Here's a new take on the 'living in interesting times' theme: the curse is really that with so many interesting things going-off its hard to concentrate sufficiently on any one of them. The latest case in point is Robert, who wrote me about the size of an acre, and indirectly pointed me towards the work of Paul Colinvaux. As can be seen from the photo, he must undoubtedly be a man after my own heart.
Colinvaux's work is ecological, and he is, of course, interested in population dynamics. Equally interesting, he seems to have attracted the attention of fellow Bonobo enthusiast William H Calvin. Calvin discusses Colinvaux's work in The River That Flows Uphill, which is his river diary of a two-week whitewater trip through the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Again, well worth the read.