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Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo
In 2005 Kate Jackson ventured into the remote swamp forests of the northern Congo to collect reptiles and amphibians. Her camping equipment was rudimentary, her knowledge of Congolese customs even more so. She knew how to string a net and set a pitfall trap, but she never imagined the physical and cultural difficulties that awaited her. Culled from the mud-spattered pages of her journals, Mean and Lowly Things reads like a fast-paced adventure story. It is Jackson’s unvarnished account of her research on the front lines of the global biodiversity crisis—coping with interminable delays in obtaining permits, learning to outrun advancing army ants, subsisting on a diet of Spam and manioc, and ultimately falling in love with the strangely beautiful flooded forest. The reptile fauna of the Republic of Congo was all but undescribed, and Jackson’s mission was to carry out the most basic study of the amphibians and reptiles of the swamp forest: to create a simple list of the species that exist there—a crucial first step toward efforts to protect them. When the snakes evaded her carefully set traps, Jackson enlisted people from the villages to bring her specimens. She trained her guide to tag frogs and skinks and to fix them in formalin. As her expensive camera rusted and her Western soap melted, Jackson learned what it took to swim with the snakes—and that there’s a right way and a wrong way to get a baby cobra out of a bottle.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2007
8 people are currently reading
194 people want to read
About the author
Kate Jackson
21 books5 followersAssistant Professor
Department of Biology
Whitman College
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Actress: Kate Jackson
Self-help: Kate Jackson
Mystery writer: Kate Jackson
Other: Kate Jackson
Department of Biology
Whitman College
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Actress: Kate Jackson
Self-help: Kate Jackson
Mystery writer: Kate Jackson
Other: Kate Jackson
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 21, 2008
Everyone loves this book; reviews are through the roof. Me? Hated it. I was looking forward to a good read about adventurous field biology, and it delivered that, but at the expense of decency and respect for the Congolese on whose help her fieldwork depends.
Jackson describes some of the Congolese people she gets to know as stupid and "intellectually lazy" (237), even one (Lise) who is a co-author of one of her scientific articles! She criticizes her other assistant, Ange, for not being able to identify "the most obvious specimens. (237). I'd love to get her in a class on the history of science and to teach her that different cultures have different ways of seeing; what is "obvious" to her may not be to him.
More appallingly, she constantly derides traditional Congolese snakebite medicines as "useless 'traditional medicines'" (182). I'm not arguing that they cure victims of venomous snakebite, and yes, I'm sure there is a lot of misinformation about curing snakebite (some of which she describes). But Jackson's attitude belies her insensitivity to non-Western folkways and her own ignorance of the fact that surely some non-Western remedies work. Again, I'd like to get her in a history of medicine course to teach her that people in other cultures (and of other times) are and were not stupid. Instead of trying to gain insight into non-Western cures, she becomes "annoyed at having [her] expertise questioned" (199) and, in one particularly awful account, explains elementary physiology in a derogatory tone to someone who turns out to be a surgeon!
Early on I kept thinking that surely her bias was exaggerated in the beginning of the book in order to provide contrast to new insights revealed later in the narrative. But even when she gets bitten (maybe) by a cobra, she never even entertains getting local help, and in the resolution of the incident she remains stoically heroic.
Although I respect Jackson as a herpetologist, her account exposes some of the worst of the imperialist attitude of Western science.
Jackson describes some of the Congolese people she gets to know as stupid and "intellectually lazy" (237), even one (Lise) who is a co-author of one of her scientific articles! She criticizes her other assistant, Ange, for not being able to identify "the most obvious specimens. (237). I'd love to get her in a class on the history of science and to teach her that different cultures have different ways of seeing; what is "obvious" to her may not be to him.
More appallingly, she constantly derides traditional Congolese snakebite medicines as "useless 'traditional medicines'" (182). I'm not arguing that they cure victims of venomous snakebite, and yes, I'm sure there is a lot of misinformation about curing snakebite (some of which she describes). But Jackson's attitude belies her insensitivity to non-Western folkways and her own ignorance of the fact that surely some non-Western remedies work. Again, I'd like to get her in a history of medicine course to teach her that people in other cultures (and of other times) are and were not stupid. Instead of trying to gain insight into non-Western cures, she becomes "annoyed at having [her] expertise questioned" (199) and, in one particularly awful account, explains elementary physiology in a derogatory tone to someone who turns out to be a surgeon!
Early on I kept thinking that surely her bias was exaggerated in the beginning of the book in order to provide contrast to new insights revealed later in the narrative. But even when she gets bitten (maybe) by a cobra, she never even entertains getting local help, and in the resolution of the incident she remains stoically heroic.
Although I respect Jackson as a herpetologist, her account exposes some of the worst of the imperialist attitude of Western science.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2024
I am going to be completely honest and admit to a deep seated fear of snakes, so much so that I was afraid that reading, Dr. Kate Jackson book,Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo about the snakes in the Congo would give me nightmares. I was intrigued enough with the idea that I had to read the book.
