Life sciences: general issues Books

Are there dinosaurs in the Bible? Are dragon legends basedon human encounters with fire-breathing dinosaurs? A vast and ever-growing body of literature proclaims thatthe answer to both these questions is yes. The Real Story of Dinosaurstakes readers on a...

Gene Genius: Understand your DNA and create your own genetic roadmap to health and happiness• Ever wondered why someone on exactly the same diet loses weight much faster than you? • Puzzled about why you crave a sugar fix more than...

‘Inferior is more than just a book. It’s a battle cry – and right now, it’s having a galvanising effect on its core fanbase’ Observer Are women more nurturing than men? Are men more promiscuous than women? Are males the naturally dominant sex? And can...

A wonderfully illustrated guide to the natural history of the world's batsBats are the second-largest order of mammals and inhabit almost every corner of the globe, but these secretive creatures are often maligned and misunderstood. With more than 1,400...

‘Fascinating’ Greta Thunberg‘Extraordinary’ Merlin Sheldrake‘A must-read’ New Scientist‘Enthralling’ George Monbiot‘Brilliant’ Philip Hoare Wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill had always liked whales. But when one breached onto his kayak, nearly killing him,...

Shortlisted for the 2024 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation ‘Sophie writes fantastically, chronicling the most important issues facing nature conservationists today.’ Chris Packham For thousands of years, humans have been the architects of...

The eagerly anticipated conclusion to Peter Godfrey-Smith’s three-part exploration of the origins of intelligence on Earth, which began with the bestselling Other Minds in 2018 and continued with Metazoa in 2020. The eagerly anticipated conclusion to...

In this paradigm-shifting book from acclaimed Harvard Medical School doctor and one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people on earth, Dr. David Sinclair reveals that everything we think we know about ageing is wrong, and shares the surprising,...

The follow-up to the BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week Other MindsA Times and Sunday Times Book of the YearA Waterstones Best Book of 2020The scuba-diving philosopher explores the origins of animal consciousness. Dip below the ocean’s surface and you are...

New York Times BestsellerDiscover the critical link between your brain and the food you eat and change the way your brain ages, in this cutting-edge, practical guide to eliminating brain fog, optimizing brain health, and achieving peak mental...

Many of us gain inspiration, solace, beauty and a sense of wonder from our interactions with nature, and writers have long plumbed and explored these depths.At the same time as many of us tune in to natural landscapes, our environment is imperilled as...

Quantifying Diets of Wildlife and Fish presents different techniques available to study animal diets. Ecologists determine animal diets to build natural history knowledge, test hypotheses in ecological theory and make informed management decisions for...

Victoria's South-West is an iconic region of Australia that includes the exceptional landscape features of the Grampians-Gariwerd, the Victorian Volcanic Plain with crater lakes and cones, the forests of the Great Dividing Range, and Melbourne...

DNA is the essence of life and the original 'big data'. New technologies are allowing scientists to access and make sense of this information like never before, and they are using it to solve the world's greatest environmental...

True ladybirds, classified in the tribe Coccinellini, are easily recognisable by their relatively large and shiny bodies and contrasting colour patterns. They are one of the most widely studied groups of beetles, being of economic importance and used as...

Hawkmoths are large charismatic insects with highly variable and colourful larvae. Some species are specialised in their habitat preferences, but others are widespread and often encountered in gardens. However, little is known about most species, and...

Taxonomy of Australian Mammals utilises the latest morphometric and genetic research to develop the most up to date and comprehensive revision of the taxonomy of Australian mammals undertaken to date...

If you've ever walked along a beach or rocky shore and peered, poked or wondered at the things cast upon it by the waves, this book is for you. Beaches are our windows to the ocean, and the objects we find on them tell stories about life, death and...

Since their discovery, the taxonomy and systematics of Australia's myxomycetes, an important yet cryptic group of microorganisms, not been published in Australia in a comprehensive manner, until now. Myxomycetes are now considered to be profoundly...

This comprehensive guide describes the 582 species of wild orchids that occur in NSW and the ACT. This region covers the richest area for wild orchids in Australia and includes over 500 species of seasonal ground orchids and 62 species of evergreen tree...

Charles Darwin's voyage on the HMS Beagle was a journey that would revolutionise our understanding of the natural world and our place in it.The magisterial work it spawned, The Origin of Species, is widely associated with the flora and fauna of the...

This is a book of the discovery of birds and the places they live. Everywhere we go there are birds, and they all have mysteries to be unravelled. These mysteries include the way they look, from bizarre to apparently mundane, why they live where they...

Leading minds discuss psychedelics, shamanism, human evolution, and the ecological crisis• Includes conversations with Duncan Trussell, Graham Hancock, Grant Morrison, Hamilton Morris, Erik Davis, Julia Mossbridge, Rupert Sheldrake, and others• Explores...

