Turns out that my interest in this topic was more article-length than book-length. I enjoyed what I did read, and got some interesting conversations out of the material I encountered, but eventually my enthusiasm waned and it was time to move on.

Wonderful book full of a love of nature and also a passion for careful science. So many stories about how creatures in northern New England deal with winter, with careful observations about their strategies for surviving long winters. Hibernation turns out to be complex and it comes in many varieties. Packed with details and sweet little drawings. ( )

meh - talks too much about himself ( )

Many winters ago, I spent some time sleeping in a van in the mountainous areas of Colorado and Utah. The dark faux paneling inside the rear of the van would be frosted white at daybreak. If storms descended at night, the van itself became a cocoon covered by snow.

Not until reading Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival did I learn that those nights were subnivean. That word now casts a sort of spell awakening long past memories. It also identifies a fascinating space where living creatures survive the northern cold. That, and much else, count among the surprises and delights I experienced reading Bernd Heinrich’s book.

To share just one of the many things I liked in Winter World: Frogs frozen solid.
And they like it! Well, I don’t know if they do but some require it. They freeze themselves solid to survive the freezing cold. I know, sounds impossible.
Freezing will kill a frog if that freezing happens inside its cells. Ice crystals within cells act like alien robots, cutting “like knives, slashing membranes, puncturing cell organelles and breaking cells.” The ingenuity of frogs is that they prevent this intracellular mayhem by freezing only the spaces outside cells, i.e. the spaces between cells. They use natural antifreezes inside the cell to protect it there. Outside the cell, special proteins help form ice in the extracellular spaces, which drives water still inside the cell to the outside, thereby reducing the risk of mortal freezing further. It’s an amazing way life has found to be both cold and alive.

Winter World is an attractively prepared book with drawings by the author, so it seems the publisher was willing to invest effort and more than a minimal sum of money in its publication. It is surprising, then, how many typographical errors there are, which depending on your tolerance can be a little annoying. But in the end, this sort of thing is a minimal distraction. What stays with the reader are the phenomenal phenomena Bernd Heinrich has shared and his great love for observing the living habits of animals in the winter world. ( )

Like so many of Heinrich's books, a lovely and eclectic exploration of his chosen topic: in this case, animal adaptations for northern winters. Enjoyed it immensely. ( )