In many ways it is a true gem. The book details not just her search for snakes and reptiles in the Congo, but the environment, village life and interpersonal relationships at the "snake" camp.
Kate Jackson is a scientist, a herpetologist and focused on her goal. She is on occasion socially awkward and having to navigate a society unfamiliar to her is sometimes an entertaining read and sometimes and uncomfortable read. But she is honest about her feelings and her failures.
She also describes camp life in the flooded rain forest in the Congo in details, that includes constantly wet clothes, ants, flies, termites, wasps, dirt, checking fishing nets which may have snakes tangled in them which may or may not be alive and venomous. I really can't imagine a more unpleasant way to spend time.
For all that, I just loved this book and hopefully I will sleep well tonight without dreams of cobras and black mambas.
In many ways it is a true gem. The book details not just her search for snakes and reptiles in the Congo, but the environment, village life and interpersonal relationships at the "snake" camp.
Kate Jackson is a scientist, a herpetologist and focused on her goal. She is on occasion socially awkward and having to navigate a society unfamiliar to her is sometimes an entertaining read and sometimes and uncomfortable read. But she is honest about her feelings and her failures.
She also describes camp life in the flooded rain forest in the Congo in details, that includes constantly wet clothes, ants, flies, termites, wasps, dirt, checking fishing nets which may have snakes tangled in them which may or may not be alive and venomous. I really can't imagine a more unpleasant way to spend time.
For all that, I just loved this book and hopefully I will sleep well tonight without dreams of cobras and black mambas.
June 4, 2010
So overall, I think this is an interesting and animated story. It's often brutally honest. But frankly, she's pretty arrogant and often a bitch and wonders why people don't jump to help her or why they want to quit working for her. She talks about the Congolese people as if their sole purpose on this planet is to help her with her research. She's also obviously always fighting with her justifications for her work as well and feels she constantly needs to remind people of why she is doing this work. To be fair, I know many people who have a problem with scientific collections. She also talks about the people who are her guides and assistants as if they are children. At the end of the day, I found her attitude distracting from the coolness of her experience and her work. I feel like she never learns from her previous mistakes either. And if it wasn't for her grad student assistants, I don't think she'd have gotten very far on her second expedition.
BTW, for some shameless self-promotion, if you like reading about animals, check out my blog on wildlife at http://backyardzoologist.wordpress.com/
BTW, for some shameless self-promotion, if you like reading about animals, check out my blog on wildlife at http://backyardzoologist.wordpress.com/
March 12, 2010
I have always liked snakes, but have also been very aware that many others do not share my interest in reptiles. Yet even for those who have no fondness for snakes and their kin, snakes stir up strong feelings be these of fear or awe or something else altogether. Snakes are in so many ways held in our minds via mythos and emotion that the real snakes, the actual animals, sometimes become an after-thought to their popular cultural meaning. What a joy it is then to experience a book as interesting as Kate Jackson's recent biography/travel narrative of her time spent in the Republic of the Congo collecting snakes and other reptiles for scientific study. Dr. Jackson, a Harvard-educated biologist, went into the deep forests of the Congo not once but twice, in 2005 and in 2006, to collect reptiles and shares her story in this moving, complex, book.
The situation Jackson enters is made for a book or even a movie: a young American scientist going into the backwaters of an African nation troubled by civil war and learning to use not only all her lab-based and classroom training but even more her people skills and ability to make do with what is at hand. The fact she is collecting not botanical or other animal matter but snakes (many of which are dangerous) only makes the story more interesting, but beyond that, Jackson comes through as a gifted writer and story-teller in her own right. Her descriptions of the Congo's Brazzaville and the deep political red-tape she has to navigate to get the permits to collect her snakes is a fine example of the first-hand experience of researchers attempting to accomplish their work in a developing nation that itself is experiencing political and social strife. Despite the roadblocks she encounters, Jackson continues forth with a good attitude and a resolute spirit and meets many kind, like-minded, people willing to help her. And this, mind you, is even before she enters the jungle itself!
One of the most amazing aspects of Jackson's tale is that it flows like a novel and it communicates the true experience of her fieldwork without getting lost in technical details that might bore or confuse non-expert readers. Although I've both worked in a biological research lab before and have a much stronger interest in snakes than probably most who will read this review, I found Jackson's book to truly be a volume that I could picture most of my family and friends picking up and becoming engaged in as quickly as I could a person who is actually fond of snakes. After all, when it all comes down, the book is as much about human relations as it is about reptiles. Jackon's writing is on par with that of Wade Davis, another Harvard-trained biologist who has since made his career writing natural history books heavy on exploration in far-off rainforsests and other exotic locales. Jackson, like Davis before her, brings a simple, humble, sense of purpose to her work and in her writing is able to communicate the joy and frustration of fieldwork in a place where even simple aspects of daily life are often very tough. Her prose is vivid and her emotions come across on each page.
