Patrik Svensson

Un apasionante relato sobre el pez más enigmático del mundo. Un animal al que muchos, desde Aristóteles a Freud, han intentado comprender sin éxito. Esta es la historia de una obsesión que ha perseg

« Quiconque cherche l’origine de quelque chose est aussi à la recherche de sa propre origine. »C’est l’une des créatures les plus énigmatiques du règne animal. Omniprésente depuis la nuit des temps (

« Quiconque cherche l’origine de quelque chose est aussi à la recherche de sa propre origine. »C’est l’une des créatures les plus énigmatiques du règne animal. Omniprésente depuis la nuit des temps (

How we can work together to understand, imagine, and build humane infrastructures and a better world.Humane Infrastructures is a deep journey into humanistic and humane knowledge and how it can be engaged to help us collaboratively respond in ethical and sustainable ways to our current global challenges. Patrik Svensson takes the reader through a series of examples, case studies, experiments, and lively dialogues to reconsider infrastructure. He brings people, ideas, and perspectives in through a set of documents and documented experiences, some of which draw from the authors practice in Ume, Stockholm, New York City, and Los Angeles. And he proposes frameworks, such as the idea of an infrastructure clinic, exploring them in staged dialogues and thought experiments.Imagining and building humane infrastructures require us to challenge the very nature of infrastructure, not necessarily all at once but rather step by step. The author consequently engages with infrastructure as a concept and frames it historically, critically, and creatively with research infrastructure as a central case study. He also considers integrative niches for humanities-related work, such as environmental humanities and disability studies, as sites for critical and constructive engagement with infrastructures, including the university itself. In the end, the exploration leads to a reimagination of the humanities and, more generally, higher education as part of a capacious public-facing effort of world-(re)building.The book will appeal to scholars in the humanities and a range of intersecting fields, such as infrastructure studies, critical computing, and design.

Un apasionante relato sobre el pez más enigmático del mundo. Un animal al que muchos, desde Aristóteles a Freud, han intentado comprender sin éxito. Esta es la historia de una obsesión que ha perseguido a cientificos y filosofos durante siglos, que ha traido de cabeza a pensadores como Aristoteles o Freud, incapaces de descifrar los misterios de un ser aparentemente comun pero que hoy en dia sigue siendo un enigma: la anguila. Desde que nace, con su extraño comportamiento y sus diversas metamorfosis, parece eludir el conocimiento humano: todavia no sabemos como se reproduce ni que la lleva de repente a dejar su habitat de agua dulce para ir a morir al lejano mar de los Sargazos. La llamada cuestion de la anguila sigue despertando teorias y alimentando una particular mitologia. Este libro es una investigacion casi detectivesca sobre uno de los animales mas escurridizos de la naturaleza asi como un conmovedor relato autobiografico en el que cobra especial protagonismo la relacion del autor con su padre, un apasionado de las anguilas. Transitando entre la historia natural y la reflexion filosofica, Svensson indaga sobre la condicion humana y el sentido de la vida en una extraordinaria narracion que ha cautivado a medio mundo. Un libro cargado de erudicion. Juan Carlos Galindo (El Pais) Uno de los titulos mas hermosos, delicados y sorprendentes de todo lo publicado este año. Daniel Arjona (El Confidencial) Viejas creencias, metamorfosis y misterio de un pescado escurridizo que se convierte en asunto palpitante en manos de Patrik Svensson. Luis M. Alonso (La Nueva España) Un libro bello y fascinante. () "El evangelio de las anguilas" es un libro fantastico en todos los sentidos. Su exito no solo estriba en la eleccion del tema en si, es mas bien como escribe Patrik Svensson, y que no se limita a un solo aspecto; nos habla, con erudicion, de zoologia, de historia, de literatura y de tradicion, junto a su relacion paternal. Francisco Recio (La Opinion de Malaga) Svensson ha escrito un singular libro que consigue interesar al lector por la capacidad que tiene de convertir la anguila en un simbolo de muchos anhelos humanos. Adolfo Torrecilla (Aceprensa) Una apasionante y apasionada indagacion en el "milagro serpenteante" de esta criatura. Fermin Herrero (El Norte de Castilla) Un libro delicado, inteligente y hermoso que solo con sus primeras paginas convence hasta a los mas indiferentes de la necesidad de rendir este tributo literario a las anguilas. Jens Christian Brandt (Dagens Nyheter) Un libro maravilloso sobre el misterio de las anguilas, y sobre el del ser humano. Emi-Simone Zawall (Svenska Dagbladet) Este libro fue una bendicion para mi mente pero un shock para mi vida social. Despues de leerlo, me encontre a mi misma arrinconando a la gente en fiestas para bombardearla con un monton de curiosidades sobre anguilas. Molly Young (The New York Magazine) Svensson se pregunta que significa vivir en un mundo lleno de interrogantes que no siempre podemos resolver. Brooke Jarvis (The New Yorker) Sin duda, el libro de historia natural mas impresionante de la decada. La prosa de Svensson ondula agilmente entre su experiencia personal y cientos de años de investigacion ci...

