There are gestures of science fiction here, but this story definitively takes place in the real world. The externalities finds stable footing in the world of science, and as a robust skeleton for more delicate interior considerations, that stability adds mass and relevance. The natural world, and those people dedicated to understanding its intricacies, serves as a narrative backdrop. Through the eyes of the book’s short cast of characters we are reminded that there are dramatic and profound alternatives to the exceedingly complex lives most of us live in the industrialized world.