Book Review: The Discover of Nature by Jan Luiten van Zanden, Rob Lenders, et al.

 

Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads De ontdekking van de natuur.

Recently I learned that April (when I read this book, this review might be published later) in the Netherlands is known as the "Month of Nature Books", so a prime time to read this book (and a few others surrounding the subject). I found this one at a bookstore and impulse-bought it, but I do not regret it. Let's have a look.

In this book, the authors take a look at biodiversity in the Netherlands, starting at the most recent ice age and ending around the early 2020s, just before it was published in 2021. We see how nature here used to thrive but as of late has been diminishing. It also tackles some conservation efforts as well as the possible future of nature in the Netherlands.

Yeah, a solid book. Not my favorite nature non-fiction I've read all year, but it was still an engaging and informative read. The writing voice was pleasant. At one or two times just a tad dull but otherwise it kept me consistently engaged, plus it's quite accessible since the jargon terms are explained rather well rather than just thrown at the reader. The book also has quite a few neat illustrations, maps and photos to accompany what is being shown to the reader.

I guess something I liked less (aside from the writing voice feeling a bit dry here and there, but this was rarely an issue) was the huge amount of focus on humans, and also plants. Don't get me wrong, I'm not displeased that it's being talked about at all; it really can't be avoided when tackling the subject of biodiversity in the Netherlands throughout human evolution.

But (as another reviewer has already pointed out) a lot of the focus that is on nature is about the flora, not always the fauna. And personally I was more invested in seeing how nature developed than constantly going into humans at the time. I wanted a book about flora and fauna of the Netherlands throughout the ages when I bought this. Obviously humans have had a ridiculously huge impact on it and all, but it does feel like it takes away a bit of focus on the natural aspects (especially the animals, it more often talks about stuff like the plants and ground types). Not a huge disservice to the book and obviously humans cannot be avoided in this conversation we're having here, but it's just not completely when I was expecting and feels a bit unbalanced. 

Overall this is still a very good book, though. It kept me consistently engaged and was accessible, it just felt a little unbalanced in how much it talks about the trinity of humans, flora and fauna and on one or two occasions I found the writing voice was getting a bit dull. But overall a definite recommendation if the topic interests you.

Rating: 4/5