An additional benefit of a book of this nature coming from a professional scientist is that Jackson is able to offer an expert view of the ecology at work around her and is able to express in print how she, as a scientist in the field, approaches her efforts at collecting reptiles. The reaction of natives to her is also very telling: as Jackson enters a rural jungle area as a "snake expert" people come to her with questions about treating snake bites which brings her to frustration as she knows that the best advice for someone bitten by a dangerous snake is to seek professional medical care but such care is not possible for the very people who ask her for advice. As we in America take for granted that we have health care near us at nearly all times and that in even the worst of cases a helicopter will ferry the sick or injured away to a top regional hospital, it is a very sobering thought to consider that the very best hospitals in the Congo are probably below the standards of a typical secondary-care hospital in America. Also, Jackson provides us with a very long-standing view of a western-tradition scientist which has become very rare in modern science: the astute generalist. While her focus is on reptiles, Jackson's mission of collection and identification is one as old as Darwin, Bartram, and others involved in robust taxonomy. In a time when so much biological science is conducted in lab settings and is narrow in its purpose and focus, Jackson's research allows the non-expert a rather unique window into "basic" life sciences research.
Some of the problems Jackson encounters are ones that make perfect sense yet still confound her ample planning: in instance, while Jackson speaks near-fluent French (the national language of the Congo) she knows very little of Lingala, the Bantu language spoken by rural natives including her guides and others she must interface with in the course of her fieldwork. An American in a strange land, a woman in a society where men do the serious work and are professionals, Kate Jackson nonetheless presses on with a good approach and sincere concern and respect for the people around her: a warm, touching, view of the Congo comes out of her writing and makes the reader realize how complex this small nation is in fact.
Overall, Mean and Lowly Things is one of the best, most engrossing, books I have read all year. Jackson has done a sterling job of communicating the situation she experienced in the Congo and she has furthermore proven herself an adept writer, so I hope that despite her primary career as a biology professor, we will see future books about exotic places and amazing animals stem from her pen. As someone who writes about ecology and natural history myself, I found her voice to be one that needs to be listened to and her ability to bring to life a developing nation and its rare reptiles and complex ecological framework (plus its human sociography) a real treat.
The situation Jackson enters is made for a book or even a movie: a young American scientist going into the backwaters of an African nation troubled by civil war and learning to use not only all her lab-based and classroom training but even more her people skills and ability to make do with what is at hand. The fact she is collecting not botanical or other animal matter but snakes (many of which are dangerous) only makes the story more interesting, but beyond that, Jackson comes through as a gifted writer and story-teller in her own right. Her descriptions of the Congo's Brazzaville and the deep political red-tape she has to navigate to get the permits to collect her snakes is a fine example of the first-hand experience of researchers attempting to accomplish their work in a developing nation that itself is experiencing political and social strife. Despite the roadblocks she encounters, Jackson continues forth with a good attitude and a resolute spirit and meets many kind, like-minded, people willing to help her. And this, mind you, is even before she enters the jungle itself!
One of the most amazing aspects of Jackson's tale is that it flows like a novel and it communicates the true experience of her fieldwork without getting lost in technical details that might bore or confuse non-expert readers. Although I've both worked in a biological research lab before and have a much stronger interest in snakes than probably most who will read this review, I found Jackson's book to truly be a volume that I could picture most of my family and friends picking up and becoming engaged in as quickly as I could a person who is actually fond of snakes. After all, when it all comes down, the book is as much about human relations as it is about reptiles. Jackon's writing is on par with that of Wade Davis, another Harvard-trained biologist who has since made his career writing natural history books heavy on exploration in far-off rainforsests and other exotic locales. Jackson, like Davis before her, brings a simple, humble, sense of purpose to her work and in her writing is able to communicate the joy and frustration of fieldwork in a place where even simple aspects of daily life are often very tough. Her prose is vivid and her emotions come across on each page.
An additional benefit of a book of this nature coming from a professional scientist is that Jackson is able to offer an expert view of the ecology at work around her and is able to express in print how she, as a scientist in the field, approaches her efforts at collecting reptiles. The reaction of natives to her is also very telling: as Jackson enters a rural jungle area as a "snake expert" people come to her with questions about treating snake bites which brings her to frustration as she knows that the best advice for someone bitten by a dangerous snake is to seek professional medical care but such care is not possible for the very people who ask her for advice. As we in America take for granted that we have health care near us at nearly all times and that in even the worst of cases a helicopter will ferry the sick or injured away to a top regional hospital, it is a very sobering thought to consider that the very best hospitals in the Congo are probably below the standards of a typical secondary-care hospital in America. Also, Jackson provides us with a very long-standing view of a western-tradition scientist which has become very rare in modern science: the astute generalist. While her focus is on reptiles, Jackson's mission of collection and identification is one as old as Darwin, Bartram, and others involved in robust taxonomy. In a time when so much biological science is conducted in lab settings and is narrow in its purpose and focus, Jackson's research allows the non-expert a rather unique window into "basic" life sciences research.
