"Years ago when I was a graduate student of animal behavior, I passed my days reading about the likes of animals' internal clocks. Temperature, photo period, the rise and fall of hormones—all these influences have been teased apart like so many threads form the rope that pulls every creature to its regulated destiny."
Essay 1, p. 5

"The hiker's program in a desert like this [western Arizona] is dire and blunt: carry in enough water to keep you alive till you can find a water source; then fill your bottles and head for the next one, or straight back out. Experts warn adventurers in this region, without irony, to drink their water while they're still alive, as it won't help later."
Essay 1, p. 10

"I tend to be at home with modesty, and suspicious of anything slick or new. But naturally, when I was growing up there [in Kentucky...