Status
Available
Local notes
796.5 Goo
Collection
Publication
The Experiment (2015), Edition: Reprint, 416 pages
Description
Presents a compendium of information and forecasting details that can be gathered from observations about plants, animals, landscapes, buildings, clouds, stars, sun, and the moon. --Publisher's description.
Awards
James Cropper Wainwright Prize (Longlist — 2015)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.1 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member prichardson
I really enjoyed this book. It is a book full of surprising insights into the world around us. I find myself applying these insights on walks both in the countryside and in towns.
LibraryThing member bodachliath
An original book bringing together a large and varied collection of natural and human clues that may be useful for navigation and route finding.
LibraryThing member aadyer
A collection of signs & clues for those who like me, have an enthusiasm for the outdoors. Directed mainly at those who are walking in temperate climates, it has something for most terrains found in Northern Europe and the northeastern United States. Difficult at times to follow with an interesting
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reminiscence about a Borneo jungle trip, it does at time becomes difficult to follow the detail of these techniques. I found myself switching off. This isn't a book I'd recommend, even to the hardened naturalist and navigator . Show Less
LibraryThing member Karen59
Ironically, when I choose this book to review I was looking forwarding to using it as a way to understand and enjoy the outdoors more than I have and boost my skills. It turned out that I wound up in the hospital for several weeks during the publishing date and I decided to read it anyway. How
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lucky I was. Not only did this city girl learn more than I thought possible about the outdoors but it also gave me an escape, an education and a way out of the hospital to new adventures in my mind. I think pictures and better illustrations could only enhance this book. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book for an honest opinion. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karen59
Ironically, when I choose this book to review I was looking forwarding to using it as a way to understand and enjoy the outdoors more than I have and boost my skills. It turned out that I wound up in the hospital for several weeks during the publishing date and I decided to read it anyway. How
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lucky I was. Not only did this city girl learn more than I thought possible about the outdoors but it also gave me an escape, an education and a way out of the hospital to new adventures in my mind. I think pictures and better illustrations could only enhance this book. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book for an honest opinion. Show Less
LibraryThing member jbarr5
The lost art of reading nature's signs_ use outdoor clues to find your way_ predict the weather_ locate water_ track animals--and other forgotten by Gooley_ Tristan
Very interesting reading although from England some of the same signs are true here in US. Things that you see in everyday life if you
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Very interesting reading although from England some of the same signs are true here in US. Things that you see in everyday life if you
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are hiking along woods and forest paths.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
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LibraryThing member thorold
I'm someone who spends a lot of time outdoors, and I really liked the central idea of this book, persuading us to look at the landscape in a purposive way, asking ourselves why that hill or that tree is in that place and that shape, and what information we can derive from that about where we are in
Although the book is arranged in a slightly haphazard way, it has a good, comprehensive index, and would probably work quite well to refer to in real situations. But a lot of the more detailed information in the book is specific to what you might see in southern England (Sussex), so you would need to do quite some mutatis mutandis if you have the misfortune not to live around there.
What undermined the pleasure of reading this book for me was the constant irritation of being in contact with Gooley's "professional instructor" voice. He comes across as the sort of person the trainees would cook and eat on the third day of the survival course - a man with a suitably didactic anecdote for every occasion, and an exotic experience to trump every one of yours. Maybe he's not at all like that in real life, but on the printed page he's a bit hard to put up with.
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relation to the earth and its weather, what the history of that particular landscape might be, and how the things we see relate to each other. It's a little bit like the way people used to do "natural history" 70 or 80 years ago (remember "Romany of the BBC"?), but with more of a practical hard edge: Gooley teaches something he calls "natural navigation", the art of finding your way about just using the information of your senses, without any useful tools like maps, compasses and GPS, and a lot of what he tells us to look out for here is related to that kind of activity. Although the book is arranged in a slightly haphazard way, it has a good, comprehensive index, and would probably work quite well to refer to in real situations. But a lot of the more detailed information in the book is specific to what you might see in southern England (Sussex), so you would need to do quite some mutatis mutandis if you have the misfortune not to live around there.
What undermined the pleasure of reading this book for me was the constant irritation of being in contact with Gooley's "professional instructor" voice. He comes across as the sort of person the trainees would cook and eat on the third day of the survival course - a man with a suitably didactic anecdote for every occasion, and an exotic experience to trump every one of yours. Maybe he's not at all like that in real life, but on the printed page he's a bit hard to put up with.
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LibraryThing member chriszodrow
Great read. Too verbose. This stuff requires bullet points, not lengthy prose. Give me the nuggets and I'll travel the wilds actually looking.
LibraryThing member PDCRead
Following on from his previous books, The natural Navigator & The Natural Explorer, Gooley in this one is hoping to expand your knowledge of the natural world. It is a reference work, written to be used to build your knowledge of the outside environment, with lots of examples and is packed with
Using clues from the sky and the flora and fauna around you, he will teach you how to tell the time using the stars, how listening to the sounds that birds make will tell you if there is anyone else out there with you, how to read the lie of the land, use the plants and trees to gauge where the compass points are, the prevailing winds to get decent shelter and how to read and use the phases of the moon for night walks. He has included a couple of chapters on the urban environment too, and shows how to use your observation skills on items like TV aerials to ascertain direction and how the use of modern technology like smartphones has led to changes in how and where people shop. He has also included an account of a trip to Borneo, and of his time spent with the nomadic natives there, understanding how they moved and navigated through dense jungles.
A fascinating book, packed full of details and tip for enhancing any journey or trip that you take. One of the most important things that you can take away from this is the power of observation of your environment can reveal so much detail about where you are. Well worth reading. 3.5 stars overall
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data for you to use and learn.Using clues from the sky and the flora and fauna around you, he will teach you how to tell the time using the stars, how listening to the sounds that birds make will tell you if there is anyone else out there with you, how to read the lie of the land, use the plants and trees to gauge where the compass points are, the prevailing winds to get decent shelter and how to read and use the phases of the moon for night walks. He has included a couple of chapters on the urban environment too, and shows how to use your observation skills on items like TV aerials to ascertain direction and how the use of modern technology like smartphones has led to changes in how and where people shop. He has also included an account of a trip to Borneo, and of his time spent with the nomadic natives there, understanding how they moved and navigated through dense jungles.
A fascinating book, packed full of details and tip for enhancing any journey or trip that you take. One of the most important things that you can take away from this is the power of observation of your environment can reveal so much detail about where you are. Well worth reading. 3.5 stars overall
Show Less
LibraryThing member 4bonasa
Great read and for one who knows everything, I actually learned a lot.