The Dreams of Dragons: Riddles of Natural History

In a dozen essays, Watson (Heaven's Breath, Lightning Bird offers a variety of interesting topics: the etiquette of wife swapping among the Asmat of Papua New Guinea (the presumed killers of Michael Rockefeller), the remarkable properties of water, ESP in animals and plants, electrical fields and the Kirlian effect. His title piece first examines the dragon in myth and symbolism, then reports on the Komodo dragon of Indonesia. Watson ruminates on our descent from aquatic apes, on an extinct people with tiny bodies and huge heads, on left-handedness, on the nature of crowds. He compares recent mining operations in Africa with the practice of Stone Age miners, and he discusses why some natural places are sacred. Offbeat and somewhat whimsical, these essays will appeal to the reader who enjoys a different approach to natural history. (June)