A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth - Hardcover

Weinberg, Samantha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060194952 ISBN 13: 9780060194956

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

An examination of the fascinating political, scientific, and financial battles that followed the incredible 1938 discovery of the coelacanth, an evolutionary link between fish and reptiles long believed to be extinct, offers a thorough look at impact of that discovery.

About this title

Review

This witty account of the current state of play in the search for extant species of the coelacanth, the living fish which may be descended from the ancestors of all land life, starts, as it has to, with Marjorie Latimer, the curator of a small museum, who had been taught her palaeontology by very strict nuns. When a fisherman showed her an odd fish, she instantly recognised it as supposedly extinct for millions of years. Several years later, after endless promises of rewards, the first of many coelacanths was fished out of the sea round the Comoros--they were being thrown back since time immemorial because they are not good eating and have a strongly laxative effect. There followed an unedifying tale of national rivalry--South African and French skulduggery and national pride in dead fish--a risk of a final extinction caused by Chinese herbalists, and discoveries of more fish off Madagascar and Indonesia. Weinberg knows what is important and what is not, but does not let good stories go unnoticed all the same. Her command of the details is impressive--you come away knowing what the excitement was all about. The account is excellent and humane, if cute--and the cliffhangers about extinction and possible other habitats are exciting as well. --Roz Kaveney

Review

"Samantha Weinberg has written a lovely book about this discovery and What It All Means, and everybody ought to read it... This is terrific stuff, and even if you haven't given much thought recently to big, supposedly extinct fishes first found in East Africa and then in Indonesia, you ought to read this book. It will knock your socks off."-- Richard Ellis, London "Times"Weinberg knows what is important and what is not, but does not let good stories go unnoticed all the same. Her command of the details is impressive--you come away knowing what the excitement was all about. The account is excellent and humane...and the cliffhangers about extinction and possible other habitats are exciting as well."-- Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.ukA "fascinating study of an arcane subject and the scientists caught up in the adventure...full of incident and skulduggery. Weinberg holds us enthralled until the last page."-- "Tatler, London"The discovery of the coelacanth, as told in Samantha Weinberg's thrilling new book, reads like some classic Spielberg creation - Indiana Jones let loose in a real-life Jurassic Park."-- "The Mail on Sunday, London"this book has all the ingredients of a bestseller: a curious, four-limbed fish to which we probalby owe our own evolutionary existence, a host of eccentric icthyologists, Teutonic submariners, British adventurers, and a series of political and environmental imbroglios."-- Giles Foden, "Guardian, London"Weinberg's lively account of politics and serendipity in marine research helps you understand how even a fish could engender fanaticism."-- Richard Fortey, "Yorkshire Post, England"Samantha Weinberg's account of the many lives of the coelacanth has all the ingredientsof a great scientific story...rare mytical beasts, mad professors, last-minute mercy dashes, international piracy, high-level political intrigue, and richly satisfactory cast of supplementary cameos...Weinberg skillfully fills the narrative with educational asides and...sharp character sketches."-- Bella Bathurst, The "Scotsman, UK"a fascinating and accessible study of an arcane subject."-- "Literary Review, EnglandSamantha Weinberg "writes with enthusiasm and passion."-- Simon Singh, "The Sunday Telegraph"a fascinating tale...Samantha Weinberg uses her journalistic skills to weave an entertaining and well researched account of coelacanth mania."-- Gail Vines, "Independent, UKa "lively book...part natural history, part adventure story and...part evolutionary musing...garnished with great splashes of narrative color."-- The "Daily Telegraph, UK"Samantha Weinberg's "A Fish Caught in Time is like Dalva Sobel's "Longitude or Simon Winchester's "The Professor and the Madman--great fun to read yet seriously informative. All three of these journalist-authors know how to craft a good story."--Michael Dirda, "The Washington Post

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060194952
• ISBN 13: 9780060194956
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 220