Some of the problems Jackson encounters are ones that make perfect sense yet still confound her ample planning: in instance, while Jackson speaks near-fluent French (the national language of the Congo) she knows very little of Lingala, the Bantu language spoken by rural natives including her guides and others she must interface with in the course of her fieldwork. An American in a strange land, a woman in a society where men do the serious work and are professionals, Kate Jackson nonetheless presses on with a good approach and sincere concern and respect for the people around her: a warm, touching, view of the Congo comes out of her writing and makes the reader realize how complex this small nation is in fact.
Overall, Mean and Lowly Things is one of the best, most engrossing, books I have read all year. Jackson has done a sterling job of communicating the situation she experienced in the Congo and she has furthermore proven herself an adept writer, so I hope that despite her primary career as a biology professor, we will see future books about exotic places and amazing animals stem from her pen. As someone who writes about ecology and natural history myself, I found her voice to be one that needs to be listened to and her ability to bring to life a developing nation and its rare reptiles and complex ecological framework (plus its human sociography) a real treat.
January 3, 2010
Unfortunately typical of some nonfiction books. The story/adventure is better than the writer. I like stories about people traveling to far away lands, meeting new people and cultures, the environment and this book has all of that but not a capable writer. Sigh.
February 8, 2015
"But have I ever been anywhere, anywhere in the world where people didn't think I was weird?" (196)
I'm reluctant to do a full review of this, because a lot of my reactions have less to do with the writing than with the author's perspective/thought processes, which is not necessarily fair. So, quick notes:
-Definitely another one for my hypothetical list of jobs I never knew I didn't want.
-Some really interesting material, if you can get past the author's impatience with everyone who isn't Harvard-educated and/or an expert in snakes and other cold-blooded creatures. She obviously loves her work.
-It was hard to get used to how little regard the author expresses for villagers, village life, etc. Had to keep reminding myself that I shouldn't expect her to take an anthropological viewpoint; her interest seems to be more in the what than in the why.
-Even with that in mind, geesh, a little basic respect...?
-Interesting that the grad students on the second trip had taken a "Village 101" course (205); given how much Jackson seems to struggle with the idea that things are not done the same way / as quickly / as directly / etc. as she's used to in the U.S. and Canada, I wonder whether she might've benefited from a cultural competency course as well.
-The travails described in the book aren't the end of it: it's worth checking out this article.
I'm reluctant to do a full review of this, because a lot of my reactions have less to do with the writing than with the author's perspective/thought processes, which is not necessarily fair. So, quick notes:
-Definitely another one for my hypothetical list of jobs I never knew I didn't want.
-Some really interesting material, if you can get past the author's impatience with everyone who isn't Harvard-educated and/or an expert in snakes and other cold-blooded creatures. She obviously loves her work.
-It was hard to get used to how little regard the author expresses for villagers, village life, etc. Had to keep reminding myself that I shouldn't expect her to take an anthropological viewpoint; her interest seems to be more in the what than in the why.
-Even with that in mind, geesh, a little basic respect...?
-Interesting that the grad students on the second trip had taken a "Village 101" course (205); given how much Jackson seems to struggle with the idea that things are not done the same way / as quickly / as directly / etc. as she's used to in the U.S. and Canada, I wonder whether she might've benefited from a cultural competency course as well.
-The travails described in the book aren't the end of it: it's worth checking out this article.
June 18, 2008
I enjoyed this account of two collecting trips to Congo very much. Right up to the botflies. *shudder* I'm freshly convinced that I never ever need to go there.
The writing was accessible, and I got a real feel for Jackson's prickly but vulnerable person as well as her intense love of herps. The gold standard of zoology collection memoirs for me is Gerald Durrell and though Jackson is neither as polished nor as hilarious, she holds up well in comparison.
Recommended for herp-heads and armchair travelers with strong constitutions.
The writing was accessible, and I got a real feel for Jackson's prickly but vulnerable person as well as her intense love of herps. The gold standard of zoology collection memoirs for me is Gerald Durrell and though Jackson is neither as polished nor as hilarious, she holds up well in comparison.
Recommended for herp-heads and armchair travelers with strong constitutions.
January 19, 2009
Kate Jackson's book describes her trips to the Congo to catalogue and preserve snakes and amphibians. I found it to be a surprisingly quick read, and it gave me some idea about the day to day life of a field researcher. As a flaw, however, Jackson seemed particularly culturally insensitive, and if it weren't for well placed friends that did understand the culture, it's fairly certain that her expeditions would have crumbled before ever entering the forest.
October 15, 2020
Meh. I wasn’t impressed. It was recommended by a friend whose opinion I trust so maybe I was expecting more of a WOW factor. What spoiled it most for me was the way she treated and spoke to (and about) her Congolese peers and assistants. If she thinks demeaning people is an admirable trait- it is not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2019
Are you familiar with the aphorism, “Do what you love and the money will follow”? Well, the money part of that equation is probably questionable, but I think you will be convinced that a person who pursues her passions will never live a boring life, especially after you’ve finished reading Kate Jackson’s book,
Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo
(Harvard University Press; 2008). This book tells the amazing true story of two field seasons that the author spent in the mysterious flooded swamp forests in the Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville.
