Books by David Attenborough
“It’s really powerful, partly because he starts as a child. The first bit is about when he was 11 and, when he finishes the book, he’s 94…He just writes so well, and so clearly, about what it was and what it is. Then the second part of the book is ‘That’s the problem. Those are my memories. This is the mess we’ve got ourselves into—and here’s what we can do about it.’ So it is a hopeful book, in the end…It’s very readable. I think it’s because both Sir David and Johnnie write TV scripts. A TV script is quite sparse in comparison with writing a novel or a book, you have a lot fewer words. It really benefits from that because it’s readable and clear. I really liked it.” Read more...
Life on Earth
by David Attenborough
I read Life on Earth when I was quite young. I knew about paleontology, classifications and things like that, but this book took a different approach – it was the evolutionary story, starting off with nothing, and ending up with primates. I don’t think the book has been bettered since.
Interviews where books by David Attenborough were recommended
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1
Life on Earth
by David Attenborough -
2
On the Generation of Animals (Contained in The Works of William Harvey)
by William Harvey -
3
Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution
by Robert Carroll -
4
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
by Richard Feynman -
5
Intelligent Life in the Universe
by Carl Sagan & Iosif Shklovsky
The best books on Accessible Science, recommended by David Bainbridge
The best books on Accessible Science, recommended by David Bainbridge
The Clinical Veterinary Anatomist from Cambridge chooses five books on popular science and discusses evolution, paleontology and quantum physics
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A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future
by David Attenborough & Jonnie Hughes -
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Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
by Merlin Sheldrake -
3
Fathoms: The World in the Whale
by Rebecca Giggs -
4
Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
by Cal Flyn -
5
Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change
by Dieter Helm -
6
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
by Elizabeth Kolbert
The Best Conservation Books of 2021, recommended by Charlotte Smith
The Best Conservation Books of 2021, recommended by Charlotte Smith
Many of us are increasingly alarmed at the damage human beings have done—and continue to do—to the natural world and would love to be better informed about what we need to do to protect our precious environment. Fortunately, every year, the Wainwright Prize picks out the best writing on global conservation—books that are not only informative but highly readable. Here, British journalist Charlotte Smith, chair of the judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2021 shortlist and why it’s worth reading all of them.
