Understanding the natural world through books

In the flurry of modern life, it’s easy to forget our connection to the natural world. The lessons we can learn from nature don’t simply stop when we leave school. Understanding how seasons, weather patterns and plant and animal lifecycles are all connected helps us to live a richer and more engaged life and understand our role in the natural flow of things. Here are our recommendations for understanding the natural world through books.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

Colbert’s book investigates the sixth great extinction to threaten the earth in the last half billion years. While the others were caused by unnatural events such as asteroid impacts, the biggest threat to the earth is the impact that humans have made by living extravagantly. Colbert writes: “One-third of all reef-building corals, a third of all fresh-water molluscs, a third of sharks and rays, a quarter of all mammals, a fifth of all reptiles, and a sixth of all birds are headed toward oblivion.”

Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation by Bill Nye

‘Undeniable’ is a fantastic book in defence of science and the theory of evolution. Bill Nye was the host of ‘The Science Guy’: a Science show that ran in the US in the 1990’s. In this book he provides a compelling argument for the scientific unviability of creationism and insists that creationism’s place in the science classroom is harmful not only to our children, but to the future of the greater world as well.

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World by Julia Rothman

Nature Anatomy is for anyone who appreciates and wants to explore the curiosities and beauty of the natural world in a new way. With whimsically hip illustrations by acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman, every page is an extraordinary look at all kinds of subjects, including mineral formation, the inside of a volcano, what makes sunsets and much more. Exploring has never been so fun and easy.

Lonely Planet’s Wild World by Lonely Planet Publications

‘Wild World’ is the follow-up to the super-sized bestseller ‘Beautiful World’. It’s a vivid and compelling portrait of the world in which we live. Incredible and majestic wildlife spectacles and natural phenomena are spellbindingly on display in this beautiful, no-expense-spared hardback.

The Cabaret of Plants by Richard Mabey

The Cabaret of Plants explores plant species which have challenged our imaginations, awoken that clichéd but real human emotion of wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty and belief. Picked from every walk of life, they encompass crops, weeds, medicines, religious gathering-places and a water lily named after a queen. Beginning with pagan cults and creation myths, the cultural significance of plants has burst upwards, sprouting into forms as diverse as the panacea (the cure-all plant ginseng, a single root of which can cost up to $10,000), Newton’s apple, the African ‘vegetable elephant’ or boabab, whose swollen trunks store thousands of litres of water – and the mystical, night-flowering Amazonian cactus, the moonflower.