Ebook: Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo

Kate Jackson is, as other reviewers have pointed out, a very gifted writer. She has a narrative voice that is not just about the scientific perspective of her work, but also the human side of things and how working with others was a key facet of her experience. I was in a class taught by Kate Jackson at the college I used to go to (Whitman) and found her lectures to be interesting and engaging, particularly when she discussed her personal experiences in herpetology and some of the less savory aspects of field research, such as larva and bugs, snake bites, and tarantulas. Her book does a great job of showing what daily life is like for herpetologists in the field, particularly in remote and less explored regions of the world such as the Congo. She includes pictures of some of the venomous snakes and other reptiles she caught, and documentation of areas she visited. Also, she gives a fair amount of background information that gives the reader insight on her lifelong passion for reptiles and how it has shaped her as a person. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in science, reptiles, natural history, or adventure.