Originally published in 1990, this book tells of Thomas Bass's two-year journey across Africa, from Timbuktu to the Zambezi River, during which he spent most of his time in the company of scientists. In the course of his travels, he met a Cambridge-educated Kenyan-biologist trying to link the African spirit world with Western scientific methods, a Nigerian virologist fighting a losing battle to vaccinate the children of his country, and many others. In this book Bass' challenging tales dispel the many stereotypes about Africa.
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About the Author:
Thomas Bass has an A.B.(Honors) from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He has taught literature and history at Hamilton College and the University of California. Professor of English at the University at Albany, Mr. Bass lives in New York with his wife and three children.
From Publishers Weekly:
In a camp of nomads on the Kenya-Uganda border, a British economist designs a famine early-warning system; in Nigeria, a scientist searches for new viruses in a disturbed environment; at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Nigeria), soil experts are developing various crop cycles to keep the land productive. For two years, Bass ( The Eudaemonic Pie ) traveled through Africa, attaching himself to scientific expeditions. He went diving in Lake Malawi on the border of Tanzania to observe Cichlid fish mating, visited an ecological project in Mali and a pest-control center in Kenya. He offers a gripping account of health and environmental issues that are unique to Africa; there is a sardonic piece on official visitors and what they are shown. Bass gives full marks to persevering scientists who overcome the collision between their Western training and African culture.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherMoyer Bell
- Publication date1997
- ISBN 10 1559212063
- ISBN 13 9781559212069
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages320
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