For me when I was a child, it was to fold willow branches to make whistles in the spring, go to the river to catch dragonflies in the summer, and dig bird eggs from trees.
With the acceleration of urbanization, we living in the city feel that nature is getting farther and farther away from us with time. The only thing that can feel the natural atmosphere may be the various flowers and plants in the circle of friends, but the flowers and plants that can be recognized from it are at most dozens of species, nothing more than spring spring, cherry blossoms, magnolias, weeping willows by the river in summer, vines full of walls, autumn leaves and winter snow.
When visiting the bookstore, I happened to see a book of "Nature Illustrated Book", I thought it was for children, casually looked at it, and was immediately attracted by the drawings and small encyclopedias in the book, and found that this book is suitable for all curious and nature-loving people. "Nature Illustrated", a small encyclopedia of nature, was decisively bought by me.
The Nature Illustrated Book is written by the Japanese writer Riuchi Ryū, who was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and graduated from the University of Chinese outside Kobe City. He has worked as an editor for PR magazines and children's books, and later as a freelance writer, creating books on cooking, travel, and science books for children.
Born in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan, Tatsuyo Matsuoka, graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Designers and worked on design projects, and is now a professional natural science illustrator.
Although the "Natural Illustrated Book" has more than 300 pages, it feels very thick, but it is a combination of pictures and text, and the text on the left is composed of 3 parts, with the illustration on the right. The illustration on the left and the illustration on the right are even more impressive. The pale green drawing theme not only protects the eyes, but also reflects the "natural" elements.
The book is divided into 6 parts, namely insects; birds; mammals; reptiles, amphibians; fish, shellfish; and plants. Each part will first talk about the utensils and clothing during observation, the precautions when observing, and through the in-depth observation of animals and plants, show effective observation methods, and also give a lot of interesting scientific knowledge.
Interesting tips in reading:
The red dullness of insects and nocturnal animals
We humans receive the wavelength of light, and we can see colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple. That is to say, you judge the color from the wavelength of the received brain, and the same is true for insects and mammals.
By doing experiments, in areas where flowers are blooming and butterflies are flying, placing yellow, blue, red, purple, white, and green cardboard with a spacing of 1-2 meters, we found that pink butterflies such as white pink butterflies or black striped white pink butterflies do not approach red cardboard at all.
It turns out that white pink butterflies do not respond to red light, it turns out that they cannot see longer wavelength colors such as red light. In the eyes of pink butterflies, there is no color of red, but they can indeed see ultraviolet rays that we humans cannot see.
Not only insects, but also nocturnal mammals are less responsive to red light, so when observing animals at night, use red cellophane to cover the flashlight so as not to scare the animals.
Someone might raise the bar and say that cattle are particularly sensitive to red, because matadors always carry a red cloth. Sorry to tell you, the cow, in fact, is a color blind, its world is only black and white, the red cloth of the matador will make the cow excited, it is entirely because the cloth is floating, you change a white cloth to fight the bull, the cow will also be excited.
Birds have a wide variety of feet
Compared to the wings and beaks of birds, the feet of birds are vague, probably because we don't have a chance to see clearly when they move or perch. In fact, birds generally have 4 toes. Some birds have 4 toes in front, some are 3 front and back 1 toe, some are front 2 and 2 back toes, and some birds have membranes between the toes.
If there is a membrane between the toes, the first thing that everyone thinks of is definitely the duck, like seagulls, ospreys, geese, swans, etc., and there is also a membrane between the toes. As long as they are preying in the water and can swim in the water, there is a membrane between the toes.
Except for water birds, almost all birds are front 3 and 1 toe, the most common sparrows, chickens, and various eagles, their feet are the front 3 and 1 toe. However, the exception is the owl here, it is the first 2 and the back 2 toes. Woodpeckers are also front 2 and back 2, mainly to stop vertically on the trunk.
Whether it is the first 3 and 1 toe, or the first 2 and 2 toes of the bird, you can walk on the ground, but the first 4 toe of the bird, almost no walking, such as like the white-waisted swift.
Toxic amphibian crawling
What animals will be poisonous, our first thought must be snakes, in fact, in addition to we know that snakes are poisonous, like toads, rain frogs, salamanders are also poisonous.
Toads, rain frogs, and salamanders have glands that secrete venom on their skin, and if you touch these animals and rub your eyes with the same hand, it will cause severe pain. Depending on the toxicity, the pain is also different. The toad's venom tingles when it invades the eye, and the venom of the red-bellied salamander enters the eye and causes severe pain. In this case, we have to rinse thoroughly with water.
The lateral line of the fish, the excellent sensory organ
When many people eat fish, they always say that the fish after doing it is still relatively fishy, and later some life tips are introduced in the video, as long as the fishing line on the back of the fish is removed, there is no fishy smell.
The so-called fishing line, also known as the side line. The lateral line of the fish is equivalent to the sensory organ of the human ear, and when the prey or predator is active, the lateral line of the fish can quickly feel the fluctuations of the water and can grasp the range farther than the line of sight.
The small holes on the side line, each hole has fine hairs, as soon as there is a vibration, these fine hairs will fall in one direction, thus feeling the change of water waves.
Aquatic plants with long knowledge
Plants are particularly affected by land, water sources, climate is particularly significant, the same area, from the distance of water is different, the type of plants will have great changes, and the performance of aquatic plants is more obvious.
According to the living animals of aquatic plants, it is divided into water plants, floating plants, floating plants, and submerged plants. Literally, watery plants are stems and leaves that stick out of the water. Floating plants are leaves floating on the surface of the water, floating plants refer to the entire plant is floating on the surface of the water, submerged plants, as the name suggests, is the whole plant that grows under the water.
Water depth plants are related to the depth of water, and as the water depth goes down, they are floating plants, floating plants, and submerged plants, so we can infer the approximate depth of water according to the type of plant in reverse.
By reading the Nature Atlas, we found that although we live in cement cities, as long as you look closely, you will always find interesting animals and plants.
Each part of the book has small experiments and small questions and answers, and this interaction with the reader increases the readability of the book. At the end of each chapter, there are short stories of comics, and the comics have their own observation methods, and the page numbers of these methods will be marked below the comic, so that the reader can read again and deepen the impression.
At the end of the "Nature Atlas" separately lists the methods of taxonomy, biological index, observation notes, and the last page is intimately attached to the measuring ruler, which is convenient for the timely measurement of the target observation when carrying it with you.