"Story of New Species Discovery: 11 Researchers Go from Your Feet to the Deep Sea!" Book Review
Edited by Tomoyuki Shimano and Tsukasa Waki, Iwanami Junior Shinsho, March 2023, 254 pages, 1120 yen excluding tax.
True to its subtitle, "Eleven researchers go from the shallows to the deep sea!", the book is packed with eleven stories of surprising and joyful new species discoveries. The sheer momentum and unrivaled energy of these researchers are breathtaking. Furthermore, the "Knowledge Notes" at the end of the book are filled with essential insights that one usually only learns after entering a laboratory—things inseparable from a future life in research. In these notes, I feel the editors' deep love for biology, as if they are whispering, "Come on over to our side, the water's sweet here." I am truly delighted that high school students struggling with their university majors or future paths will have the chance to read this.
Nowadays, with an internet connection, you can look up just about anything, and if you have a specific goal in mind, it's relatively easy to search for it. However, you probably won't be able to find the true nature of the ecology, activities, and research content of researchers who are "biology geeks." Reading this book will clarify the specific ecology of biology geeks and how to become one, and it is guaranteed to be a ray of light for wandering students. And it is truly wonderful that readers can simultaneously understand that discovering new species is the core of a biology geek's ecology, and that the driving force behind it is a gift of curiosity—just a tiny trigger, with a perspective different from everyone else.
The discovery of a new species is the ultimate achievement for biologists. This is evident from the fact that Dr. Tomitaro Makino—who is currently being featured as the protagonist of the first half of the 2023 NHK morning TV drama "Ranman"—embodied this a long time ago. It is a concrete example of how someone who possesses a somewhat "unusual" level of interest, fascination, and curiosity that others might struggle to understand ("Why that particular creature?"), as a professional researcher in that field, unleashes their energy, passion, and time to acquire peripheral knowledge while taking action (through experimentation and observation), thereby drawing in the empathy of those around them and good fortune.
These eleven biology professors, despite having different specialties and research methods, achieved the remarkable feat of discovering new species driven by curiosity, a certain obsessive fondness, and passion. Every single one of their stories overflows with an unusual level of energy and classic "biologist moments." From start to finish, I was overwhelmed (or rather, poisoned?) by that intense energy, feeling the suspense and thrill as if I were somehow involved in discovering these new species myself. I should add that upon finishing the book, despite merely reading it, I felt a pleasant sense of exhaustion.
Truth is stranger than fiction. To high school students trying to decide whether to become "biologist" researchers or hesitating, and to undergraduate students still unsure of their major, this is a good book that I hope you will pick up at least once to catch a glimpse of the true essence of a biologist.
Yuka Kawai (Teacher, Otsuma Nakano Junior and Senior High School)
