Science in the Snakepit: Tales of the often eccentric people who have studied serpents over the centuries...

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Rick Shine

Science in the Snakepit

Tales of the often eccentric people who have studied serpents over the centuries and have sometimes...

Rick Shine

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English

New Holland
15 October 2025

Mathematics & Sciences; Wildlife: reptiles & amphibians

People have always been fascinated by snakes, butonly during the last few decades have researchersbegun to reveal the secret lives of these mostmysterious of animals. Rick Shine is one of the mosteminent of those scientists, and his book describesthe adventures and misadventures of researcherswho have investigated the ecology and biology ofthese fantastic beasts

and sometimes, have paidwith their lives.

This richly-illustrated title chronicles the revolution inour understanding of snakes, the new methods thathave arisen to enable those breakthroughs, and theserendipitous and often-chaotic processes by whichhuman beings accumulate insights into other forms oflife. Recent years have witnessed an incredibleflowering of snake-ecology research, with a rapidlyexpanding diversity not only of the snake speciesbeing studied and the places where this occurs, butalso of the kinds of people making those discoveries.

Snakes are peculiar animals, and they attract peculiarpeople. This book captures the thrills and perils of aworldwide scientific leap forward, from fear andignorance of snakes towards respect andunderstanding. This professional biologist s ramblethrough the history of people s attempt to understandthe private lives of snakes

with lots of stories aboutthe eccentric pioneers

will appeal to anyone with aninterest in snakes and natural history.

By: Rick Shine
Imprint: New Holland
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 170mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 916g
ISBN: 9781760796976
ISBN 10: 1760796972
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 15 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Rick Shine is a professional scientist, currently employed as a Professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. For nearly 50 years his primary research interest has been reptiles – especially snakes –in many parts of the world. He has published over 1,000 scientific papers and his work has been cited more than 76,000 times – many more than any other researcher on reptiles past or present. His work has won many awards, including the two top awards for scientific research in Australia: NSW Scientist of the Year and Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.