The new book by Sunday Times bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried - the final instalment in Professor Alice Roberts' acclaimed trilogy.In her previous two bestsellers, Professor Alice Roberts powerfully and evocatively...

Curious about how billions of neurons make up your consciousness? How anxiety hijacks your body? Why Freud was such a weirdo? Whether AI will replace your therapist? This witty, enlightening book, written by a brilliant neuroscientist and clinical...

A groundbreaking interpretation of evolution as the work of Nature’s intelligence • Refutes the orthodox view of evolution as a mindless process driven by chance • Explains why context is more important than mutation in evolutionary innovation • Shows...

An in-depth look at the role of plant spirits in shamanic rituals from around the world • Shows how shamans heal using their knowledge of plant spirits as well as the plant’s “medical properties” • Explores the core methods of plant shamanism--soul...

What can snorkelling at Shark Bay teach us about humanity? Will the secrets of our sex lives be uncovered by stick insects? What do whale societies reveal about kindness? And why did we evolve to spend a third of our life asleep?Some questions have...

A richly illustrated guide to wasps around the world.Wasps have been around since before the dinosaurs and are one of the world's largest insect groups. More than 150,000 species have been identified, and while the black-and-yellow insect with a cinched...

Since the publication of the first edition of Guide to the Flowers of Western China in 2011, there have been great strides in knowledge of the flora of China through international collaboration.Many plants included in the first edition have been...

The Herbarium Handbook has been an important reference for herbarium collections care and management since it was first published in 1989. This completely new edition is the essential resource for all botanists, herbarium managers and technicians...

Linking literature, philosophy, art, and personal experience, a moving exploration of the wooded landscape's power.In 1985 Boria Sax inherited an area of forest in New York State, which had been purchased by his Russian, Jewish, and Communist...

"A joyful and imaginative exploration of these totemic trees."-Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a TreeThe perfect gift for nature lovers and bookworms alike, Oaklore unveils how the mighty oak tree has shaped and influenced English literature,...

A new biography of Carl Linnaeus, offering a vivid portrait of Linnaeus's life and work.Carl Linnaeus (17071778), known as the father of modern biological taxonomy, formalised and popularised the system of binomial nomenclature used to classify plants...

This full-color illustrated textbook offers the first comprehensive introduction to all major aspects of tropical ecology. It explains why the world's tropical rain forests are so universally rich in species, what factors may contribute to high species...

A captivating portrait of the poet and the scientist who shared an enchanted view of nature.Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets,...

England's Green explores how environmental concerns have shaped and reflected English national identity since the 1960s. David Matless covers themes including agriculture, nature, leisure, climate change, the Anthropocene, the folkloric, the...

In this richly illustrated book, Victoria Dickenson explores the natural and cultural history of this most familiar creature, from the giant extinct rabbits of Minorca to the tiny endangered Volcano rabbits of Mexico...

A marvellously illustrated guide to colour in the natural world.Recent years have seen tremendous strides in the fields of vision, visual ecology, and our own multilayered experience of colour in life and the world. These advances have been driven by...

Mark Catesby was an eighteenth-century naturalist and artist whose work on the natural history of North America and the Caribbean still has resonance today. During the course of several perilous trips he collected specimens and made extensive...

Timely and provocative reflections on the future of the wild in an increasingly human world.The Heart of the Wild brings together some of today's leading scientists, humanists, and nature writers to offer a thought-provoking meditation on the urgency of...

The world's top experts take readers to the very frontiers of brain science Includes a chapter by 2014 Nobel laureates May-Britt Moser and Edvard MoserAn unprecedented look at the quest to unravel the mysteries of the human brain, The Future of...

The story of the unorthodox and inspiring life and career of a pioneering biologist Scientist Rosemary Grant's journey in life has involved detours and sidesteps-not the shortest or the straightest of paths, but one that has led her to the top of...

Why evolution is like a network, not a family tree-and why it matters for understanding the health of all living thingsIn The Network of Life, David Mindell explains why the conventional narrative of evolution needs to evolve. Ever since Darwin,...

A sweeping account of male nurturing, explaining how and why men are biologically transformed when they care for babies.It has long seemed self-evident that women care for babies and men do other things. Hasn't it always been so? When evolutionary...

A beautifully illustrated guide to the natural history and breathtaking diversity of spiders around the world.Spiders are dominant predators in virtually every terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. A marvel of evolution with species numbering in the tens...

A richly illustrated guide to lichens and their biology.Existing at the margins of life, lichens are the result of symbiotic relationships between fungi and photosynthesising partners in the form of algae or cyanobacteria. Comprising more than twenty...

Are we sometimes too strong for our own good?Amid epidemics of anxiety and depression,threats of ecological and economic disaster, not to mention a pandemic, resilience has been the buzzword of the decade, the answer to every challenge we face as...