Do you want to know why Mediterranean fish are shrinking, Yellowstone elk are growing enormous racks and elephants are being born tuskless? Then, this book is for you. Learn other fascinating stuff, such as how wolves became dogs, why studying GMOs can be detrimental to scientists' careers and why Little Red Riding Hood should avoid sitting at isolated bus stops. You might also want to know how seventeenth century Native Americans were aware that a nearby volcano had erupted 7,000 years ago, how we know that the deadly poisonous water hemlock plant tastes sweet and why you do not have to starve to death if lost in a swamp. You will also learn why a well-known wilderness survival teacher never wears shoes nor goes anywhere without a supply of Trojan brand condoms. In stories, adventures and essays such as the "Incredible Shrinking Megafauna," "My Son the Indian" and "The Pleistocene Massacres" he reveals many secrets of nature and science. All this and other fascinating, funny and informative information awaits you if you read Sleeping With Wolves by Doctor Ken Fischman, a retired Geneticist, kayaker, and survival teacher. You will also meet in his book some bazaar and colorful characters who are trying to save the world by teaching kids how to break rocks, start fires without matches and dig a rather large hole in the snow on top of a mountain during a raging blizzard. I know that you cannot resist this. Do not even try as Dr. Fischman follows nimbly in the tracks of science and nature authors like Stephen J. Gould, David Quammen, Loren Eisley and Jared Diamond in sharing important information with the reader in a readable and often hilarious way.
About the Author: Ken Fischman was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he had the privilege of watching the almost mythological Jackie Robinson-led Brooklyn Dodgers. He also wandered the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens as a child where he saw rabbits being pursued in the brambles by fiery red foxes. These almost magical experiences helped shape the person he grew up to be, hopefully for the better. He has a Ph.D. in Genetics. His last professional position was at Columbia University Medical School, where he taught and did research on the effects of environmental agents on DNA and chromosomes. He has been a white water canoeist and kayaker and founded the Columbia University Kayak Cub. He was the first Vice President of New York Rivers United, an organization devoted to preserving our rivers. Dr. Fischman has taught wilderness survival skills and awareness. He has a long-standing interest in the culture of hunter-gatherers and the roles of predators, especially wolves, in ecosystems. His passion for Nature has led him to write and teach about a wide variety of environmental issues. He authors the website, Ancient Pathways To A Sustainable Future. He and his wife, Lanie Johnson who is an artist, currently live in a cabin surrounded by wildlife and forest a few miles from Sandpoint, Idaho.