Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American FrontierThroughout the nineteenth century, swarms of locusts regularly swept across the continent, turning noon into dusk, demolishing farm communities, and bringing trains to a halt as the crushed bodies of insects greased the rails. In 1876, the U.S. Congress declared the locust "the single greatest impediment to the settlement of the country." From the Dakotas to Texas, from California to Iowa, the swarms pushed thousands of settlers to the brink of starvation, prompting the federal government to enlist some of the greatest scientific minds of the day and thereby jumpstarting the fledgling science of entomology. Over the next few decades, the Rocky Mountain locust suddenly -- and mysteriously -- vanished. A century later, Jeffrey Lockwood set out to discover why. Unconvinced by the reigning theories, he searched for new evidence in musty books, crumbling maps, and crevassed glaciers, eventually piecing together the elusive answer: A group of early settlers unwittingly destroyed the locust's sanctuaries just as the insect was experiencing a natural population crash. Drawing on historical accounts and modern science, Locust brings to life the cultural, economic, and political forces at work in America in the late-nineteenth century, even as it solves one of the greatest ecological mysteries of our time. |
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... insect shaped the history of the western United States. A compelling narrative drawing on historical accounts and modern science, this beautifully written book brings to life the cultural, economic, and political forces at work in ...
... insect shaped the history of the western United States. A compelling narrative drawing on historical accounts and modern science, this beautifully written book brings to life the cultural, economic, and political forces at work in ...
Page xviii
... insect, and it leapt to the ground. As it fluttered back into the air, he knew—although he'd never before seen—what formed the cloud that was now filling the horizon. We can readily imagine his growing fear as another ten insects pelted ...
... insect, and it leapt to the ground. As it fluttered back into the air, he knew—although he'd never before seen—what formed the cloud that was now filling the horizon. We can readily imagine his growing fear as another ten insects pelted ...
Page xix
... insects. Beyond that, the corn was being stripped bare, he could see a dozen rows into the field. His gaze lifted to the horizon—as thousands of insects continued to drop onto the land, millions more streamed overhead. He fell to his ...
... insects. Beyond that, the corn was being stripped bare, he could see a dozen rows into the field. His gaze lifted to the horizon—as thousands of insects continued to drop onto the land, millions more streamed overhead. He fell to his ...
Page xx
The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier Jeffrey A. Lockwood ... insects. This approach surely decimated local pockets of the pest and provided a hearty sense of revenge, but ...
The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier Jeffrey A. Lockwood ... insects. This approach surely decimated local pockets of the pest and provided a hearty sense of revenge, but ...
Page xxi
... insects in the ice. We had good reason to believe that this expedition was going to pay off: Geologists collecting ice cores from this glacier earlier in the season had heard of our work and told us they'd found what looked like rotting ...
... insects in the ice. We had good reason to believe that this expedition was going to pay off: Geologists collecting ice cores from this glacier earlier in the season had heard of our work and told us they'd found what looked like rotting ...
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Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that ... Jeffrey A. Lockwood No preview available - 2005 |
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