Support Us
 
Search
MENUMENU
  • Nonfiction
        • Art, Design and Architecture
          • Architecture
          • Art
          • History of Art
          • Modern Art
          • Photography
        • Economics, Business & Investing
          • Behavioural Economics
          • Business
          • Economic History
          • Finance
          • Globalisation & Inequality
          • How to Invest
        • Food & Cooking
          • Baking & Desserts
          • Best Cookbooks
          • Food & History of Food
          • Wine & Drinks
        • Health & Lifestyle
          • Addiction
          • Child Development
          • Death & Dying
          • Family & Relationships
          • Happiness
          • Sex & Sexuality
        • History
          • Ancient History
          • Early Modern History
          • Historical Figures
          • Medieval History
          • Modern History
          • Military History
        • Language
          • Grammar & Punctuation
          • Learning Languages
          • Linguistics
        • Literary Nonfiction
          • Essays
          • Memoir
          • Famous Artists
          • Travel
        • Mathematics & Science
          • Astronomy
          • Biology
          • Geoscience
          • Maths & Statistics
          • Neuroscience
          • Popular Science
          • Physics
        • Music & Drama
          • Classical Music & Opera
          • Film & Cinema
          • Music
          • Theatre
        • Nature & Environment
          • Climate Change
          • Dinosaurs & the Prehistoric World
          • The Earth
          • Plants, Trees & Flowers
        • Philosophy
          • Ancient Philosophy
          • Ethics & Moral Philosophy
          • Great Philosophers
          • How to Live
          • Philosophical Issues & Topics
          • Social & Political Philosophy
        • Politics & Society
          • Conflict & War
          • Feminism
          • Foreign Policy & International Relations
          • Human Rights
          • Political Ideologies
          • Terrorism
        • Psychology
          • Applied Psychology
          • Cognitive Psychology
          • Consciousness
          • Psychoanalysis
          • Psychological Conditions
        • Religion
          • Atheist
          • Buddhism
          • Christian
          • Islamic
          • Jewish
          • Religious History
        • Sports, Games & Hobbies
          • Football (Soccer)
          • Hobbies
          • Sport & Sporting Culture
        • Technology
          • Artificial Intelligence
          • Computing
          • Digital Age
          • History of Technology
          • Internet
  • Fiction & Literature
        • Classics of English Literature
        • Modern Classics
        • Contemporary Fiction
        • Literary Criticism
        • Literary Figures
        • Chick Lit
        • Comics & Graphic Novels
        • Crime & Mysteries
        • Fairy Tales & Mythology
        • Historical Fiction
        • Horror
        • Humour
        • Memoir
        • Poetry
        • Science Fiction
        • Short Stories
        • Thrillers
  • World
        • Africa
          • Egypt
          • Nigeria
          • South Africa
          • Zimbabwe
        • Americas
          • Latin America
            • Argentina
            • Brazil
            • Chile
            • Cuba
            • Mexico
          • United States
        • Arctic & Antarctica
        • Asia
          • Afghanistan
          • Burma
          • China
          • India
          • Japan
          • Korea
          • Pakistan
          • Vietnam
        • Australia
        • Europe
          • Belgium
          • Britain
          • France
          • Germany
          • Greece
          • Ireland
          • Italy
          • Netherlands
        • Middle East
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Israel
          • Syria
          • Turkey
        • Russia & FSU
          • Azerbaijan
          • Georgia
          • Russia
  • Children’s
        • Ages 5-8
        • Ages 8-12
        • Ages 12-18
        • Economics
        • Family & Pets
        • Happiness & Mental Health
        • History
        • Music
        • Nature & Environment
        • Novels & Novelists
        • Philosophy
        • Politics & Current Affairs
        • Science
        • Sports
  • Best Books of 2018
        • Comics
        • Economics
        • Fiction
        • History
        • Music
        • Nature
        • Nonfiction
        • Philosophy
        • Politics
        • Science
  • Experts
  • Newsletter
  • Gifts
  • Make a List

Nature & Environment » The Earth

Most Recommended Books

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

“The book has just enough science that it seems real.”

Tullis Onstott, Environmentalist

Read more

Browse book recommendations:

Nature & Environment

  • Animals
  • Bacteria
  • Climate Change
  • Dinosaurs & the Prehistoric World
  • Environmental Ethics
  • Evolution
  • Nature Writing
  • Oceans
  • Pets
  • Plants, Trees & Flowers
  • Renewable Energy
  • Rocks & Minerals
  • The Earth
  • The Solar System & Space

    The best books on Evolution of the Earth, recommended by Andrew Scott

  • Read

    1

    The Planet in a Pebble: A journey into Earth's deep history
    by Jan Zalasiewicz

  • Read

    2

    Life on a Young Planet
    by Andrew H Knoll

  • Read

    3

    The Emerald Planet
    by D J Beerling

  • 4

    Gaining Ground
    by Jennifer Clack

  • Read

    5

    The Cradle of Humanity: How the changing landscape of Africa made us so smart
    by Mark Maslin

