Nature Biography

In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceived his own crazy, beautiful plan: he would fly a Gipsy Moth aeroplane from England to Everest, crash land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit - all utterly alone.

In this earnest, understated, and sublime work of nonfiction literature, the molecatcher shares what led him to this strange career: from sleeping among hedges as a homeless teen, to toiling on the railway, to weeding windswept gardens in Wales. Beautifully written, life-affirming, and highly original, How to Catch a Mole offers a gorgeous portrait of one man's deep, unbreakable bond with his natural surroundings, and offers hope and inspiration for anyone looking to improve their relationship with the natural world.

عاش المفكر الكبير عبد الرحمن الكواكبي في النصف الثاني من القرن التاسع عشر، وهي الفترة التي عانت فيها الأمة العربية الكثير من الضعف والذل، إذ أراد المستعمر الاستيلاء على أراضيها واستنزاف ثرواتها.

The time is ripe to bring the life and work of Peter Matthiessen back into the spotlight – bestselling writer, jungle explorer, hallucinogen experimenter, Zen Buddhist. Lance Richardson is an energetic and intrepid reporter, compelling writer and exhaustive researcher. He has the trust of the Estate, complete access to Matthiessen’s archive and the family’s blessing. He also intends to recreate Matthiessen’s journey across the Himalaya as part of the writing of the book.

There was a time when few knew what dinosaurs looked like. This is the story of how Waterhouse Hawkins built the first life-sized dinosaur models and stunned the world with his awe-inspiring creations.

How can you truly belong to a place? What does being at home mean in a society that has always celebrated the search for greener pastures? And can a newcomer ever acquire the deep understanding of the land that comes from being part of a culture that has lived there for centuries? When Daniel Coleman came to Hamilton to take a position at McMaster University, he began to ask himself these kinds of questions, and Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place is his answer.

The deadliest animal of all time meets the world's most legendary hunter in a classic battle between man and wild. But this pulse-pounding narrative is also a nuanced story of how colonialism and environmental destruction upset the natural order, placing man, tiger and nature on a collision course.

Hervé Barmasse, uno degli ultimi eredi dei grandi alpinisti del passato, racconta la sua storia: le salite su cime inviolate in terre lontane e il ritorno al Cervino, la sua montagna; la passione, la preparazione, la fatica e l'emozione della scalata; l'apertura di nuove vie; i momenti in cui il coraggio delle decisioni si intreccia alla fragilità e alla paura. In parete, come nella vita.

Gleich an Lillis erstem Tag in der neuen Schule geht alles schief: Zuerst zieht sie den Hass der fiesen Mädchenclique auf sich, und dann verschreckt sie auch noch den bei allen beliebten Jasahja! Dabei wollte Lilli ihr Geheimnis dieses Mal doch besonders gut hüten.

When Vanessa O'Brien was made redundant in 2008 as part of the recession, she moved to Hong Kong with her husband for his career and resigned herself to being 'just the wife'. There she was, aged 46, bored, uninspired, unemployed. Was this going to be how she was going to live the rest of her life? One night in the infamous Kee Club, over shots of tequila, a friend suggested O'Brien climb Everest and that was the start of an epic journey she never looked back from as she climbed Everest, K2 and many other mountains. This is her inspirational story.

"Ich war aufgebrochen, um mich in der körperlichen Anstrengung aufzulösen. Die weiße Querung wurde für mich zur absoluten Reise, zu einem Schweben in einer Idee von Landschaft." Sylvain Tesson. Vier Jahre lang, von 2017 bis 2020, unternimmt Sylvain Tesson in Begleitung des Bergführers Daniel du Lac jeden März eine kräftezehrende Skitour, um die gesamte Alpenkette von Menton in Frankreich aus über die Gipfel bis nach Triest in Italien zu queren.

"Bis zur Grenze gefordert können wir alle mehr, als wir wollen." Reinhold Messner hat seine Grenzen immer wieder gesucht:

Von seiner ersten Besteigung eines 3000ers als Fünfjähriger bis zur Durchquerung der Wüste Gobi mit 60 Jahren. Seine Fülle an Erfahrungen, sein Ausreizen menschlicher Leidens- und Leistungsfähigkeit, seine ehrliche Anteilnahme am Leben der Bergvölker und schließlich auch sein soziales und politisches Engagement zeichnen diesen sehr persönlichen Bericht aus.

In this personal, moving essay, youth activist Hannah Testa shares with listeners how she led a grassroots political campaign to successfully pass state legislation limiting single-use plastics and how she influenced global businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. Through her personal journey, listeners can learn how they, too, can follow in Hannah's footsteps and lower their carbon footprint by simply refusing single-use plastics.

A trailblazing scientist made famous by her favorite primates, Jane Goodall will forever be linked with the chimpanzees that she's studied for over 50 years. A pioneer in scientific research, she revolutionized longstanding views about chimps, forest conservation, and women in scientific fields. This Up Close biography tells the story of how a demure young woman from London went to Africa and changed the world.

The year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. On December 5, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton, along with 27 men aboard the ship Endurance, departed South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean for Vahsel Bayon the northeast coast of Antarctica with the intent of trekking across the continent. On August 20, 1916, Shackleton on the Yelcho picked up 22 men on the northeast coast of Elephant Island.

In the 1970s, nestled between the newly completed Twin Towers in New York City, a Callery pear tree was planted. Over the years, the tree provided shade for people looking for a place to rest and a home for birds, along with the first blooms of spring. On September 11, 2001, everything changed. The tree’s home was destroyed, and it was buried under the rubble. But a month after tragedy struck, a shocking discovery was made at Ground Zero: The tree had survived.

Chaque année, des hommes, femmes et enfants disparaissent dans les forêts et espaces naturels américains dans des circonstances inexpliquées, parfois en l'espace d'un instant. Certains sont, heureusement, retrouvés mais ce n'est parfois que le début du mystère, car ils livrent des récits étranges. Mais il y a pire : des personnes portées disparues sont découvertes décédées dans des conditions obscures. Le plus terrifiant concerne la proportion de citoyens américains partis en randonnée ou à la chasse et qu'on ne revoit plus jamais.

Sir Isaac Newton changed the world with his many discoveries and inventions about mathematics, science, optics, and physics. Although he was brilliant, Newton felt no need to publish his ideas or to inform his fellow scientists of the amazing discoveries he made. Because of this, his discoveries were often disputed. Despite the controversy that often surrounded him, Newton made astounding advances in his efforts to understand how nature worked. His legacy lives on through inventions such as microscopes, eyeglasses, telescopes, and cameras.

An intimate account of Alex Honnold's unprecedented, almost unimaginable feat: a 3,000-foot vertical climb up El Capitan in Yosemite, without a rope. One slip, one false move, one missed toehold and you're dead. On June 3rd 2017 veteran adventure journalist and professional climber Mark Synnott was in Yosemite to witness something that only a handful of people knew was about to occur: the most famous climber in the world, Alex Honnold, was going to attempt to summit one of the world's most challenging ascents, a route called Freerider on the notorious rock formation El Capitan.

Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal, and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain. Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country.