Do Lemmings Commit Suicide Beautiful Hypotheses and Ugly Facts [Hardcover]

Unlike nearly all science books which tell of successful ventures and satisfactory conclusions, this book reveals the harsher but more common side of scientific research. Written by one of this century's most distinguished small mammal ecologists, it is both a personal history of and an apology for a life in science spent working on problems for which no final dramatic closure was reached. Included along the way are important anecdotes and history about Charles Elton and his pioneering work at the Bureau of Animal Population at Oxford University, from which much of modern population has grown, and insights on the philosophy and practice of science. This eye-opening account of a scientific career should be read by everyone in life sciences or the history and philosophy of science.

1. Introduction
2. Pioneering Observations, 1929-1939
3. Qualitative Changes, 1937-1939
4. Wartime Rat and Mouse Control, 1939-1946
5. Replication, 1946-1951
6. Behavior, Physiologym and Natural Selection, 1949-1961
7. Controversies, 1952-1956
8. Varying the Circumstances, 1952-1959
9. From Wytham Woods to Baker Lake, 1959-1962
10. Synchrony, 1924-1959
11. Review, 1923-1961
12. Epilogue, 1961-1995

An autobiographical account of a life's work in scientific research. . . . The book begins with a thorough de-bunking of the popular mythology surrounding lemmings. . . . This book is somewhat unusual for its genre, in that the author has chosen to emphasise the disappointments and false starts inherent in scientific research, including all the frustrations familiar to anyone who has ever engaged in the rustic alchemy of field ecology. . . . For philosophers of science and population ecologists who wish to know more about the history of small mammal ecology, this book may illuminate past advances in, and setbacks to, the understanding of population cycles. The references and insights into the practice of science will also be helpful to those unfamilils$