Budiansky, Stephen 1957–

views updated

BUDIANSKY, Stephen 1957–

(Stephen Philip Budiansky)

PERSONAL:

Born March 3, 1957, in Boston, MA; son of Bernard (a professor) and Nancy Budiansky; married Martha Polkey (an editor), September 10, 1982; children: Rachael, Andrew. Education: Yale University, B.S., 1978; Harvard University, M.S., 1979. Hobbies and other interests: Farming, fox hunting.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Leesburg, VA. Office—14605 Chapel Ln., Leesburg, VA 20176. Agent—Katinka Matson, Brockman, Inc., 5 E. 59th St., New York, NY 10022. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, writer, 1979-82; Nature, Washington, DC, Washington editor, 1982-85; U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, DC, Congressional fellow, 1985-86; U.S. News & World Report, Washington, DC, national security correspondent, senior writer, foreign editor, and deputy editor, 1986-98; Atlantic Monthly, Washington, DC, correspondent.

MEMBER:

Sigma Xi, Loudoun Hunt Club.

WRITINGS:

The Covenant of the Wild, Morrow (New York, NY), 1992.

Nature's Keepers: The New Science of Nature Management, Free Press (New York, NY), 1995.

The Nature of Horses: Exploring Equine Evolution, Intelligence, and Behavior, Free Press (New York, NY), 1997.

If a Lion Could Talk: Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of Consciousness, Free Press (New York, NY), 1998.

The Truth about Dogs: An Inquiry into the Ancestry, Social Conventions, Mental Habits, and Moral Fiber of Canis Familiaris, Viking (New York, NY), 2000.

The World According to Horses: How They Run, See, and Think, Holt (New York, NY), 2000.

Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, Free Press (New York, NY), 2000.

The Character of Cats: The Origins, Intelligence, Behavior, and Stratagems of Felis Silvestris Catus, Viking (New York, NY), 2002.

Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War, from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II, Viking (New York, NY), 2004.

Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage, Viking (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Stephen Budiansky has written numerous nonfiction books, many of them about animal behavior and the bonds between humans and animals. His first publication was The Covenant of the Wild, which examines the process of animal domestication. Budiansky believes that animals pursued this process as ardently as humans did, and that the benefits are mutual. He states that humans and animals first began to associate with each other prior to the Pleistocene Age. A period of rapid climate change caused a wave of extinctions, and the animals with juvenile traits that appealed to humans fared better in surviving, because of the protection afforded to them by their human companions. The author offers a critical view of the animal-rights movement and of ecologists. Kathleen Courrier, a reviewer for Sierra, found that Budiansky "doesn't state the other side's case fairly," but she nevertheless found his book "provocative." In a review in Journal of Environmental Education, Joseph Petulla explained: "To animal rights advocates, Budiansky might seem unsympathetic to animals, but he would claim that he is both being realistic and following the evolutionary destinies of both animals and humans." Petulla also noted that one of Budiansky's motivations for writing the book was to refute the animal-rights movement, and added: "In almost every chapter, he presents one of their arguments or campaigns and demolishes it with the force of a sledge hammer, if not a rapier."

Budiansky again criticized the ecological community in Nature's Keepers: The New Science of Nature Management. In this book, the author stated that humans have always been part of the natural environment and, as natural creatures, their actions are not of great concern. Ecologists are motivated by political rather than scientific aims, according to Budiansky. A Publishers Weekly reviewer considered this an example of the author's "glaring naivete" and thought the book suffered from a "lack of meaningful content," though the critic nevertheless noted the author's "engaging style."

The Nature of Horses: Exploring Equine Evolution, Intelligence, and Behavior offered a look into the psyche of the horse. The author began with an overview of equine evolution, noting that if the horse had not become domesticated, it would probably be extinct. Various aspects of individual and social behavior in the horse are discussed. "Budiansky's love for and appreciation of horses shows throughout this book," stated Christine Janis in American Scientist.

The author turned his attention to the strong bond between man and dog in The Truth about Dogs: An Inquiry into the Ancestry, Social Conventions, Mental Habits, and Moral Fiber of Canis Familiaris. "Budiansky, who may be the best writer around on animal behavior, is a terrific prose engine, motoring through a finely chosen set of facts and anecdotes to produce just the effect he wants. His style is emphatic, yet engaging," wrote American Scientist contributor Clive D.L. Wynne.

The cat came under Budiansky's scrutiny in The Character of Cats: The Origins, Intelligence, Behavior, and Stratagems of Felis Silvestris Catus. He argues that the cat, though tamed, is not truly domesticated. It has not essentially changed to adapt to living with humans and its behaviors remain that of a wild predator. "And therein lies just one of the mysteries that this fascinating and levelheaded book delves into," stated Sy Montgomery in a review for Animals. In addition to offering a wealth of information, "he has managed to render every page as entertaining as it is informative by imbuing his cat science with a dry wit," noted Kevin Turner in M2 Best Books.

Not limiting his work to topics about the natural world, Budiansky has also written about military matters. Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War, from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II is a highly compressed history of flight and its application in human conflict. It is informative and "never less than entertaining," found Foreign Affairs reviewer Lawrence D. Freedman. Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham and the Birth of Modern Espionage, concerns Walsingham, the sober, unassuming Puritan who managed many of the intrigues in Elizabeth I's reign. His work was critical to keeping England at the forefront of global power, and some of his techniques are still considered relevant. Reviewing the book for Library Journal, Tessa L.H. Minchew noted that the author's "prose is peppered with a wry wit that makes the book a pure joy to read."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

American Scientist, March-April, 1998, Christine Janis, review of The Nature of Horses: Exploring Equine Evolution, Intelligence, and Behavior, p. 195; March, 2001, Clive D.L. Wynne, review of The Truth about Dogs: An Inquiry into the Ancestry, Social Conventions, Mental Habits, and Moral Fiber of Canis Familiaris, p. 173.

Animals, fall, 2002, Sy Montgomery, review of The Character of Cats: The Origins, Intelligence, Behavior, and Stratagems of Felis Silvestris Catus, p. 32.

Booklist, September 1, 2000, Gilbert Taylor, review of Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, p. 60; December 1, 2000, review of The Truth about Dogs, p. 734, and The World According to Horses: How They Run, See, and Think, p. 735.

Defense Transportation Journal, June, 2005, Kent N. Gourdin, review of Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War, from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II, p. 40.

Entertainment Weekly, August 26, 2005, review of Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Wal singham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage, p. 66.

First Things, February, 1999, Matthew Scully, review of If a Lion Could Talk: Animal Minds and the Evolution of Consciousness, p. 53.

Foreign Affairs, March-April, 2005, Lawrence D. Freedman, review of Air Power, p. 155.

Journal of Environmental Education, winter, 2001, Joseph Petulla, review of The Covenant of the Wild: Why Animals Chose Domestication, p. 61.

Library Journal, August 1, 2005, Tessa L.H. Minchew, review of Her Majesty's Spymaster, p. 99.

M2 Best Books, December 30, 2002, Kevin Turner, review of The Character of Cats.

Publishers Weekly, July 10, 1995, review of Nature's Keepers: The New Science of Nature Management, p. 49; August 28, 2000, review of Battle of Wits, p. 65.

School Library Journal, July, 2000, Lisa Falk, review of The World According to Horses, p. 114.

Science, January 15, 1999, Dorothy Cheney, review of If a Lion Could Talk, p. 333.

Sierra, July-August, 1992, Kathleen Courrier, review of The Covenant of the Wild, p. 89.

Whole Earth, winter, 1997, Melissa Fischbach, review of The Nature of Horses, p. 99.