Adrian Shine – författare
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2 produkter
2 produkter
Häftad, Engelska, 2024
268 kr
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A Natural History of Sea Serpents, re-examines the cold-case enigma of sea serpents and monsters described by impeccable witnesses over three centuries. These reports have sometimes intrigued and puzzled the most eminent scientists of their times, yet often became the butt of popular derision.Naturalist Adrian Shine, best known for his fifty years examining Loch Ness as a 'sympathetic sceptic', reveals how the loch actually held the key to the greater mystery. He exonerates the integrity of most witnesses, often remarks upon the accuracy of their observations yet offers bold and radical interpretations of what they have seen. The book digs deep into the roots of the legend and shows how expectations 'evolved' from those 'serpents' to prehistoric 'monsters' during the nineteenth century. The book cites over a hundred reports and contains as many illustrations as evidence for its conclusions. His findings, stemming from knowledge of ships, the sea and the true monsters living there, cover the entire spectrum of reports, giving new insight, for example, into the famous HMS Daedalus episode of 1848, the description of a very unusual creature seen by two zoologists in 1904 and the serpent seen by hundreds off the coast of New England in 1817. Nothing daunted, he investigates reports of huge serpents seen battling whales and creatures which defy our understanding of vertebrate anatomy by bending both sideways and up and down, whilst under fire by the French Navy.This book will certainly generate debate within the cryptozoology movement, yet also challenges the theories of the preeminent sceptical writer on the subject, Dr. Robert France, who has proposed whales and other creatures entangled in pre-plastic era fishing gear as the cause of most sea serpent encounters. Nevertheless, the author shares this ethnobiological perspective and ends with a strong conservation message.
Häftad, Engelska, 2026
323 kr
Kommande
A Naturalist’s View of the Loch Ness Enigma invites readers to re-examine one of the world’s most enduring mysteries through the eyes of the man who has spent a lifetime studying it. For more than ninety years, the legend of the Loch Ness Monster has inspired speculation and debate, with over thirty books attempting to explain what people have seen in the dark waters of Scotland’s most famous lake. Now, naturalist Adrian Shine, who has devoted more than fifty years to the scientific study and popular understanding of Loch Ness, presents his final conclusions. Drawing on decades of research, including the groundbreaking environmental DNA survey, the author reveals what modern science can tell us about the creatures said to inhabit its depths. But this book is more than a scientific analysis. With the curiosity that first sparked his boyhood fascination, Shine explores the wider story behind the legend: the people who investigated it, the rivalries that shaped the search, and the cultural forces that turned a Scottish lake into the epicentre of a global mystery. A sequel to A Natural History of Sea Serpents, this book suggests how the ancient lore of sea monsters merged with the story of Loch Ness, creating the modern myth we know today. Along the way, Shine revisits the theories of remarkable investigators, reveals behind-the-scenes tensions in the hunt for answers, and recounts his own role in uncovering the truth behind some of the most iconic photographs. By revisiting the original witness testimony and contemporary commentary, the central paradox is confronted: more than a thousand credible observers have reported seeing a large, unfamiliar animal in Loch Ness yet no such creature has ever been found. The solution, he argues, lies in understanding that there is not just one “monster,” but several distinct phenomena that people genuinely encounter. For the first time, these sightings are carefully classified and analysed in detail, revealing how natural events and real animals can transform into legendary monsters. Perhaps most intriguingly, Shine uncovers a story which challenges the long-held claim that the Loch Ness Monster was invented by a single man in 1933. Instead, he reveals a deeper tradition stretching back to the early twentieth century, one that may have begun with the appearance of an unusual visitor to the loch. The pinnacle of a lifelong fascination, A Naturalist’s View of the Loch Ness Enigma is the most authoritative and compelling account yet of how the mystery was born and why it refuses to disappear.