An enthralling exploration of the biologically richest island on
Earth, featuring more than 200 spectacular color images by award-winning
National Geographic photographer Tim Laman
In this beautiful book, Bruce Beehler, a renowned author and expert on
New Guinea, and award-winning National Geographic photographer Tim
Laman take the reader on an unforgettable journey through the natural
and cultural wonders of the world's grandest island. Skillfully
combining a wealth of information, a descriptive and story-filled
narrative, and more than 200 stunning color photographs, the book
unlocks New Guinea's remarkable secrets like never before.
Lying between the Equator and Australia's north coast, and surrounded by
the richest coral reefs on Earth, New Guinea is the world's largest,
highest, and most environmentally complex tropical island--home to
rainforests with showy rhododendrons, strange and colorful orchids,
tree-kangaroos, spiny anteaters, ingenious bowerbirds, and spectacular
birds of paradise. New Guinea is also home to more than a thousand
traditional human societies, each with its own language and lifestyle,
and many of these tribes still live in isolated villages and serve as
stewards of the rainforests they inhabit.
Accessible and authoritative, New Guinea provides a comprehensive
introduction to the island's environment, animals, plants, and
traditional rainforest cultures. Individual chapters cover the island's
history of exploration; geology; climate and weather; biogeography;
plantlife; insects, spiders, and other invertebrates; freshwater fishes;
snakes, lizards, and frogs; birdlife; mammals; paleontology;
paleoanthropology; cultural and linguistic diversity; surrounding
islands and reefs; the pristine forest of the Foja Mountains; village
life; and future sustainability.
Complete with informative illustrations and a large, detailed map, New
Guinea offers an enchanting account of the island's unequalled natural
and cultural treasures.
