Ronald Rood

Last updated

Ronald Rood (July 7, 1920- July 16, 2001) was a Vermont author, naturalist and Vermont Public Radio commentator who wrote over 30 books, including The Loon in My Bathtub,How Do You Spank a Porcupine?,It's Going to Sting Me, and Mother Can I Keep This Clam - It Followed Me Home.

Contents

Ron Rood's Vermont: A Nature Guide was published by The New England Press in 1988. [1]

Personal life

Rood was born in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1920. He was intrigued by all of nature from early childhood, stating that his mentor was Thornton Burgess. During the Second World War, Rood was a fighter pilot, flying P-51 Mustangs over Europe. He earned a bachelor's degree in forestry and wildlife, and later a master's degree in zoology. He married Margaret "Peg" Bruce in 1942 and in 1953 they moved to Lincoln, Vermont, where he shared a home with his wife and their four children. Their friends Al and Norene Thergesen and their children also shared the home for some years. Rood taught the Introductory Biology Laboratory course at Middlebury College, collected biological specimens for biological supply houses, and wrote encyclopedia entries on various biological subjects while beginning his writing career. Rood taught Sunday School at the Lincoln United Church and directed its choir for 25 years.[ citation needed ]

Ronald Rood and his family lived for a while in Massapequa Park, New York, where he was an important part of the Massapequa Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Peggy, both sang in the choir.[ citation needed ]

At his death, he was cremated and the ashes, contained in his favorite coffee pot, were interred in the Maple Shade Cemetery, Lincoln, Vermont, in a plot marked by a boulder bearing his name, dates, Peg's name and birthdate, and the outline of a P-51, among other inscriptions. [2]

Partial bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. O. Wilson</span> American biologist, naturalist, and writer (1929–2021)

Edward Osborne WilsonFRS was an American biologist, naturalist, ecologist, and entomologist known for developing the field of sociobiology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Kovic</span> American activist and writer

Ronald Lawrence Kovic is an American anti-war activist, writer, and United States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. His 1976 memoir Born on the Fourth of July was made into the Academy Award–winning 1989 film directed by Oliver Stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrik Willem van Loon</span> Dutch-American historian, journalist and author

Hendrik Willem van Loon was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and children's book author.

Sir Edward James Salisbury CBE FRS was an English botanist and ecologist. He was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire and graduated in botany from University College London in 1905. In 1913, he obtained a D.Sc. with a thesis on fossil seeds and was appointed a senior lecturer at East London College. He returned to University College London as a senior lecturer, from 1924 as a reader in plant ecology and from 1929 as Quain Professor of botany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batesian mimicry</span> Bluffing imitation of a strongly defended species

Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil.

<i>The Naturalist on the River Amazons</i> 1863 book by Henry Walter Bates

The Naturalist on the River Amazons, subtitled A Record of the Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature under the Equator, during Eleven Years of Travel, is an 1863 book by the British naturalist Henry Walter Bates about his expedition to the Amazon basin. Bates and his friend Alfred Russel Wallace set out to obtain new species and new evidence for evolution by natural selection, as well as exotic specimens to sell. He explored thousands of miles of the Amazon and its tributaries, and collected over 14,000 species, of which 8,000 were new to science. His observations of the coloration of butterflies led him to discover Batesian mimicry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loren Eiseley</span> American poet

Loren Eiseley was an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer, who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s. He received many honorary degrees and was a fellow of multiple professional societies. At his death, he was Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and History of Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bernd Heinrich, is a professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of Vermont and is the author of a number of books about nature writing and biology. Heinrich has made major contributions to the study of insect physiology and behavior, as well as bird behavior. In addition to many scientific publications, Heinrich has written over a dozen highly praised books, mostly related to his research examining the physiological, ecological and behavioral adaptations of animals and plants to their physical environments. He has also written books that include more of his personal reflections on nature. He is the son of Ichneumon expert Gerd Heinrich.

<i>Scientology: A History of Man</i> Book by L. Ron Hubbard

Scientology: A History of Man is a book by L. Ron Hubbard, first published in 1952 under the title What to Audit by the Scientific Press of Phoenix. According to the author, it provides "a coldblooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years." It has gone through many editions since its first publication and is a key text of the Church of Scientology. The book has been ridiculed by critics of Scientology for its unusual writing style and pseudoscientific claims; it has been described as "a slim pretense at scientific method ... blended with a strange amalgam of psychotherapy, mysticism and pure science fiction; mainly the latter."