This story begins after Jackson has finished her dissertation on snake anatomy and her postdoctoral fellowship on crocodile physiology, only to find herself unemployed. But fortunately, the author had previously done a little field work in Africa. Even though that ended abruptly when she was airlifted out of the Congo rainforests with a life-threatening infection from a scrape on her leg, she was left with “an altogether irrational longing to return.”
So return she does. Jackson returns to conduct the most basic of all field work, to collect as many reptiles and amphibians as she can so she and other scientists can identify what is there and what needs to be conserved. Even though the author meticulously plans her expeditions and gathers the necessary equipment, materials and funding in advance, she finds that her work has only begun when she arrives in Brazzaville. She has to learn how to work within the maddening intricacies of third world governments and navigate the multitude of subtle linguistic and cultural differences as she seeks out the permits, supplies and field assistants that are essential to her field work.
After she sets up her field camp in the flooded swamp forests of the Congo, she discovers that even more challenges await her; invading termites and ants (which she has a phobia of), clothing that was constantly wet, disgusting food that was either in the early stages of decay or tasted like “a cross between a chunk of wood and an overcooked potato”, and maggots that formed writhing lumps as they happily grew under her skin and that of her students. Oh, and snake bites. We also learn about the author’s mistakes, both cultural and practical, and how they affected her work and her relations with the nearby villages upon whom she depended.
In addition to the author’s many exciting adventures that keep you turning pages as fast as you can read, Jackson’s description of the people she works with are frequently amusing and insightful. She also takes time to explain the purpose and scientific value of museum collections, the basic methodology used to identify snakes, how to humanely euthanize a frog and the practical difficulties of preparing an effective anti-venom. Oh, and how to inject anti-venom in an emergency. Reading that will make your intestines recoil.
This 328-page book, taken from Jackson’s field journals, provides a feeling of authenticity and immediacy. It includes a six-page index and two beautifully rendered hand-drawn maps by ecologist Tuhin Giri depicting the region where the author spent her two field seasons. A special inset near the middle of the book includes 49 color images that were snapped by a variety of the author’s colleagues, students and field assistants.
During the years that I have written book reviews for my blog, I have had the great pleasure of reading some astonishingly good books, especially about science. Mean and Lowly Things is certainly one of the best, and in fact, even though this book is newly published, I think it qualifies as the “classic field biology book” that helps to define and explain this sort of research to the public. In view of my own passion to continue researching the parrots of the remote islands in the south Pacific Ocean, I might be overly emotional regarding field work in distant lands, such as what is recounted in this book. However, by the time I finished reading this book, I experienced intense sadness because I felt as though I was closing the covers upon a beautiful world and a dear group of friends whom I had experienced so much with, and whom I wanted to continue working with.
In this day when ever-increasing gasoline prices make travel more expensive and less practical, this fast-paced, witty and personal narrative will provide a welcome escape into a beautiful and mysterious region of the earth that most people have never heard of. I highly recommend this fascinating tale to all travel and adventure buffs, snake aficionados, to those who enjoy memoirs, and to public and school libraries. Additionally, scientists (and even a few medical doctors) will find much of interest in this book, as will all those people out there who wonder what it is like to be a field biologist, especially a single female herpetologist who travels by herself to a remote area of Africa to do research with venomous snakes and other “mean and lowly things.”
NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 11 June 2008. Curated on Medium.
This story begins after Jackson has finished her dissertation on snake anatomy and her postdoctoral fellowship on crocodile physiology, only to find herself unemployed. But fortunately, the author had previously done a little field work in Africa. Even though that ended abruptly when she was airlifted out of the Congo rainforests with a life-threatening infection from a scrape on her leg, she was left with “an altogether irrational longing to return.”
So return she does. Jackson returns to conduct the most basic of all field work, to collect as many reptiles and amphibians as she can so she and other scientists can identify what is there and what needs to be conserved. Even though the author meticulously plans her expeditions and gathers the necessary equipment, materials and funding in advance, she finds that her work has only begun when she arrives in Brazzaville. She has to learn how to work within the maddening intricacies of third world governments and navigate the multitude of subtle linguistic and cultural differences as she seeks out the permits, supplies and field assistants that are essential to her field work.
After she sets up her field camp in the flooded swamp forests of the Congo, she discovers that even more challenges await her; invading termites and ants (which she has a phobia of), clothing that was constantly wet, disgusting food that was either in the early stages of decay or tasted like “a cross between a chunk of wood and an overcooked potato”, and maggots that formed writhing lumps as they happily grew under her skin and that of her students. Oh, and snake bites. We also learn about the author’s mistakes, both cultural and practical, and how they affected her work and her relations with the nearby villages upon whom she depended.