Una oda al mar y sus maravillas.La historia del mar es la historia de la curiosidad humana, durante siglos hemos explorado sus profundidades, pero seguimos sin descifrar todos sus misterios. Patrik Svensson entrelaza en este libro, mezcla de relato de aventuras, memorias e investigacion cientifica, fascinantes episodios protagonizados por mujeres y hombres que consagraron su vida al mar: desde investigadores como Piccard y Walsh, que en 1960 exploraron por primera vez la fosa de las Marianas el punto mas profundo de la superficie terrestre, hasta Enrique, el esclavo malayo de Magallanes y seguramente la primera persona que circunnavego el planeta, o el panadero Robert Dick, que en 1863 encontro un fosil que seria clave en la teoria de la evolucion de las especies. Pero la historia del mar es tambien la historia de su depredacion, denunciada hace decadas por la biologa, escritora y pionera del ecologismo moderno Rachel Carson, otra de las protagonistas de este libro.Tras El evangelio de las anguilas, Patrik Svensson regresa con una obra que nos invita a contagiarnos del asombro por el mar que nos rodea y que es el origen de nuestra vida.Pocas veces, si se ha dado nunca, he leido un relato tan conmovedor y tan potente sobre el estrecho vinculo que nos une a todos los habitantes de la Tierra. Anna Rudberg Waltersson (Ostgota Correspondenten)Entre la novela de aventuras y las memorias, es una completa investigacion cientifica que cuenta la historia de las grandes cuestiones de la naturaleza marina. Il FoglioUn libro sobre el asombro, escrito por alguien asombrado por el mundo para los que tambien quieren dejarse asombrar. Therese Boman (Expressen)El encanto de este libro periodistico de amena divulgacion esta en las historias que cuenta. Isabel Soler (Babelia / El Pais)Una autentica delicia literaria. Javier Lopez Rejas (El Cultural)Svensson espolea la fascinacion del lector sin necesidad de enarbolar grandes hallazgos, simplemente lo logra con su capacidad para buscar, seleccionar y presentar las historias que cualquier amante del mar desearia gozar, sabedor de que el mar esta practicamente en el origen de todo. (La Voz de Galicia)

