This book, like the BBC television series on which it is based, is an
attempt to give us a history of nature rather than a conventional natural history, and it
is told as much as possible in terms of animals and plants alive today. The result is a
pageant of life - a re-enactment of 3,500 million years of history with a cast of
characters drawn from the whole range of life on earth today.
The book's thirteen chapters cover all the major events in the
evolution of life: the first multi-celled creatures; the move from sea to land, and from
land to air; the development of warmblooded animals- and the evolution of man himself. As
the narrative unfolds, the extraordinary manifestations of evolving life become apparent.
David Attenborough shows throughout how we can only understand these by looking at the
basic nature of the creature itself, and at the limitations its structure imposes, as well
as at the environment in which it lives. The South American frog which hatches its young
under the skin of its back so that they emerge like animated warts; the lizard which
stands pointing north to south or east to west according to the time of day; the Bower
Bird with a predilection for blue objects and a violent aversion to white ones; the
horseshoe crabs which indulge in annual mass orgies on the New England beaches; the
gorilla, famed for its terrifying charges, but which received the author into its family
group as gently as a lamb; all these and many more can be seen to conform to the same
basic rules of evolution.
Finally, man himself is examined, both as an integral part of life on
earth, and as the species whose unique cultural evolution has made him responsible for the
future of all living things.
David Attenborough writes with great vividness, clarity and perception,
and the illustrations, taken by some of the world's leading wildlife photographers, do
full justice to the text. This book is a permanent record of one of the most ambitious
projects ever undertaken by British television. It will become a standard
introduction to natural history, as well as a source of fascination for anyone with an
interest in the most awesome of all stories - the story of life itself.
- The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now
live around us. David Attenborough goes on a world journey looking at the incredible
variety of living things and fossils which throw light on the ancestry of life.
- The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now
live around us. David Attenborough goes on a world journey looking at the incredible
variety of living things and fossils which throw light on the ancestry of life.
- The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now
live around us. David Attenborough looks at what happened when, over 400 million years
ago, tiny plants began to invade the land, followed by the first animals - the ancestors
of scorpions, millipedes and insects.
- The story of life from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now live
around us. David Attenborough looks at the role of a few of the millions of insect
species, some of which have developed extremely close relationships with plants. Insects
pollinate flowers and in some cases neither flower nor insect can survive without the
other.
- The story of life from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that live
around us. David Attenborough looks at some of the 30,000 species of fish which exist in
populations of billions. They can fly, produce electricity, survive in hot soda lakes or
under the Antarctic ice. Some, like the salmon, even migrate across oceans and up
waterfalls.
- Some 350 million years ago, evolution reached one of its most crucial stages when fish
crawled from water onto the land and became amphibians. Today, newts, salamanders, toads
and frogs still survive in great quantities, and there is even one species of frog where
the male gives birth from its mouth!
- David Attenborough looks at the history of reptiles, the first back-boned creatures to
solve the problems of living high and dry on the land. Their waterproofed skin and sealed
eggs enabled the mighty reptiles to rule the world.
- The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now
live around us. David Attenborough examines the uses and advantages of birds' unique
possession - the feather. Feathers are insulators; they provide the surface of the most
perfect aerofoils known - bird's wings; and they play a central role in courtship.
- David Attenborough looks at the evolution of mammals from reptiles 200 million years
ago. This remarkable transition involved the development of mechanisms for regulating body
temperature, for allowing the young to develop in the womb and for suckling newborns.
Attenborough also explores the South American origins of marsupials and their colonisation
of Australia.
- David Attenborough looks at some of the huge variety of mammals. Bats number over a
thousand species, many hunt insects, some sip nectar, drink blood, and even catch fish.
Contrast those which use sonar with the great whales that sing, the star-nosed mole and
the giant anteater, and the potential variations become dramatically clear.
- David Attenborough explores the eternal duel between the hunters and the hunted - one of
the driving forces of evolution. As the hunters develop speed and cunning, the prey
becomes increasingly fast and wary in order to stay alive. Nowhere is this seen better
than on the plains of East Africa.
- David Attenborough's now legendary encounter with young gorillas is featured in this
episode as he looks at the history of primates, whose ancestors sought their fortune in
the treetops. There they developed binocular vision for accurately judging distances, and
the ability to grasp trees with a firm grip. The group includes dazzling gymnasts,
deafening choristers and highly cultured monkeys.
- David Attenborough looks for crucial clues that help to explain how and why we have come
to dominate life on Earth. He traces back the African origins of humans to nearly three
million years ago, and along the way he goes into caves in Southern France where stone-age
people created imaginative paintings of ice-age animals. He also travels to Papua New
Guinea to find some hunter-gatherers who have never before set eyes on white people.
Web Owner.
Copyright © David Attenborough 1979.
Revised: 09-09-2005 (dd/mm/yr)
