Ecology
Last updated: February 28, 2025
We have a range of interviews recommending books on various areas of ecology. On man’s impact on the environment and the climate, the journalist Gaia Vince recommends his top books on the Anthropocene and the writer Caspar Henderson looks at growing up in the Anthropocene. Marine biologist Helen Scales looks at man’s impact on ocean life and the environmental activist Mark Lynas chooses five books that explore man’s impact on the environment. Professor of ecology, Beth Shapiro, looks at extinction and de-extinction and how genetics can help to preserve species.
Elsewhere Professor Paul Falkowski discusses the essential role microbes play in life on earth. The entomologist May Berenbaum does the same for bugs and the ecologist Jonathan Silvertown the same for plants.
The BBC’s science correspondent, David Shukman looks at the debate over environmental change and professor of geology, Adam Maloof, discusses how an understanding of the Earth's history can contribute to and inform that debate. US Congressman Terry McNerney talks about clean energy and Juliet Davenport, CEO of a green electricity company considers renewable energy.
The best books on Ocean Life, recommended by Helen Scales
We plunder the ocean for food, dump our waste in it, respect its wildlife less than land-based creatures. Why? Is it a case of “out of sight, out of mind”? Marine biologist Helen Scales tells us what’s down there and what we’re doing to it.
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1
Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, nature and climate change
by Elizabeth Kolbert -
2
When The Rivers Run Dry: Journeys into the heart of the world's water crisis
by Fred Pearce -
3
Last Chance to See
by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine -
4
The End of Nature
by Bill McKibben -
5
Our Dying Planet: An ecologist's view of the crisis we face
by Peter Sale
The best books on The Anthropocene, recommended by Gaia Vince
The best books on The Anthropocene, recommended by Gaia Vince
In 2015 Gaia Vince won the Royal Society’s science book of the year prize for her book, Adventures in the Anthropocene. She spent two years on the road investigating how communities across the world are coping with climate change. Here, she shares the five best books on climate change and the Anthropocene – the geological epoch of man.
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1
Micrographia: The Complete Facsimile of the First Printing of 1665
by Robert Hooke -
2
Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth
by Andrew H Knoll -
3
The Genesis of Germs
by Alan L. Gillen -
4
Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World
by Christian Sardet -
5
Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution
by Dorion Sagan & Lynn Margulis
The best books on Microbes, recommended by Paul Falkowski
The best books on Microbes, recommended by Paul Falkowski
Without them, plants and animals wouldn’t exist and even the Earth’s geology would be different. Paul Falkowski recommends the best books on microbes.
The best books on Extinction and De-Extinction, recommended by Beth Shapiro
Evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro tells us why it’s impossible to clone a mammoth, and why we might want to. She guides us through five inspiring books to get us thinking about extinction and the role genetics could potentially play in maintaining biodiversity.
The Best Books for Growing up in the Anthropocene, recommended by Caspar Henderson
Welcome to life in the Anthropocene, a new epoch in the history of life where the impact of humanity on the Earth system is so great, we need a new term for it. Author and journalist Caspar Henderson offers a rich reading list to help ourselves and our children grow up in the Anthropocene.
The best books on The Sea, recommended by Philip Marsden
The travel writer casts his net over books about the sea and comes up with a haul including Moby Dick and a naval history of Britain.
The best books on Bugs, recommended by May Berenbaum
Insects outnumber us, outweigh us, and without them ecosystems would collapse. In short, we live on their planet. The entomologist explains why we should value bugs more – even, or especially, the carrion beetles and dung feeders
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1
The Limits to Growth
by Dennis L. Meadows, Donella H Meadows & Jorgen Randers -
2
Hubbert’s Peak
by Kenneth S Deffeyes -
3
Winning the Oil Endgame
by Amory B Lovins, E Kyle Datta, Jonathan G Koomey and Nathan J Glasgow & Odd-Even Bustnes -
4
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
by Michael Braungart and William McDonough -
5
Wind Power
by Paul Gipe
The best books on Clean Energy, recommended by Jerry McNerney
The best books on Clean Energy, recommended by Jerry McNerney
We’re in a “dual energy crisis”, says the author of Clean Energy Nation, and not doing enough about it. He tells us what we must do if we’re to overcome our dependence on oil and limit the damaging effects of climate change
The best books on Renewable Energy, recommended by Juliet Davenport
The chief executive of Good Energy says we need to think big if we want to cut our use of high-carbon energy. She tells us about the intersection between business, politics and doing the right thing
The best books on Man and Nature, recommended by TC Boyle
The novelist and nature lover T C Boyle tells us about delicious dodos, angry tigers, snakes on planes and why Viagra saves rhinos.
