” ‘But your attempts are useless, child! Every time you save one, another one returns, often the same one! You can’t save them all, so why bother trying? Why does it matter, anyway?’ called the old man. He called out, ‘Boy, what are you doing?’ ” ‘Saving the starfish!’ replied the boy. “An old Earth man happened along and saw what the child was doing. But every time he threw a starfish, another would wash ashore. The boy knew the fish would die, so he began to fling the fish to the sea.

There had just been a storm, and starfish had been scattered along the sands. “Once, on ancient Earth, there was a human boy walking along a beach. The star thrower story has been told countless times in many contexts and can be found easily on the internet. Yes, poems! A scientist who writes poems and does so with some skill. The book is a selection of his many writings: essays, stories, and poems. The Star Thrower is a book that, like all great literature, never grows old – yes, obviously, we have made advances in anthropology and in evolutionary science since then, but, nevertheless, the basic science of evolution is much the same and Eiseley has a way of telling his stories that will illuminate the science and warm the heart. I remember reading short bits of the book aloud to our kids who were also impressed and amazed.Įiseley died in 1977 after many years of walking on the earth learning about, and reporting on, the world of natural science. Several years ago I first read his book The Firmament of Time and was deeply moved by the way in which this scientist was able to make me feel the mysteries and beauties of the natural world. One of the virtues of being retired is that I can read or re-read authors who have influenced me in some way or another.

The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley