Book

Novotny, Vojtech.

Notebooks from New Guinea : reflections on life, nature, and science from the depths of the rainforest / by Vojtech Novotny.

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011, ©2009.

xii, 256 pages : illustrations . ; 20 cm

"Czech ecologist Novotny (Arthropods of Tropical Forests) recounts his decade living in New Guinea, "a most diverse and extraordinary land," home to six million people and 1,043 different languages. Focusing on the people and their way of living, little escapes Novotny's attention; he examines the base-13 number system, myths about dwarfs, the price of brides (£5,000), and other idiosyncrasies; their extended-family, communal living structure meant that New Guinea tourists in Australia were astounded to see homeless people sleeping on the streets. Occasional shockers can be in questionable taste-i.e., a flip description of cannibalism, practiced in many of New Guinea's cultures until 50 years ago: "one might argue... against ideologies that view neighbors as canned meat on two legs, but eating the deceased was actually a highly civilized custom." Fortunately, his excesses are balanced by genuine sympathy for people making the journey into a radically foreign, modern world, which in many ways (as Novotny illustrates) is equally improbable."--Publisher description.

Novotny, Vojtech -- Diaries.

Ecology -- Papua New Guinea.

Butterflies -- Papua New Guinea.

Botany -- Papua New Guinea.

Diaries.

A Note on the English Translation By Way of Introduction How I got to Papua New Guinea ...and what came next Malaria Intermezzo Island of a Thousand Tongues and a Wild, Wild Landscape Don't go talking to the neighbours! The rise of folklore Buy the Book of Books, we have no other Lucky seventeen The age of darkness The character of a New Guinea town In the Adventist aviators we trust! Malaria Intermezzo: Mabura Hill, 1997 The sight of a fleeting landscape The dwarf and the whale Blood may be thicker, but... Giving and getting between enemies Views on women Would you care for an extra wife? Our house is our castle Malaria Intermezzo: Honolulu, 1998 On the origins of disease Pig a la papuenne New Year's Eve among the natives The sad finale of a funeral feast Thou shalt not eat thy neighbour Living with an epidemic The spirits of Karkar Island Old and New Customs of a Tribal Society What the forest people think The loss of the Titanic The art of chronometry Ye shall not succour your neighbour Malaria Intermezzo: New Britain, 1999 Null modo sine ulla They chewed and were of good cheer together... Grass therapy Fly-drive? The dearest beer in the land Dying in pairs Money to burn Malaria Intermezzo: Madang, 2000 Onwards and upwards, ye men of greed! Malaria medicine If there's no magician to hand, you can always try the doctor Where there is no doctor Ships that do not come a-sailing by The Antichrist of the end of the millennium We've got a meme, aren't we the lucky ones! Malaria Intermezzo: Ceske Budejovice, 2001 The Coming of Black Jesus The plane test The day a helicopter flies in Forest games Where monkeys defecate on people's heads The problems of a rich nature conservationist Well begun... Malaria Intermezzo: Madang 2001 The arrow phenomenon Frontier or frontier On the fringe Those pastures green beyond the ocean wave and others yet within the deepest grave A matter of life and death That sense of fear A Melanesian Little Otik and other film reviews The hippo and the cathedral How to Do Science in Papua New Guinea The history of one research publication Scientists, missionaries, gold-diggers And it was such a beautiful hypothesis Malaria Intermezzo: Wanang, 2002 How we didn't say thank you to the spirits of the forest Analysis of a lucky charm The weevils of Baiteta Boredom in the jungle Two kinds of science Football in a jungle clearing Malaria Intermezzo: Galisagan, 2006 Great secrets of scientific research Research teams arrive to the sound of pipes The Grand Matrix The case of Hagahai blood Do you mind working 70 hours a week? One day a bulldozer will come this way Top man Malaria Intermezzo: Wanang and Ceske Budejovice, 2008 Adventures in the garden The cargo cult and the Czech cult of scholarship Yakt kwn wagn tap nby wokpay knn: Birds that throw up all that they eat The groping botanist Progress in native terminology Watch out, coconuts overhead! Being the boss of a biological research station A guide to the tropical forest: thirteen tips for the field biologist In Conclusion: Travel Report About the author, the translator, the illustrator

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