Danna Staaf earned a PhD in biology from Stanford University with her studies of baby squid. She is the author of Monarchs of the Sea and The Lady and the Octopus, and she has written for Science, Atlas Obscura, and Nautilus. She lives in California with her human family, a cat, and a garden full of grubs, caterpillars, maggots, and innumerable other babies.
There is certainly a cuteness factor here. . . . [But] beyond the oohs and ahs, scientist Staaf shares significant findings about the connections between the environment and human genes. The miracle of life (and developmental biology, Staaf's specialty) is the book's journey, documenting each stage, from egg to juvenile/teenager, with easy-to-understand research and illuminating analogies.-- ""Booklist"" Every page of Danna Staaf's Nursery Earth brims with strange wonders. This book is a gobsmacking delight!--Sy Montgomery, New York Times-bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus I can't count the number of times the word wow crossed my lips as I eagerly turned to the next page of Nursery Earth. If you've ever wondered how nature works, Staaf shows us why you'd best not ignore the beginnings. This book is the finest kind of science writing: heartwarming and perspective-shifting!--Juli Berwald, author of Spineless and Life on the Rocks Some animal babies are really cute (kittens), and some are a bit horrifying (larval parasites), but this book shows how all are incredibly interesting. Packed with the fascinating and the fantastic, Nursery Earth is a surprising page-turner, as hard to put down as a new puppy.--Carl Safina, New York Times-bestselling author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel