The Lost Amazon by Wade Davis
An extraordinary document, as rich in rare, beautiful photographs as it is in the story of a true adventurer, The Lost Amazon chronicles the journeys of legendary explorer Richard Evans Schultes.Regarded as the father of ethnobotany and described by his protege Wade Davis as the last of the great plant explorers in the Victorian tradition, Schultes revealed the botanical identity of teonanacatl, the sacred hallucinogenic mushroom known to the Aztecs as the flesh of the gods, through his doctoral research. Soon after, in 1941, he left Harvard for the Amazon, intending to be gone for only a semester. Instead, he disappeared into the rainforest and spent the next twelve years in pursuit of its mysteries. He lived among dozens of local tribes, mapped unknown rivers, sought out sources of rubber for the U.S. government during World War I, collected over 30,000 botanical specimens, discovered over 300 species, and described for the first time the use of over 2,000 medicinal plants.
As gifted a photographer as he was a scientist, Schultes s exquisite images capture both the lush landscapes of his journey, as well as his deep empathy with the peoples who held him in high esteem; forging strong camaraderie with the local tribes, Schultes almost never carries a firearm, and said, I do not believe in hostile Indians. The Lost Amazon is not only the story of one man s astonishing journey, but also an unrivaled anthropological record.
Schultes s field notes are accompanied by a biographical essay by Wade Davis that provides personal and historical reflection on his mentor in science and exploration, and a foreword by Andrew Weil, another of Schultes s students. Together with Schultes s own photographs, they provide, for the first time, a visual and written chronicle of astonishing discoveryand of a way of life that can never be recaptured.
National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence WADE DAVIS is an anthropologist and storyteller whose work has taken him into indigenous communities worldwide. He is the author of 17 books including The Serpent and the Rainbow (1986) and Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest (2011), which won the 2012 Samuel Johnson Prize for best English-language nonfiction. For National Geographic TV he created Light at the Edge of the World, an eight-part documentary. One of 20 Honorary Members of the Explorers Club, in 2011 Davis received their Explorers Medal, the club's highest award.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780811845717 |
| ISBN 10 | 0811845710 |
| Title | The Lost Amazon |
| Author | Wade Davis |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Chronicle Books (CA) |
| Year published | 2004-10-01 |
| Number of pages | 204 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |