But I digress. What I really want to talk about today is the power of firsthand research. Since authors who write about history don’t have time machines, they must scour libraries and museums for primary source materials—letters, journals, and the like.
But I write about science, so I almost never have to spend time in musty old basements or get blurry-eyed looking through reel after reel of microfilm. Instead, I get to go outside and experience the natural world. That’s the best part of my job!
I love doing firsthand research, especially when it takes me to exotic places like the African savanna or a coral reef or a tropical rain forest. Nothing beats observing animals in their natural environment. This kind of research provides key tidbits of information that are often missing from the authoritative books and journal articles about the creatures.
Here’s an example. When I went to Costa Rica with my husband’s family, one of the animals on my wish list was a three-toed sloth. I was soooo jealous when my husband and brother-in-law spotted one while I was scouting out birds along the river.

I blended my observations of the sloth with my husband’s description of his sighting and my general notes about the rain forests we hiked through to create the opening of my book Sloths.

But one rainforest animal remains silent and still. It is the sloth. All day and most of the night, this shaggy-coated creature hardly moves at all. It hangs upside down and does its best to blend in with its surroundings.
Honestly, when work is this much fun, who needs a vacation?
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