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.

In 2015 Gaia Vince became the first woman to win 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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 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 novelist and nature lover T C Boyle tells us about delicious dodos, angry tigers, snakes on planes and why Viagra saves rhinos.

Internationally known ecologist says plants are grievously overlooked, because no life on earth would exist without them – essential reading on plants

BBC News Environment and Science correspondent discusses climate change. Recommends books on coral, fishing, the antarctic, and the science of climate change – as well as an Arctic thriller

Just as no one can study political science without a basic understanding of human history, or study a modern animal without a basic understanding of evolution, so no one can understand climate change without understanding the Earth’s history, argues the Princeton geology professor.

The British author, journalist and environmental activist talks to us about climate change. Warns that mankind has become a global catastrophe and discusses books that reveal our impact on the planet