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Title: 11 Explorations into Life on Earth

Subtitle: Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution

Author: Helen Scales

Narrator: Leighton Pugh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-02-17

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Science & Technology, Biology

Publisher's Summary:

The second in a series of audiobooks in association with the Royal Institution on their world-renowned Christmas Lectures, this time exploring the secrets of the natural world.

Following on from the success of 13 Journeys Through Space and Time, which took us on a voyage of astronomical discovery through past Christmas Lectures given at the Royal Institution on space and space exploration, this audiobook turns our attention to our own planet and the animals, plants, fish and insects and all the other living things that inhabit it - how they've evolved and the vital roles they play in the intricate webs of life on earth.

Taking 11 of the most exciting and revealing Christmas Lectures on the natural world given at the Royal Institution, including Sir David Attenborough's animal-packed lectures from 1977 and Richard Dawkins' explosive series on the evolution of life, we take an illuminating look at more than 100 years of scientific exploration to discover the origins of life on our planet and the mysteries so far uncovered.

Members Reviews:

A great read for an indoor weekend

This book summarizes eleven Yule time lectures given at the Royal Institution in the UK by preeminent scientists. Scales does a wonderful job summarizing the lectures, but where this book really does well is to contextualize them. Rather than just appearing as eleven independent lectures, she links together themes (and taxa) across lectures so we can see how some ideas come and go, while other ideas (such as climate change and wildlife conservation) remain a constant throughout the lectures. The only criticism I have of the subject is that of the eleven lectures only one was delivered by a woman (and at that time, Sue Hartley was only the fourth woman to have delivered a lecture). This obviously speaks to a larger problem of diversity in STEM, but that is a conversation to be had elsewhere.

All in all this was an entirely pleasant book to curl up with on a brisk November weekend.