tert Url) Ur BbeOsNe BRB Ust te h-TiyN 15 
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A NATURALIST IN ALASKA, by Adolph Murie. Illustrated by Olaus J. Murie, 
with photographs by the author and Charles J. Ott. Published by the 
Devin-Adair Co., 23 East 26th St., New York, N.Y., December, 1961. 
314 pp.; 28 chapt.; 28 halftones; numerous line drawings; 6” x 8%”; 
indexed. $6.50. 
Adolph Murie has explored the Alaskan wilderness at intervals since 
1922, studying its wildlife and plants as Field Research Biologist for the 
National Park Service. He has gained an intimacy with the animals and 
birds, the tundra and the magnificent scenery of Mount McKinley National 
Park, that can hardly be equalled. He and his older brother, Olaus (well 
known as a Director and President of the Wilderness Society), ventured 
deep into the Alaskan interior with dog-sled and snowshoes, studying the 
vast, primitive landscape for months at a time. Out of this experience 
has come an absorbing and enjoyable chronicle of the natural history of 
our 49th state. 
I would not place Adolph Murie in the front rank of the great nature 
writers — his phraseology lacks the poetry of W. H. Hudson, ‘the philoso- 
phy of John Burroughs, the finesse of Donald Culross Peattie — but Murie 
is an excellent reporter. His stories of encounters with grizzly bears, lynxes, 
wolves, and other wild animals make exciting reading. Many of the chap- 
ters are devoted to his experiences with one species, such as grizzlies, moose, 
wolverines, haymice, Dall sheep, cranes, and caribou. The author presents 
his original findings on the behavior and life history of these animals, so 
strange and distant to us, so familiar to him. 
The line drawings by Olaus Murie are a little crude, but add much to 
the text. For years Charles Ott has been an outstanding contributor to the 
Chicago International Exhibition of Nature Photography and other camera 
salons; some of his pictures in this volume have won many awards and are 
worth careful study. 
Adolph Murie mentions the problems that have begun to develop as our 
civilization spreads across Alaska, and he emphasizes the importance of 
preserving adequate amounts of the wilderness now, before man has had 
an opportunity to change it: “. .. It is not only the outward beauty of 
Alaska that we must think about when considering its future; we must 
also think of its native wildness — its wilderness spirit. This we cannot 
improve. The problem is to preserve it.” 
Altogether, A Naturalist in Alaska is a first-rate book, one you can 
read with sustained interest and pleasure. 
Paul H. Lobik, 22W681 Tamarack Drive, Glen Ellyn, III. 
ft ft ft 
PEOPLE! by William Vogt. Published by Bartholomew House; available in 
paper-back through Hillman McFadden, 205 East 42nd Street, New 
Work 17, N.Y. 207 pp. 50¢. 
This hard-hitting, pull-no-punches book deals primarily with 'the popula- 
tion explosion and its inevitable consequences of lowered living standards 
and destruction of resources. The reader is often smothered in statistics 
and finds only rare references to nature, conservation, or wildlife. On a 
few occasions, the author warns of urban sprawl surrounding and absorb- 
ing great areas of natural habitat, certainly not a new or original ob- 
servation. 
