Natural Histories: 25 Extraordinary Species That Have Changed our World

by Brett Westwood, Stephen Moss

Prepare to dive to the depths of the sea with 100-foot-long giant squid, travel through space after the meteorites shooting into our atmosphere and join a dangerous expedition to Antarctica to find the Emperor Penguin egg. Discover fleas dressed by nuns, a defeated prince hiding from his enemies in an oak tree and the plant whose legendary screams could drive you mad . . .

Accompanying Radio 4's acclaimed six-month series with the Natural History Museum, Natural Histories tells the riveting stories of how our relationships with twenty-five unexpected creatures have permanently changed the way we see the world. Packed full of fascinating science, history and folklore, this beautiful book brings you face to face with nature, in all its wonder, complexity and invention.

Fresh from winning the Thomson Reuters prize for Tweet of the Day, Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss have written another imaginative and inspiring book. Each chapter explores a different species or phenomena, often taking a fascinating object in the museum's collection as a starting point. From rock pools and blackberry picking to a shipwreck thousands of miles from land; and from David Attenborough on gorillas to Monty Python on dinosaurs, this is a book for anyone curious about the world we live in. You'll never take nature for granted again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Natural History, Nature, Animals, Environment

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2015

Reviews

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don’t read the blurb for this book, the title can be a bit misleading. The ‘extraordinary species that changed our world’ suggests these species—lions, fleas, daffodils, hornbills, sharks, giant squid, dinosaurs, sea anemones, oaks, and so on—in some way changed the profile of Earth. With species like dinosaurs or cockroaches, the ecological impact of the species might be such that it could be said to have changed the planet; but that’s not what Natural Histories is all about.

This very readable, fascinating book is instead about how we humans have interacted with these species in so many and such eclectic ways that they have become a part of our lives. From sharks and Jaws to Wordsworth’s Daffodils; from Moby-Dick to Mexican ladies rigging up fleas in minuscule costumes; from the Victorian pursuits of aquariums and bird’s egg collections, to how the helmeted hornbill’s splendid red ‘ivory’ carapace, outstripping in value elephant ivory, has taken the bird to the edge of the precipice… this book is all about how humans perceive certain species, how we interact with them. How we celebrate them in poetry, prose, cinema, art, handicrafts, and legend. How they become part of our popular culture, and how the fact intersects with the fiction. What are these species really like, how far or how near our perceptions of them. And what chance is there that these will endure?

I loved this book; it was hugely interesting, often humorous, and written in a chatty, easy-to-like style that made me want to watch the BBC series that was the twin to this book. Of course there were species I wished they’d included (roses, bees, tigers…), but I realized that they had to draw the line somewhere. I hope there will be a sequel!

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of David Attenborough wildlife shows and National Geographic nature specials,
you may be a tad disappointed by NATURAL HISTORIES. Although Brett Westwood and Stephen
Moss did a most commendable job of researching and presenting this exceptionally readable
volume on 25 natural wonders it's still only a book :
No glorious color action photos.
No spectacular on-location camera closeups of exotic locations or animal activities.
No seldom seen rare critters.
No sonorous narrator explaining what you're seeing or how many years it took to film.

NATURAL HISTORIES is a compilation of BBC4 radio programs resulting from the joint
efforts of that broadcaster's Natural History Unit and England's Natural History Museum
over a 6 month period. The subjects are general, mundane categories. Snakes, sharks,
dinosaurs, fleas, meteorites, daffodils and brambles among others get a chapter each.
Artistic pencil sketches open each fact filled, bite-sized chapter. The chapters them-
selves flow with cultural examples comparing past and current cultural references to
separate fact from fiction. Sharks and Spielberg's JAWS. Lions and Disney's LION KING.
Bears and Theodore Roosevelt's "Teddy Bear" craze. Mammoths and ICE AGE (cartoon.)

So if you need glorious color and camera work and a narrator, so sorry.
If you read, have a healthy imagination and don't mind holding a book,
this is definitely for you.

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book to dip in and out of at leisure.
Each chapter examines a plant or animal/species and it's cultural or scientific significance.
I could see how it would be perfect as radio programme.

[Mark Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the book of the radio programme.

Have a look at that cover – very clever! And quite pretty, too.

I’m almost totally addicted to Radio 4 and so I have heard bits of several of the radio programmes that make up the subject matter of this book.

The basic idea is that each programme/chapter engages with a species or group of species in a variety of ways: their biology, history, conservation, cultural importance, yumminess etc. It’s a simple idea and a perfectly good one. As I have driven through the British countryside on sunny days, or fulminated in motorway traffic jams (why are our quick roads so slow?) Brett Westwood’s soothing tones have washed over me, calming me, delighting me, and informing me.

