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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... least, I thank my family—Nan, Erin, and Ethan—for valuing my work, reading my early draft, and understanding why this project was important to me. I apologize to anyone whose contribution to this project I may have overlooked. Finally ...
... least, I thank my family—Nan, Erin, and Ethan—for valuing my work, reading my early draft, and understanding why this project was important to me. I apologize to anyone whose contribution to this project I may have overlooked. Finally ...
Page 2
... least the wagon's canvas bonnet would keep the sunlight from hurting their eyes. And if they were truly fortunate, in a couple of weeks they'd have recovered enough to walk alongside the wagon. But nearly a third of pioneers who climbed ...
... least the wagon's canvas bonnet would keep the sunlight from hurting their eyes. And if they were truly fortunate, in a couple of weeks they'd have recovered enough to walk alongside the wagon. But nearly a third of pioneers who climbed ...
Page 3
... least serious causes of food losses during locust invasions had nothing to do with the insects' consuming farm products— indeed, quite the opposite. Poultry were an important source of protein for many homesteaders, and to the initial ...
... least serious causes of food losses during locust invasions had nothing to do with the insects' consuming farm products— indeed, quite the opposite. Poultry were an important source of protein for many homesteaders, and to the initial ...
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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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