There have been few if any books on Jewish people who studied the various facets of natural history. There have certainly been those who have done so in the past and in the current world there are many but, for a host of reasons, natural history as a career or serious avocation was much less common in the past. To Life: Jews Exploring Nature offers a unique exploration of Jewish engagement with nature through compelling biographies of eight selected subjects, including infamous ornithologist Nathan Leopold, and intrepid agronomist and spy Aaron Aaronsohn, among others. These individuals, scientists, naturalists, and explorers among them, manifested different aspects of Jewish identity and made significant contributions to their fields. The accounts place the contributions of this diverse mix of individuals into a rich biographical context that connects the personal with the professional, thus providing insights into their lives and work.

Joel Greenberg has spent most of his life in the Chicago region and has been interested in natural history since childhood. He spent his career in environmental protection working for governmental and private entities. He has written numerous articles and has authored or co-authored four books including A Natural History of the Chicago Region and A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction.

Judith Winston became entranced by oceans at an early age and has focused on them throughout her career. She spent twelve years at the American Museum of Natural History and twenty-two years at the Virginia Museum of Natural History where she worked on marine invertebrates. Judith has authored or co-authored eighty-seven scientific publications, nineteen reviews and popular articles, and two books, including Describing Species: Taxonomic Procedures for Biologists.