I can almost hear Brett’s voice as I read the pages of the book – but not quite. The book feels a bit jerkier than the smooth flow of a radio programme. I wouldn’t want to suggest that the book was thrown together after the radio programmes were made but there is a bit of unevenness in the chapters and some harder editing might have been helped.The chapter on beetles is a bit disappointing as a whole but has one of the most fascinating stories (for me, anyway) about the Fogstand Beetle. I’d never heard of the Fogstand Beetle (be honest – have you?) and now I think it’s just wonderful.

There is plenty to like in the book. Although the sub-title ’25 extraordinary species that have changed our world’ is slightly over the top, the species selected are a really good bunch: a mixture of familiar species (about which I learned interesting facts) and unfamiliar species (which fascinated me).

I was fascinated by the Giant Squid, captivated by the Burbot and delighted by Brambles.

I think the radio programme spoils one for the book, in a way. Brett Westwood is very good, partly because he knows his stuff but also because he is a very good presenter, and the different voices of contributors come and go in a radio programme in a way they can’t in a book. We came and went to a kitchen to prepare and eat Burbot in the radio programme in a way that we can’t in the few pages of a chapter. And whereas a good radio programme paints a picture in your mind a book can actually give you illustrations to bring the words on the page to life. I thought the illustrations in this book were quite beautiful but not very helpful, and the photographs were a bit unimaginative.

So you have probably got the impression that I love the radio series and like the book. I’d recommend that after reading the book, or each chapter, you get onto iplayer and listen to the relevant programme. The Natural Histories radio series is another triumph by Mary Colwell as producer and a major scriptwriter (see her Guest Blogs here A natural history GCSE, 23 November 2012, Shared Planet, 15 January 2015, and read her excellent book about John Muir too).

This review first appeared on my blog on 18 October 2015 http://markavery.info/2015/10/18/sund...

[Stephen Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice light, interesting read. The book focuses on 25 species, plant, insect, fish and mammal, that all have cultural and scientific significance, and generally correspond to an artifact in the Natural History Museum. Nice and light. Worth a read.

[Hannah94 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that puts into perspective the importance of all animals in the world, whether they be the 'lowly' cockroach or magnificent oak tree, how they've influenced our cultures, inspirations and advancements and what it could be like without them. Really enjoyable read.

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of interesting information

[Jennefer Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far more informative and entertaining than i expected.

[Prasanth Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a perfect mix of nature and its impact on culture. It's fascinating to learn how far away our perception of an animal is from reality (though chapters on some of the more well known animals have little surprises in store in this regard). But overall, it's a very good summary of how animals have influenced popular culture. The book keeps coming up with very interesting tidbits which makes you want to know more.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dear friend of mine bought me this book in England when she noticed the beautiful cover and then sent it across the pond because she thought it looked like something I'd enjoy. She was right! Written by two naturalists from BBC Radio, each chapter is about a type/group of plant or animal and contains not only biologic information but also cultural bits from the intersection between it and humanity. I've not read anything like this before which includes literary and cultural histories mixed in with scientific information.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to dip into, each chapter is an essay on one species, a plant or an animal, and examines it's cultural significance, combined with curious natural history facts. An easy read, informative.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re pretty well versed in natural history and biology, this book won’t hold many surprises for you — though it might have a few titbits you’re unaware of. It’s certainly very readable, and the cover design is pretty darn awesome. And slightly creepy, in that way which things of nature can be. (I mean, have you ever seen a rabbit’s skull? Erk.)

It might be more enjoyable if read alongside or as a recap for the radio programme it was based on. As it is, it seems to hop around the animal kingdom rather randomly.

This may sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s just that the book isn’t really a good fit for me. And it did hold a few surprises.

Originally reviewed for my blog.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natural Histories is a natural sciences book combined with a history one. In each chapter the authors share the history of a type of animal or plant and human relationships with them. Depending on the chapter, they cover stone age humans, ancient civilisations like Greece and Egypt, Victorian early science and modern films.

I loved this book. I love history and I love nature and this was the perfect combination between the two. I felt each chapter did a great job at exploring humanity relationships with the various species involved. In some cases it goes back thousands of years, like an Egyptian city devoted to crocodiles, in others it focuses on modern media like Jaws.

As well as human's interactions with these creatures the authors discuss a lot about how they are used in the arts, from stories to poetry and paintings. Each chapter is given a little introduction with a poem or an extract of text relevant to the creature being discussed.

There's also plenty of biology here too. The authors use their common sense, assuming we know a fair bit about lions or butterflies but know little about sea anemones or hornbills. I felt like I learnt plenty of science here as well as history.

I do have a problem with the way this is presented, externally at least. Using the word 'species' in subtitle is utterly wrong. Each chapter focuses on an order of animals or plants and one even focuses on meteorites which aren't even living things! There are a few other minor issues- the authors say "more on this later" in virtually every chapter and constantly mention the Natural History Museum, almost implying it's the only institution in the world that knows these things.

I enjoyed every minute of reading this book and rarely have I found a non-fiction book so engaging. A great idea which is really well executed.