Pioneering a new niche in the study of plants and animals in their natural habitat, this book allows readers to peer over the shoulders and into the notebooks of a dozen eminent field workers, to study firsthand their observational methods, materials, and fleeting impressions.

Foreword / Edward O. Wilson -- Introduction / Michael R. Canfield -- The pleasure of observing / George B. Schaller -- Untangling the bank / Bernd Heinrich -- One and a half cheers for list-keeping / Kenn Kaufman -- A reflection of the truth / Roger Kitching -- Linking researchers across generations / Anna K. Behrensmeyer -- The spoken and the unspoken / Karen L. Kramer -- In the eye of the beholder / Jonathan Kingdon -- Why sketch? / Jenny Keller -- The evolution and fate of botanical field books / James L. Reveal -- Note-taking for pencilophobes / Piotr Naskrecki -- Letters to the future / John D. Perrine and James L. Patton -- Why keep a field notebook? / Erick Greene.