Exotic Zoology
AuthorWilly Ley
IllustratorOlga Ley
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
1959
ISBN0-517-62545-8
LC Class59-8356

Exotic Zoology is a 1959 cryptozoological book[1] by Willy Ley, a science writer and space advocate. The illustrator of the book is Olga Ley.[2]

Content

Ley had written a number of books containing scientific oddities; Exotic Zoology collects the cryptozoological matter from those books.[3] Throughout the book he shows examples of organisms that were rumored to exist, or were thought to be impossible, that were shown to be real; and others that were accepted as fact, that were discovered to have never existed: "He speculates about dragons and sea serpents, wingless birds and Abominable Snowmen."[4] The book, in its description of (fictional) peoples and creatures, has been compared to John Mandeville's Travels.[5] Some of the claims have been criticized or ridiculed, for instance the statement that giant squids had left scars on whales of two feet in diameter.[6][7]

Exotic Zoology was not reviewed in many academic journals. An exception was a review in the Science journal, in 1959.[8]

References

  1. ^ Stein, Gordon (1996). The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-57392-021-6.
  2. ^ "Who illustrated "Exotic Zoology"?". literature.stackexchange.com. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  3. ^ Bille, Matthew A. (2006). Shadows of existence: discoveries and speculations in zoology. Hancock House. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-88839-612-9.
  4. ^ "Rev. of Exotic Zoology". Saturday Review. 50: 41. 1967. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  5. ^ Preece, Rod (1999). Animals and nature: cultural myths, cultural realities. UBC Press. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-7748-0724-1.
  6. ^ Ellis, Richard (2006). Monsters of the Sea. Globe Pequot. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-59228-967-7.
  7. ^ Ellis, Richard (1999). The search for the giant squid. Penguin. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-14-028676-2.
  8. ^ Gardner, Thomas S. (1959). "Reviewed Work: Exotic Zoology by Willy Ley". Science. 130 (3387): 1469. doi:10.1126/science.130.3387.1469.a. S2CID 239833451.

External links

Cryptozoology
Categories