Emerald Labyrinth

Emerald Labyrinth is a scientist and adventurer{u2019}s chronicle of years exploring the rainforests of sub-Saharan Afri... (more)

Emerald Labyrinth is a scientist and adventurer{u2019}s chronicle of years exploring the rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa. The richly varied habitats of the Democratic Republic of the Congo offer a wealth of animal, plant, chemical, and medical discoveries. But the country also has a deeply troubled colonial past and a complicated political present. Author Eli Greenbaum is a leading expert in sub-Saharan herpetology{u2014}snakes, lizards, and frogs{u2014}who brings a sense of wonder to the question of how science works in the twenty-first century. Along the way he comes face to face with spitting cobras, silverback mountain gorillas, wild elephants, and the teenaged armies of AK-47-toting fighters engaged in the continent{u2019}s longest-running war. As a bellwether of the climate and biodiversity crises now facing the planet, the Congo holds the key to our planet{u2019}s future. Writing in the tradition of books like The Lost City of Z, Greenbaum seeks out the creatures struggling to survive in a war-torn, environmentally threatened country. Emerald Labyrinth is an extraordinary book about the enormous challenges and hard-won satisfactions of doing science in one of the least known, least hospitable places on earth. (less)