Loren Eiseley was a distinguished anthropologist, science writer, and poet, renowned for his poetic essay style. Through this "concealed essay" form, he skillfully conveyed complex scientific ideas, including human evolution, to the general public. His writings exploring humanity's relationship with the natural world were instrumental in inspiring the modern environmental movement. Eiseley masterfully blended scientific inquiry with profound reflections on humankind's place within nature.
Drawing from his long experience as a naturalist, the author responds to the unexpected and symbolic aspects of a wide spectrum of phenomena throughout the universe. Scrupulous scholarship and magical prose are brought to bear on such diverse topics as seeds, the hieroglyphs on shells, lost tombs, the goddess Circe, city dumps, and Neanderthal man.