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Nature's Genius

Evolution's Lessons for a Changing Planet
Brief Description
A NEW SCIENTIST BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK FOR 2025 'A book that shows how we might evolve to solve the problems we have caused our planet. Brilliantly written, surprising, inspiring and, ultimately, hopeful' β€” ISABELLA TREE For nearly four billion years, life on Earth has found... Read More
Format: Hardback
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Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing, this is the remarkable and mind-expanding story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants - and how they shape us - by professor David Farrier

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A NEW SCIENTIST BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK FOR 2025

'A book that shows how we might evolve to solve the problems we have caused our planet. Brilliantly written, surprising, inspiring and, ultimately, hopeful' β€” ISABELLA TREE

For nearly four billion years, life on Earth has found new ways to adapt, reproduce and thrive, taking on new forms to meet the environment of the moment. Human impact on the planet, and the potentially devastating threat of climate change, have stressed that adaptability as never before. Yet life still finds a way. Animals, plants and insects rise to the challenge and are still adapting, reproducing and thriving, even in our rapidly transforming environment. In their example, we may just find ways that we too can adapt, ways to stop the destruction we're causing to the planet.

In Nature's Genius, David Farrier takes us on a profound journey into this ever-changing natural world. What we discover could transform us. The ways animals adjust to the urban landscape can help us design sustainable cities. Examining other intelligences can help us remake our economies. Learning from bacterial evolution may help solve our waste problem. Synthetic biology could rescue animals from the brink of extinction. Thinking in timescales of the natural world could help us choose a better future.

Life on Earth is changing; the question is, can we change with it? Can we remake the world to be fit for all life to thrive once more?

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781837260539

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 08 May 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Canongate Books

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 27.0mm

Width: 159.0mm

Height: 240.0mm

Weight: 260g

Pages: 288

About the Author

David Farrier is Professor of Literature and the Environment at the University of Edinburgh. David's first book, Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils, looked at the marks we are leaving on the planet and how these might appear in the fossil record in the deep future. It was named by both The Times and Telegraph as a book of the year, earned praise from Robert Macfarlane and Margaret Atwood, and has been translated into ten other languages. He has had pieces published in the Atlantic, BBC Future, Emergence, Prospect, Daily Telegraph, Orion and Washington Post. He has spoken at numerous online events, has given an invited lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, and has appeared on radio and podcasts such as BBC Free Thinking and Little Atoms.

@David_Farrier

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