This is one of those special books . . . Even if it were only a book about eels, it would be wonderful.- Sunday TimesI never thought I would see myself in an eel, until I read Svenssons beautiful book, in which he anthropomorphizes eels and shows how mysterious they are, and how little we know about them. Its a beautiful book that makes you realize that the eel is our cousin we are the eel, and the eel is us.- Michaela CoelI cant recall us ever talking about anything other than eels and how to best catch them, down there by the stream. Actually, I cant remember us speaking at all. Maybe because we never did.The European eel, Anguilla anguilla, is one of the strangest creatures nature ever created. Remarkably little is known about the eel, even today. What we do know is that its born as a tiny willow-leaf shaped larva in the Sargasso Sea, travels on the ocean currents toward the coasts of Europe a journey of about four thousand miles that takes at least two years. Upon arrival, it transforms itself into a glass eel and then into a yellow eel before it wanders up into fresh water. It lives a solitary life, hiding from both light and science, for ten, twenty, fifty years, before migrating back to the sea in the autumn, morphing into a silver eel and swimming all the way back to the Sargasso Sea, where it breeds and dies.And yet . . . There is still so much we dont know about eels. No human has ever seen eels reproduce; no one can give a complete account of the eels metamorphoses or say why they are born and die in the Sargasso Sea; no human has even seen a mature eel in the Sargasso Sea. Ever. And now the eel is disappearing, and we dont know exactly why.What we do know is that eels and their mysterious lives captivate us.This is the basis for The Gospel of the Eels, Patrik Svenssons quite unique natural science memoir; his ongoing fascination with this secretive fish, but also the equally perplexing and often murky relationship he shared with his father, whose only passion in life was fishing for this obscure creature.Through the exploration of eels in literature (Gunter Grass and Graham Swift feature, amongst others) and the history of science (we learn about Aristotles and Sigmund Freuds complicated relationships with eels) as well as modern marine biology (Rachel Carson and others) we get to know this peculiar animal. In this exploration, we also learn about the human condition, life and death, through natural science and nature writing at its very best.As Patrik Svensson concludes: by writing about eels, I have in some ways found my way home again.

Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is a captivating work of narrative nonfiction that is both a meditation on the worlds most elusive fishthe eeland a reflection on the human conditionRemarkably 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 dont 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 scientific mystery.Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eels point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea.Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svenssons journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative of natural history that will surprise and enchant.A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book PrizeNational BestsellerWinner of the National Outdoor Book AwardLonglisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionA New York Times Notable BookOne of TIMEs 100 Must Read Books of the YearOne of The Washington Posts 50 Notable Nonfiction Books of the YearOne of Smithsonian Magazines 10 Best Science Books of the Year One of Publishers Weeklys Best Nonfiction Books of the YearA New York Times Editors ChoiceIn this unforgettable work of literary nonfiction, Svensson explores the space between what we know and what we can only believeThe Eel Question: A deep dive into the centuries-old scientific mystery that obsessed thinkers from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud, who each triedand failedto understand the creature. A Father and Son Memoir: A moving, personal story of the authors own bond with his father, forged during quiet nights spent fishing for eels in the streams of his childhood. Science History Brought to Life: Follow the gripping, real-life quest of the scientists who dedicated their lives to finding the eels mythical birthplace in the Sargasso Sea. A Philosophical Journey: An exploration of the human condition that delves into the biggest questions of all: our roots, our destiny, and how we handle death.

La historia del mar es la historia de la curiosidad humana, durante siglos hemos explorado sus profundidades, pero seguimos sin descifrar todos sus misterios. Patrik Svensson entrelaza en este libro, mezcla de relato de aventuras, memorias e investigacion cientifica, fascinantes episodios protagonizados por mujeres y hombres que consagraron su vida al mar: desde investigadores como Piccard y Walsh, que en 1960 exploraron por primera vez la fosa de las Marianas el punto mas profundo de la superficie terrestre, hasta Enrique, el esclavo malayo de Magallanes y seguramente la primera persona que circunnavego el planeta, o el panadero Robert Dick, que en 1863 encontro un fosil que seria clave en la teoria de la evolucion de las especies. Pero la historia del mar es tambien la historia de su depredacion, denunciada hace decadas por la biologa, escritora y pionera del ecologismo moderno Rachel Carson, otra de las protagonistas de este libro.Tras El evangelio de las anguilas, Patrik Svensson regresa con una obra que nos invita a contagiarnos del asombro por el mar que nos rodea y que es el origen de nuestra vida.

The Gospel of the Eels is both a meditation on the world s most elusive fish the eel and a reflection on the human condition