Life of the Mountains

Maurice Brooks is a legendary mountain ecologist. The West Virginia University Professor comes from a family of nature lovers...his father and three of his brothers are professional naturalists or biologists. Moreover, over the years Brooks has explored the Appalachian Mountains from Quebec to Georgia and is the author of the highly regarded book, "The Appalacians." To this end, "Life of the Mountains," is a well-written narrative that includes brilliant photos and drawings of nature's majestic mountain beauty and the living things that live there. This 1967 publication also has a very good graph that dramatically shows the differences in elevation between western and eastern mountains in North America. In addition, the author provides an appendix with a list of the finest national parks and monuments located in mountain country; a list of vanishing wildlife of the mountains; the basics of backpacking (with a list of hiking clubs across the country); and a guide to common fossils. My favorite section is the narrative of Hawk Mountain in eastern Pennsylvania. Every autumn, bird watchers gather atop Hawk Mountain to witness the migration flights of hawks and other birds that pass the peak on their way south for winter. Professor Brooks provides records kept over many years that provide a timetable for migrations at Hawk Mountain. The Sep-Oct-Nov timetable is for a dozen differenct types of Hawks; the Osprey; the Turkey Vulture; the Bald and Golden Eagle; as well as for the Peregrine Falcon. The section on Yosemite Valley in California's Yosemite National Park is also special as is the section on the glacial crevasse on Mount Challenger in the Cascade Range. And before I forget...the section called, "The spell of the mountains," is pure poetry for people who appreciate the splendor of mountains. Still and all, Professor Brooks collected the finest minds in the nation to help him with this publication. Experts from Cornell University, the National Audubon Society, the National Park Service, the University of Georgia, Duke University, Yale University, the University of California, New York University and the California Academy of Sciences contributed to the excellence of this text. Overall, this is a great book for children, young adults and all lovers of mountain nature. You'll never tire of this book. Highly recommended.Bert Ruiz