Galapagos Crusoes by Bryan and June Nelson

This is kind of an unusual book. It is a new, less focused on the science and more focused on the experience, updated version of the celebrated 1968 title by the renowned late ornithologist Bryan Nelson, with additional, previously unpublished reminiscences and lively and irreverent memories from his wife June. Now, nearly 60 years later, June Nelson has extracted a more limited version of the story of that extraordinary year and complemented it with her own recollections. I am not sure what to make of it. It was the 1960's and maybe people, even naturalists, were doing ill advised things. On the one hand, it breathes new life into a classic work of natural history, and that will likely appeal to bird lovers and Galapagos -lovers alike. Although it is billed as a scientific study, the authors light touch and the extraordinary hardships and how they made do with living in total isolation with no means of rescue should things go wrong, make it a pretty good read. The couple’s research and findings remain relevant and interesting, so plenty of wildlife descriptions are retained, but it is the mischievous anecdotes that make you wonder exactly how much exacting science went on that year, and how much was just escaping everything and everyone.