In addition to the author’s many exciting adventures that keep you turning pages as fast as you can read, Jackson’s description of the people she works with are frequently amusing and insightful. She also takes time to explain the purpose and scientific value of museum collections, the basic methodology used to identify snakes, how to humanely euthanize a frog and the practical difficulties of preparing an effective anti-venom. Oh, and how to inject anti-venom in an emergency. Reading that will make your intestines recoil.
This 328-page book, taken from Jackson’s field journals, provides a feeling of authenticity and immediacy. It includes a six-page index and two beautifully rendered hand-drawn maps by ecologist Tuhin Giri depicting the region where the author spent her two field seasons. A special inset near the middle of the book includes 49 color images that were snapped by a variety of the author’s colleagues, students and field assistants.
During the years that I have written book reviews for my blog, I have had the great pleasure of reading some astonishingly good books, especially about science. Mean and Lowly Things is certainly one of the best, and in fact, even though this book is newly published, I think it qualifies as the “classic field biology book” that helps to define and explain this sort of research to the public. In view of my own passion to continue researching the parrots of the remote islands in the south Pacific Ocean, I might be overly emotional regarding field work in distant lands, such as what is recounted in this book. However, by the time I finished reading this book, I experienced intense sadness because I felt as though I was closing the covers upon a beautiful world and a dear group of friends whom I had experienced so much with, and whom I wanted to continue working with.
In this day when ever-increasing gasoline prices make travel more expensive and less practical, this fast-paced, witty and personal narrative will provide a welcome escape into a beautiful and mysterious region of the earth that most people have never heard of. I highly recommend this fascinating tale to all travel and adventure buffs, snake aficionados, to those who enjoy memoirs, and to public and school libraries. Additionally, scientists (and even a few medical doctors) will find much of interest in this book, as will all those people out there who wonder what it is like to be a field biologist, especially a single female herpetologist who travels by herself to a remote area of Africa to do research with venomous snakes and other “mean and lowly things.”
NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 11 June 2008. Curated on Medium.
October 13, 2010
Female herpetologist goes to the Congo twice to collect and study snakes/frogs/lizards. Cannot IMAGINE doing something like this but was very interesting and well told.
September 6, 2017
Intrepid Adventure
"To understand the world, we must understand mean and lowly things." - Aristotle
Kate Jackson recounts her expeditions with the flare of the best natural field scientists from Jane Goodall to Frank Buck - every bit as fascinating and courageous. Scientific exploration - hardships, danger, daring, mysteries, accomplishment, exotic cultural surprises. Including a glimpse into modern scientific camaraderie around the world and government bureaucratic malfeasance. Highly recommended glimpse of an intrepid person enjoying herself physically and intellectually.
"No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life." -Samuel Goldwyn
"To understand the world, we must understand mean and lowly things." - Aristotle
Kate Jackson recounts her expeditions with the flare of the best natural field scientists from Jane Goodall to Frank Buck - every bit as fascinating and courageous. Scientific exploration - hardships, danger, daring, mysteries, accomplishment, exotic cultural surprises. Including a glimpse into modern scientific camaraderie around the world and government bureaucratic malfeasance. Highly recommended glimpse of an intrepid person enjoying herself physically and intellectually.
"No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life." -Samuel Goldwyn
January 22, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. It reads like an adventure novel instead of a nonfiction book. I was the keeper of the boa constrictor in our classroom when I was in 6th grade and spent the year taking care of it, cleaning out its aquarium, and taking it around to visit other classrooms. I am afraid of venomous snakes, but not others. My husband was an aquatic biologist, so I am used to looking for frogs and other amphibians and reptiles when we walk. This is a book for every age group - highly recommend.
May 11, 2022
Surprised by how well I liked this book, the author makes an interesting topic all the moreso by her retelling of her experiences as a welcome aside to her work.
Wishing the book good have been longer, I would say this is the apex of accolades for any author.
Wishing the book good have been longer, I would say this is the apex of accolades for any author.
July 29, 2024
An entertaining and informative travelogue of field work. I shared her delight at finding giant millipedes that amusingly contrasted with the indifference of the villagers (the millipedes are ubiquitous there). Can we get an exchange program? Northeastern deer for giant millipedes?
December 14, 2017
This was a fascinating book!
April 20, 2022
Really enjoyable. Again, I have no idea why anyone would subject themselves to this, but it sure makes for interesting reading.
September 23, 2008
Pack the machete, chloroform and snake hook—we’re headed to the Congo for a collecting adventure! Kate Jackson, Assistant Professor of Biology at Whitman College, has written an exciting memoir about her fieldwork collecting reptiles and amphibians for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. In 2005 and 2006, she made three trips to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she increased her knowledge about the diversity of herpetological life in the swamp forests of central Africa and deepened her understanding of the country’s people and culture.
Jackson was motivated to explore the habitat of the Congo because “it was a virtual blank spot on the herpetological map of the world” (13). Upon her arrival, many of the native people she encountered believed her to be a witch as they witnessed her bold approach and deft handling the much feared and often misunderstood snakes. These misunderstandings caused Jackson a bit of grief personally and politically; at times, it hindered her ability to establish good working relations with her hosts.