Justin Orvel Schmidt was an American entomologist, co-author of Insect Defenses: Adaptive Mechanisms and Strategies of Prey and Predators, author of The Sting of the Wild, and creator of the Schmidt sting pain index. Schmidt studied honey bee nutrition, chemical communication, physiology, ecology and behavior at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona, before taking lead and devoting full-time to The Southwestern Biological Institute in 2006. As research director of the Southwest Biological Institute, he studied the chemical and behavioral defenses of ants, wasps, and arachnids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal coloration</span> General appearance of an animal

Animal coloration is the general appearance of an animal resulting from the reflection or emission of light from its surfaces. Some animals are brightly coloured, while others are hard to see. In some species, such as the peafowl, the male has strong patterns, conspicuous colours and is iridescent, while the female is far less visible.

The argument from reason is an argument against metaphysical naturalism and for the existence of God. The best-known defender of the argument is C. S. Lewis. Lewis first defended the argument at length in his 1947 book, Miracles: A Preliminary Study. In the second edition of Miracles (1960), Lewis substantially revised and expanded the argument.

Bob Spear was an American naturalist, birdwatcher and master woodcarver who was the founding director of the Birds of Vermont Museum (BOVM), he was influential in the birding and environmental communities, having co-founded Vermont's first chapter of the National Audubon Society and having created more than 470 biologically accurate bird carvings on display at the BOVM. He was also the author of the book, The Birds of Vermont, published in 1969 by the Green Mountain Audubon Society. He resided in Huntington, Vermont United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasp</span> Members of the order Hymenoptera which are neither ants nor bees

A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.

<i>Fertilisation of Orchids</i> 1862 book by Charles Darwin

Fertilisation of Orchids is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862 under the full explanatory title On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects, and On the Good Effects of Intercrossing. Darwin's previous book, On the Origin of Species, had briefly mentioned evolutionary interactions between insects and the plants they fertilised, and this new idea was explored in detail. Field studies and practical scientific investigations that were initially a recreation for Darwin—a relief from the drudgery of writing—developed into enjoyable and challenging experiments. Aided in his work by his family, friends, and a wide circle of correspondents across Britain and worldwide, Darwin tapped into the contemporary vogue for growing exotic orchids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter R. Tschinkel</span> American entomologist

Walter R. Tschinkel is an American myrmecologist, entomologist and Distinguished Research Professor of Biological Science and R.O. Lawton Distinguished Professor emeritus at Florida State University. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book The Fire Ants, the book Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests, and more than 150 original research papers on the natural history, ecology, nest architecture and organization of ant societies; chemical communication in beetles; and the mysterious fairy circles of the Namib desert. His casts of ant nests and botanical drawings appear in numerous museums of art and natural history, from Hong Kong to Paris.

Animal suicide is when an animal intentionally ends its own life through its actions. It implies a wide range of higher cognitive capacities that experts have been wary to ascribe to nonhuman animals such as a concept of self, death, and future intention. There is currently not enough empirical data on the subject for there to be a consensus among experts. For these reasons, the occurrence of animal suicide is controversial among academics.

10th edition of <i>Systema Naturae</i> Book by Carl Linnaeus

The 10th edition of Systema Naturae is a book written by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. In it, Linnaeus introduced binomial nomenclature for animals, something he had already done for plants in his 1753 publication of Species Plantarum.

<i>Adaptive Coloration in Animals</i> 1940 textbook on camouflage, mimicry and aposematism by Hugh Cott

Adaptive Coloration in Animals is a 500-page textbook about camouflage, warning coloration and mimicry by the Cambridge zoologist Hugh Cott, first published during the Second World War in 1940; the book sold widely and made him famous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Goulson</span> British ecologist and entomologist

Dave Goulson is Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex. Specializing in the ecology and conservation of insects, particularly bumblebees, Goulson is the author of several books, including Bumblebees: Their Behaviour and Ecology (2003), Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypses (2021), and more than 200 academic articles. In 2006 he founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a charity that aims to reverse the decline in the bumblebee population.

References

  1. "RONALD ROOD, 81; NATURALIST, AUTHOR, PBS COMMENTATOR". encyclopedia.com.[ dead link ]
  2. "Ronald "Ron" Rood (1920-2001) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2018-04-13.