Fox at the Wood's Edge: A Biography of Loren Eiseley

Eiseley's The Immense Journey , published in 1957, brought recognition to the anthropologist-philosopher whose intense reflections on mankind and the universe imaginatively blend science and the humanities. In this revealing, gracefully written biography, Christianson, history professor at Indiana State University, presents an insecure and diffident man who depended heavily on others for emotional support. Eiseley (1907-1977), who grew up in poverty, a timid loner in an isolated family, spent his undergraduate years at the University of Nebraska and received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1938 he married Mabel Langdon, who provided his life with security, order and stability. Eiseley produced works of synthesis as opposed to original research, and as a writer of natural history and a popularizer of science he is accounted to be unequaled. (Aug.)