Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature Book

"Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature" is the combination of a glossy coffee table book coupled with detailed scientific text.

First of all, the photos are outstanding and easily the best part of the book. Care was taken to photograph snakes in their natural habitats and they definitely do justice to the beauty of these reptiles (as a bit of a caution, a few of the feeding photos are not for the squeamish). The photographers, Michael and Patricia Fogden, both have doctorates in zoology, which I suspect helps them obtain such great pictures that illustrate not just the animals, but their behavior as well. Their website may be found at:

The text (written by Harry W. Greene, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University) is informative and covers all aspects of snake physiology, evolution, diet, locomotion, reproduction, behavior and habitat. My main criticism of the book is that Greene appears to be writing for his colleagues as opposed to the general public. As a result the text is dry, densely worded and replete with scientific terms which he fails to take the time to define, assuming the reader is well versed in graduate level biology. Greene's paragraphs also tend to read like a grocery list (an analogy that only works if you were shopping for snakes, I suppose): snake 'w' eats frogs, snake 'x' eats eggs, snake 'y' eats ants, snake 'z' eats lizards, etc. There is some good information to be found, but it's a bit of a chore to plow through.