Many of our interviews recommending animal books touch on the complicated relationship between man and the rest of the animal kingdom. Choosing her best books on man and ape, Helene Guldberg looks at what is unique to humans and concludes that it is culture, not evolution, that has transformed us.
José Castello, recommending the best books on dogs, explores how man had created dogs from wolves through thousands of years of domestication. Jonathan Self continues with that theme with his best books on dog food, a genuinely fascinating subject. Helen Jukes chooses her best books on honeybees and Harriet Ritvo chooses her best books on the history of human interaction with animals.
Lawrence Bee recommends his best books on spiders. The entomologist May Berenbaum discusses how she fell in love with bugs and gives her top five books on insects. Phil Richardson offers his best books on bats and Jonathan Elphick his best books on birds. Jeremy Mynott recommends his best books on birdwatching.
Other interviews on animal books include Nick Pyenson with his best books on predators and Karen Paolillo with her best books on conservation and hippos.
The best books on Beatrix Potter, recommended by Libby Joy
In spite of the huge popularity of her work, Beatrix Potter has often been underappreciated as an artist and a writer, argues Libby Joy of the Beatrix Potter Society. Here she chooses five books to help you appreciate Potter’s life as an author, artist and pioneering conservationist.
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1
The Call of the Wild and White Fang
by Jack London -
2
The Killing of Wolf Number Ten: The True Story
by Thomas McNamee -
3
The Secret World of Red Wolves: The Fight to Save North America's Other Wolf
by T DeLene Beeland -
4
The Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids
David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri -
5
Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History
Xiaoming Wang and Richard Tedford
The best books on Dogs, recommended by José Castelló
The best books on Dogs, recommended by José Castelló
Next time you look at your cute pooch, remember its DNA is the same as that of a wolf. José Castelló, author of the delightful field guide, Canids of the World: Wolves, Wild Dogs, Foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, and Their Relatives recommends some of the best books to read on dogs and other canids.
The best books on Predators, recommended by Nick Pyenson
The predators that stalked our ancestors have been marginalised to the brink of extinction, but these animals still fill us with awe, says Nick Pyenson. They play a vital role in life on Earth, and we need to understand them if we are to survive.
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1
The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals
by Charles Darwin -
2
Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science
by Donna J Haraway -
3
Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo
by Nigel Rothfels -
4
Dolly Mixtures: The Remaking of Genealogy
by Sarah Franklin -
5
Beastly Natures: Animals, Humans, and the Study of History
by Dorothee Brantz
The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals, recommended by Harriet Ritvo
The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals, recommended by Harriet Ritvo
Animals have played a significant role in human history, and the manner by which we interpret their behaviour says a lot about our own culture and social mores. Harriet Ritvo, professor of history at MIT, selects five of the best books from the field of animal history.
The best books on Spiders, recommended by Lawrence Bee
You don’t have to be a professional arachnologist to study and get excited about spiders—nor do you need to travel away from home. The author of Britain’s Spiders, Lawrence Bee, recommends all the books you need to become an amateur arachnologist.
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.
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1
The Natural History of Selborne
by Gilbert White -
2
Mammals of the British Isles handbook, 4th Edition
by S Harris & D Yalden, eds. -
3
Walker’s Bats of the World
by R M Nowak -
4
Ecology and Conservation of Bats in Villages and Towns
by J Smit-Viergutz, M Simon & S Hüttenbügel -
5
Mammals of the South-West Pacific and Moluccan Islands
by Tim Flannery