Life and Nature Recommended Books

Examines the 'missing partners' idea in evolutionary theory, dealing with the concept that species evolve to be interconnected, and when one species disappears, the other becomes an ecological anachronism. Pulls together all of the various elements of this idea and finds new examples of anachronisms in nature.

Unrivalled in its breadth and visual impact, this unique guide sets out to illustrate, describe, and explain the incredible range of creatures that make up the animal kingdom.

This dazzling companion volume to one the most important series in PBS history tells the compelling story of the theory of evolution -- from Darwin to twenty-first-century science.

In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.

In 1637, one Dutchman paid as much for a single tulip bulb as the going price of a town house in Amsterdam. Three and a half centuries later, Amsterdam is once again the mecca for people who care passionately about one particular plant — though this time the obsessions revolves around the intoxicating effects of marijuana rather than the visual beauty of the tulip. How could flowers, of all things, become such objects of desire that they can drive men to financial ruin?