The Book of Eels
Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World
by Patrik Svensson, Alex Wyndham · first published 2020
75% recommend25% neutral
Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery. Drawing on a breadt
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…people thought they spontaneously generated for FAR FAR LONGER than you'd think is reasonable. There's really great and fairly short book about eels and eel-fishing mixed in with a memoir called THE BOOK OF EELS by Patrik Svensson that I cannot recommend highly enough.
on “To Pay Rent in Medieval England, Catch Some Eels” ↗I can HIGHLY recommend the book: "Book of Eels" by Patrik Svensson Eels are incredibly interesting.
on “Eels are fish” ↗Before reading Patrik Svensson's "The Book of Eels", I first read the New Yorker article from May 2020 [1] (and corresponding HN post [2]). The article is very much worth the read. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/25/where-do-eels-... [2]…
on “On the Many Mysteries of the European Eel” ↗"The Book of Eels" touched a lot of topics you mentioned, not sure about the witch bit though. It was published in 2020 so probably not the one you are looking for. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51938590-the-book-of-eel...
on “Eels are fish” ↗