Under The Microscope

PREHISTORIC NEW ZEALAND, by Graeme Stevens, Matt McGlone and Beverley McCulloch; Reed Books, 1995; 128 pp; $39.95

"The story of New Zealand really only begins some 570 million years ago", and so begins a fascinating account of a land that has spent much of its history dipping up and down below the sea as well as being the subject of frequent earth movements due to its proximity to a major plate boundary.

Prehistoric New Zealand describes the story of the development of this country, isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years, from its initial geological formation through to the past 1,000 years of human impact on its unique environment. This revised issue of the 1988 book provides a remarkably clear and concise account of the origins of these Pacific islands. The writers encourage the reader to look at and, to some degree, consider the analysis of the latest scientific information; and point out where problems exist or the evidence is sketchy and incomplete.

The book sensibly and successfully uses contributions from other writers to combine both geological and biological material to provide a complete overview of the topic. It makes the point that much of what humans have done is not "unnatural", it is just that humans have the ability to make their impact more "far reaching and extreme". The relative roles of the Maori and European in changing the flora and fauna of New Zealand is discussed and some older widely held beliefs are put to rest.

The ease of access to the information in this book is aided substantially by the excellent and numerous illustrations, maps, diagrams and photographs. Anybody who picks this up is going to learn something interesting about New Zealand and hopefully gain a greater appreciation of why New Zealand is the geologically and biologically unique and fascinating place it is. Prehistoric New Zealand is a lively, well written and interesting account of our origins. No prior knowledge is required and the lay reader should have little difficulty absorbing the information contained within this well structured narrative. A fine addition to any library.

Greg Walker, NZSM