alan Turing….

#StevesLibrary: Neurodivergent, By Nature

First of all must come a confession. This is a book that I have been reading since August and have had to go back through a couple of times in order to really absorb it. The main reason for this…

#StevesLibrary: Top 10 Books on De-extinction

De-extinction refers to the scientific process of bringing extinct species back to life through advanced techniques such as cloning, genetic engineering, or selective breeding. This concept has gained attention due to breakthroughs in biotechnology, like extracting viable DNA from preserved…

#StevesLibrary: Tortoise Husbandry and Welfare

There are few books out there that comprehensively summarise everything you need to know in order to provide your pet tortoise the best possible care. However, a new book titled Tortoise Husbandry and Welfare by Jane Williams bridges this gap…

#StevesLibrary: Top 10 Books on the Illegal Wildlife Trade

After a few conservations with some friends, I thought I’d do something a little different and put together a list of my Top 10 popular science books on the illegal wildlife trade. As a reminder, the illegal wildlife trade (IWT)…

#StevesLibrary: Entangled Life

To try to reduce my fungi-blindness from a conservation perspective, I recently read Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake. As someone that has studied pathogenic fungi for a number…

#StevesLibrary: Slime – A Natural History

If you’ve ever picked up a frog or held frogspawn, one word may come to mind to describe the sensation that you feel. Slime. I am no stranger to this feeling and so I was surprised recently when I found…