Despite desire for autonomy and order, Jackson quickly learned that she must depend on many other people to make the collecting surveys successful. Jackson’s experiences convey the importance of people skills and patience for research scientists, form making travel arrangements and securing collecting permits to negotiating with tribal chiefs for use of their land; communicating with native guides and mentoring Congolese graduate student assistants. Jackson’s personal stories and lessons in cultural exchange are delightful. Between expeditions she learns to speak Lingala to improve communications and overall relations with her native hosts.
The science presented in the memoir is never dull or obtuse, but is explained vibrantly in the context of expedition fieldwork and museum research. On a macro level, readers will learn about ecosystems, the importance of documenting biodiversity and the concept of convergence. You will also experience the vicarious thrill of learning how to set pit traps and water nets, how to fix specimens and take tissue samples for DNA analysis, and how to make a scale count on a snake head, which is key to identifying species correctly.
Jackson’s pacing is good, attention to detail superb and her voice is clear-cut and honest. If you like adventure travelogues, you will love Kate Jackson’s Mean and Lowly Things.
Jackson was motivated to explore the habitat of the Congo because “it was a virtual blank spot on the herpetological map of the world” (13). Upon her arrival, many of the native people she encountered believed her to be a witch as they witnessed her bold approach and deft handling the much feared and often misunderstood snakes. These misunderstandings caused Jackson a bit of grief personally and politically; at times, it hindered her ability to establish good working relations with her hosts.
Despite desire for autonomy and order, Jackson quickly learned that she must depend on many other people to make the collecting surveys successful. Jackson’s experiences convey the importance of people skills and patience for research scientists, form making travel arrangements and securing collecting permits to negotiating with tribal chiefs for use of their land; communicating with native guides and mentoring Congolese graduate student assistants. Jackson’s personal stories and lessons in cultural exchange are delightful. Between expeditions she learns to speak Lingala to improve communications and overall relations with her native hosts.
The science presented in the memoir is never dull or obtuse, but is explained vibrantly in the context of expedition fieldwork and museum research. On a macro level, readers will learn about ecosystems, the importance of documenting biodiversity and the concept of convergence. You will also experience the vicarious thrill of learning how to set pit traps and water nets, how to fix specimens and take tissue samples for DNA analysis, and how to make a scale count on a snake head, which is key to identifying species correctly.
Jackson’s pacing is good, attention to detail superb and her voice is clear-cut and honest. If you like adventure travelogues, you will love Kate Jackson’s Mean and Lowly Things.
May 14, 2011
I read this book in one evening, having picked it up just to look at the first few pages and see if I wanted to read it next. Apparently the answer was yes. The writing is very plain and straightforward, making this an extremely fast read.
There are, yes, a few headdesk-worthy incidents here. Jackson is clueless about the local culture (particularly on the first expedition) and has little patience with people who aren't as knowledgeable or enthusiastic as she is. A surprising amount of the text consists of her sometimes clumsy attempts to keep order among her guides, students, and others who drop by the camp. Frustrations and personality conflicts abound, and it frequently seems as if everyone's on the brink of throwing down their tools and going home.
This is, surprisingly, almost as gripping as the snake-catching parts, if only because it's the part where the author is most out of her element. It's as much a story about trying to manage a group of people with disparate personalities in stressful conditions as it is a story about collecting reptiles in the rainforest.
Most of all, and the reason I'm giving this book four stars, is that Jackson conveys both the frustrations and joys of the expeditions in rich and gritty detail. Even absurd situations, like the author being mobbed by termites (of which she's terrified), or trying to find a place to stay while hauling around a decaying cobra, are rendered real and immediate here.
Though I might be the ideal reader for this book (a young, female American biologist who dreams of studying in the tropics), you don't need to know a thing about snakes to appreciate this book. But you might find yourself wanting to learn more about them after you're through reading it.
There are, yes, a few headdesk-worthy incidents here. Jackson is clueless about the local culture (particularly on the first expedition) and has little patience with people who aren't as knowledgeable or enthusiastic as she is. A surprising amount of the text consists of her sometimes clumsy attempts to keep order among her guides, students, and others who drop by the camp. Frustrations and personality conflicts abound, and it frequently seems as if everyone's on the brink of throwing down their tools and going home.
This is, surprisingly, almost as gripping as the snake-catching parts, if only because it's the part where the author is most out of her element. It's as much a story about trying to manage a group of people with disparate personalities in stressful conditions as it is a story about collecting reptiles in the rainforest.
Most of all, and the reason I'm giving this book four stars, is that Jackson conveys both the frustrations and joys of the expeditions in rich and gritty detail. Even absurd situations, like the author being mobbed by termites (of which she's terrified), or trying to find a place to stay while hauling around a decaying cobra, are rendered real and immediate here.
