I suspect it has now been a month or two ago since I first noted a reference to the forthcoming publication by Princeton University Press of the first volumes in their The Lives of the Natural World series. I distinctly recall being very curious to learn more, and eagerly awaited the formal announcement of what the series would be presenting about its subjects, as well of course as what subjects it would include.
Then just this past fortnight freshly printed copies the first two volumes in this series reached my desk: The Lives of Fungi and The Lives of Moths (more about this latter volume in a separate Newly Noted entry).
Dr. Britt Bunyard‘s new The Lives of Fungi; A Natural History of Our Planet’s Decomposers was the first volume of this pair that I picked up for a quick examination. Filled with full page color images, and detailed illustrations and diagrams supporting its explanatory text, this book looks to have most everything the serious naturalist, as well as the dedicated undergraduate, would want in an introductory work that upon completion of a thorough reading would serve as the foundation for further reading in much more extensive and specialized books.
Not a formal textbook in the traditional sense, but organized following a logical structure that begins with foundational chapters on core topics such as what fungi are and how they reproduce, and then moves into more thematically written chapters presenting fungi in their relationships with other forms of life – including us – The Lives of Fungi is a book that I’m very much looking forward to spending time with in the weeks to come.
