Acclaimed author Robert Michael Pyle will read from his new book, “The Tangled Bank: Writings from Orion,” on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the Austin Reading Room at the Jereld R. Nicholson Library at Linfield.

“The Tangled Bank,” published in October by Oregon State University Press, explores Pyle’s fascination with every aspect of his surroundings. He begins with Charles Darwin’s vision of “a tangled bank” as a window on the world, and goes on to show how every living thing is always changing and interesting, with new information to give. Pyle’s 52 essays, which appeared in “Orion” magazine over ten years, concern themselves as much with our own species as with others.

Pyle is the author of 16 books and hundreds of papers and essays including “Sky Time in Gray’s River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place” and “Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage.” In 2010 he published “Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year,” chronicling his adventures across the continent in 2008 to view and document as many of the native American butterflies as possible.

Pyle lives across the Columbia from Astoria with his wife, Thea. A Guggenheim Fellow and founder of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, he loves to discuss butterflies, slugs and Big Foot. Pyle holds a Ph.D. from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.

The event, part of the Readings at the Nick series, is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by Nicholson Library and the Linfield College English Department. For more information, contact Susan Barnes Whyte, director of Linfield Libraries, 503-883-2517.