''Elephant'' is a

science book A science book is a work of nonfiction, usually written by a scientist, researcher, or professor like Stephen Hawking (''A Brief History of Time''), or sometimes by a non-scientist such as Bill Bryson ('' A Short History of Nearly Everything''). ...

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

, published by

Pyramid Books Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to ...

in July 1964 as part of

The Worlds of Science ''The Worlds of Science'' is a series of science book paperbacks by various authors published by Pyramid Books in the 1960s. The series included both reprints of works originally published independently and new works written especially for the s ...

series. The cover title is ''Elephant: The Fascinating Life Cycle of the World's Largest Land Animal''.

Summary

The book treats its subject comprehensively, covering elephants in captivity and the wild, their use in ancient warfare, modern conflicts between elephants and farmers, and preservation efforts, among other topics. A "generalized account of the life history of elephants, living and fossil, their relatives, and their use throughout history,"Review in ''The Science Teacher'' v. 32, no. 6, Sep. 1965, p. 54. it deals with "the various aspects of the world's largest land animal, from fossils to captive elephants."Review in ''The Science News-Letter'', v. 86, no. 13, Sep. 26, 1964, p. 204. It is illustrated with pen-and-ink sketches, maps and charts, and includes eight pages of unnumbered black-and-white photographs, a bibliography and index.

Reception

''The Science News-Letter'' notes that the book is " signed for the general reader and student." ''The Science Teacher'' praises the book's "academic and sometimes lighthearted text," noting " e author has a knack for interjecting subtleties such as 'nobody has yet fitted an elephant with false teeth.'" It rates the book "an excellent junior high school library reference, especially for students who need a readable source for a class report."

Relation to other works

While a decent study, the book is important more for its insight into the mind of the author than in its own right, elephants being a lifelong interest of de Camp's that figures in many of his other literary works. In his early time travel novel ''

Lest Darkness Fall ''Lest Darkness Fall'' is an alternate history science fiction novel written in 1939 by American author L. Sprague de Camp. Alternate history author Harry Turtledove has said it sparked his interest in the genre as well as his desire to study ...

'' his protagonist Martin Padway pens a similar monograph, while in his historical novel '' An Elephant for Aristotle'' details the difficulties in transporting an elephant from India to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

during ancient times. De Camp also wrote a number of articles about

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

s, a few of which appeared, together with a chapter selected from the present work, in his later collection ''

The Fringe of the Unknown ''The Fringe of the Unknown'' is a science book by L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardcover and paperback by Prometheus Books in 1983. Summary The book is a collection of articles that constitute a "study ... of controversial and often ...

'' (1983).

References

{{L. Sprague de Camp 1964 non-fiction books Natural history books Books by L. Sprague de Camp Pyramid Books books