Though I might be the ideal reader for this book (a young, female American biologist who dreams of studying in the tropics), you don't need to know a thing about snakes to appreciate this book. But you might find yourself wanting to learn more about them after you're through reading it.
March 6, 2015
Female herpetologist on a Congolese research expedition - what could go wrong? Well, pretty much everything. Kate Jackson's auto-biography on this season of her life was quite insightful for those of us who have not experienced Congo firsthand: the weather, the culture(s), the food, the bugs. For the average Westerner,(and even for some Congolese), these conditions would be unbearable, but Kate takes it all in stride. I enjoyed rooting for her in the face of daunting opposition and appreciated her straightforward approach to writing and to life. The only thing that prevented a 5th star was her sometimes lack of timeline - at points I didn't know if different situations were the same day, a week later, or even a month later.
July 10, 2008
I read this book because of Brynn, our aspiring herpetologist. She brought home several books from the library about snakes. Since this book was clearly written for adults, I told her I would preview it for her.
Being a biologist and science lover at heart, I thorougly enjoyed this book!! Kate Jackson gives a very honest portrayal of her time spent in the Congo, looking for reptiles & amphibians. She details the horrible living conditions, difficulties with the government, relationships with her guides and her love of herps. I know not everyone would enjoy this book. But if you are interested in what it would be like to lead a snake-hunting expedition in Africa...read this!
Being a biologist and science lover at heart, I thorougly enjoyed this book!! Kate Jackson gives a very honest portrayal of her time spent in the Congo, looking for reptiles & amphibians. She details the horrible living conditions, difficulties with the government, relationships with her guides and her love of herps. I know not everyone would enjoy this book. But if you are interested in what it would be like to lead a snake-hunting expedition in Africa...read this!
August 23, 2009
I don't like science, but I do like nature and adventure stories. What a fascinating story about her adventures in the Congo. Her writing is very accessible, a quick read about something I knew nothing about. The people in this remote area of the Congo are just like us.
My background is in social science. It was refreshing to read this by a scientist, who is so matter-of-fact about just about everything.
My background is in social science. It was refreshing to read this by a scientist, who is so matter-of-fact about just about everything.
January 19, 2016
Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo by Kate Jackson (Harvard University Press 2008) (Biography) is an account of a newly-fledged biologist on a collecting trip to the Congo to capture and catalogue snakes, lizards, frogs, and toads. The author shares well the dangers, discomforts, and deprivations of living in the bush in the Third World with only a few assorted locals as guides and assistants. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 10/11/11.
December 21, 2008
I was charmed by Kate Jackson's intimate look at her field experience as a biologist in the Congo. I loved that Jackson revealed the often clumsy truths of her adventures with "mean and lowly" things.
Any one, especially young women, who are interested in wildlife research should enjoy this book.
Any one, especially young women, who are interested in wildlife research should enjoy this book.
January 31, 2009
While I have always loved snakes, this book makes me realize that I definitely did not ever want to be a herpetologist. But Jackson's adventures in the Congo are a pleasure to read. She grabs forest cobras and pops pimples containing magets, and does all kinds of other tough things that are more fun to read about than live through.
June 26, 2009
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!
If you have a hankering for a interesting memoir, this is the book for you. The topic is her experiences in the Congo collecting snakes, lizards, and toads. You will be gasping and reading sections of this book aloud to those around you.
I was pleasantly surprised that she is a good writer as well as having a great tale to tell.
If you have a hankering for a interesting memoir, this is the book for you. The topic is her experiences in the Congo collecting snakes, lizards, and toads. You will be gasping and reading sections of this book aloud to those around you.
I was pleasantly surprised that she is a good writer as well as having a great tale to tell.
March 17, 2010
Loved this book!! I stayed up til 3am to finish it! As well as being an exciting story about a world totally foreign to me, it is written in a deceptively simple and unassuming style, though actually it is a surprisingly complex book. It stands out for the author's honesty and fairness. She never pretends to be anything better than she is.
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August 16, 2011The FLMNH book club read this book in June 2011.
Although the author studied snakes and reptiles in the Congo, the story is really an insight on field studies. She goes into great detail on how she got permits in a foreign country, where she got funds for her research and how she coped living among a foreign culture.
Although the author studied snakes and reptiles in the Congo, the story is really an insight on field studies. She goes into great detail on how she got permits in a foreign country, where she got funds for her research and how she coped living among a foreign culture.
June 22, 2011
Jackson discusses her research, but mostly her experiences doing that research, on snakes in the Congo. Among other things, part of her research grant involved mentoring two local university students in snake (herpian?) research.
I love snakes, love travel, and have a (3 year) biology degree: This book scratched all my itches.
I love snakes, love travel, and have a (3 year) biology degree: This book scratched all my itches.
September 9, 2011
Kate Jackson is one determined herpetologist. The world of snakes has a pretty rarified group of followers, but it took her halfway across the world to the dense rain-forests of the Congo and a whole raft of characters she's captured beautifully. I love her gumption and focus. What's a few maggots and a million mozzies when you've got species to catalogue!
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