Camping with the Prince and Other Tales of Science in Africa

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. (Feb.)