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Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon

Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon

by Melissa L. Sevigny

W. W. Norton & Company ·2023 ·304 pages
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About This Book

In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off down the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious expedition leader and three amateur boatmen. With its churning rapids, sheer cliffs, and boat-shattering boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. But for Clover and Jotter, it held a tantalizing appeal: no one had surveyed the Grand Canyon's plants, and they were determined to be the first. Through the vibrant letters and diaries of the two women, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny traces their forty-three-day journey, during which they ran rapids, chased a runaway boat, and turned their harshest critic into an ally. Their story is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a little-known corner of the American West at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever.


Reviews

"Highlights the little-known contributions two women made to our knowledge about the Southwest ecology."

Anita Snow· Associated Press Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Readers will be swept away."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"She sees women doing their job and doing it well."

Deborah Blum· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Despite the subject matter, only a few black-and-white photos of plant specimens are included in this book ..."

Mary L. Holden· Los Angeles Review of Books Read review ↗ Near the Top

"A breath-catching, enlightening, and significant work of scientific, environmental, and women's history."

Donna Seaman· Booklist Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"A beautiful tribute to two pioneering women of science."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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