The best books on Evolution of the Earth, recommended by Andrew Scott

How has the Earth changed over time and what role has fire played in those changes? A leading geologist, Andrew Scott, identifies key stages and books to help understand them

    The best books on Volcanoes, recommended by David Pyle

  • Read

    1

    Campi Phlegraei: Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies
    by William Hamilton

  • Read

    2

    Fire Fountains
    by Constance Gordon Cumming

  • Read

    3

    Volcanoes
    by Peter Francis

  • Read

    4

    Volcano: A Memoir
    by Yvonne Weekes

  • Read

    5

    Volcano Verses
    by Howard Fergus

The best books on Volcanoes, recommended by David Pyle

Volcanoes not only play a vital role in the Earth’s ecosystem but have fascinated us down the ages. Oxford University volcanologist David Pyle recommends some of his favourite books about volcanoes.

    The best books on Ocean Life, recommended by Helen Scales

  • Read

    1

    Lady With a Spear
    by Eugenie Clark

  • Read

    2

    Blueback
    by Tim Winton

  • Read

    3

    The Unnatural History of the Sea
    by Callum Roberts

  • Read

    4

    Four Fish
    by Paul Greenberg

  • Read

    5

    The Rime of the Modern Mariner
    by Nick Hayes

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.

    The best books on Life Below the Surface of the Earth, recommended by Tullis Onstott

  • Read

    1

    Journey to the Centre of the Earth
    by Jules Verne

  • Read

    2

    Intelligent Life in the Universe
    by Carl Sagan & Iosif Shklovsky

  • Read

    3

    The Universe Below
    by William Broad

  • Read

    4

    A Traveler's Guide to Mars
    by William Hartmann

  • Read

    5

    The Living Cosmos
    by Chris Impey

The best books on Life Below the Surface of the Earth, recommended by Tullis Onstott

The ‘subterranaut’ describes how the discovery of ancient bacteria miles beneath the Earth’s surface opens the possibility of finding life on Mars. He picks five books that show how our knowledge of life deep in this planet could lead us to discover it elsewhere.

    The best books on The Anthropocene, recommended by Gaia Vince

  • Read

    1

    Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, nature and climate change
    by Elizabeth Kolbert

  • Read
    When the rivers run dry cover

    2

    When The Rivers Run Dry: Journeys into the heart of the world's water crisis
    by Fred Pearce

  • Read

    3

    Last Chance to See
    by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

  • Read

    4

    The End of Nature
    by Bill McKibben

  • Read

    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

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.

    Caspar Henderson recommends the best books for Growing up in the Anthropocene

  • Read

    1

    Natural History
    by Pliny the Elder

  • Read

    2

    The Descent of Man
    by Charles Darwin

  • Read

    3

    The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss
    by Claire Nouvian

  • Read

    4

    Storms of my Grandchildren
    by James Hanson

  • Read

    5

    The Techno-Human Condition
    by Braden Allenby and Daniel Sarewitz

Caspar Henderson recommends the best books for Growing up in the Anthropocene

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 China’s Environmental Crisis, recommended by Isabel Hilton

  • Read

    1

    The River Runs Black
    by Elizabeth Economy

  • Read

    2

    Mao's War Against Nature
    by Judith Shapiro

  • Read

    3

    The Retreat of the Elephants
    by Mark Elvin

  • Read

    4

    Wolf Totem
    by Jiang Rong

  • Read

    5

    China's Water Crisis (Voices of Asia)
    by Ma Jun

  • Read

    6

    Hungry Ghosts
    by Jasper Becker

The best books on China’s Environmental Crisis, recommended by Isabel Hilton

Editor of the website China Dialogue, Isabel Hilton says the evidence of environmental disaster in China is dramatic. Discusses five of the most influential books on environmentalism in China

    The best books on Volcanoes, recommended by Simon Winchester

  • Read

    1

    Journey to the Centre of the Earth
    by Jules Verne

  • Read

    2

    The Last Days of Pompeii
    by E Bulwer Lytton

  • Read

    3

    The Crater
    by James Fenimore Cooper

  • Read

    4

    The Violins of St Jacques
    by Patrick Leigh Fermor

  • Read

    5

    Twenty-One Balloons
    by William Pène du Bois

The best books on Volcanoes, recommended by Simon Winchester

The respected author and veteran journalist gives illuminating interview on volcanic eruptions. Discusses wonderful literary works from authors including Jules Vernes, Edward Lytton and Paddy Leigh Fermor

    The best books on Earth History, recommended by Adam Maloof

  • Read

    1

    The Sheltering Desert
    by Henno Martin

  • Read

    2

    On the Origin of Species
    by Charles Darwin

  • Read

    3

    Cosmicomics
    by Italo Calvino

  • Read

    4

    Rare Earth
    by Peter Ward and Don Brownlee

  • Read

    5

    Chaos
    by James Gleick

The best books on Earth History, recommended by Adam Maloof

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.

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

Newsletter Contact us Privacy Policy Terms of Service

© Five Books 2019