Simon Barnes

A unique and all-encompassing exploration of the wonders of flight and the way different species have evolved different solutions to the problem of defying gravity – including humans. Flight fascinates us. We thrill to birds, we adore butterflies, we’re baffled by bats and we can hardly believe in pterodactyls. We worship angels and we compare love, religious ecstasy and artistic achievement to flight. We love the idea of flight so much we invented machines that at last allowed us to fly. Many died to make human flight possible. In How to Fly, bestselling writer Simon Barnes brings together all aspects of aerial life – evolution, technology, mythology, religion, nature and imagination – in a celebration of the wonders of flight. Barnes looks at the physics of flying and how flight has evolved quite separately four times over (or five, if we count humans). He examines how these creatures do it: from the nocturnal agility of bats and the bees that beat their wings 230 times per second, to the extinct reptile quetzalcoatlus with its 10-metre wingspan and the Arctic terns that travel 75,000km every year. He also explores how the great poets, mystics, saints, musicians and athletes have all, in their different ways, succeeded in getting high and getting us high. Sweeping in scope and packed with fresh insights, How to Fly is a book that sets free the eagle within us all. PRAISE FOR SIMON BARNES:'Barnes makes you look and listen with new eyes and ears' STEPHEN FRY'Quite simply, a writer in a class of his own' CLARE BALDING'Barnes describes the wonders of nature with infectious enthusiasm' GUARDIAN'Barnes is a passionate writer on wildlife' DAILY MAIL

'A book that filled me from first to last with a rapture as transcendent and thrilling as that which spring yearly provides ... I absolutely adored it!' STEPHEN FRY'As dynamic and ebullient as the season it celebrates ... There is no one I'd rather spring into spring with than Simon Barnes' KATE HUMBLE'An endlessly illuminating love letter to the most beguiling of the seasons' LEE SCHOFIELD, author of the award-winning Wild FellSpring is the time of renewal. As the year turns, animals and plants that have struggled through winter are filled with fresh promise and create the next generation. Months of cold and dark at last give way to light, life and hope. In Spring is the Only Season, Simon Barnes joyfully guides us through the many wonders of spring – from mythology, religion and sport to wildlife, music and poetry. He unravels the science behind the seasons and shows us all of the ways spring shapes the way we live and understand the world, as well as how our impact on the planet is beginning to destroy the natural course of the seasons. Brimming with remarkable facts and fascinating insights, this is a vivid and multi-faceted celebration of a much-loved season.

Can you tell a tomato from a grape? A patch of grass from a Christmas tree? Then congratulations – you’re a botanist.  Self-confessed bad birdwatcher Simon Barnes thought he knew nothing about plants. He didn't have anything against them: trees are interesting because birds perch in them; plants are useful because they create habitats, and all birds live in habitats. But while admiring the tenacity of some yellow horned poppies thriving on a shingle beach – a place where it seemed no plant had a hope of surviving – he was struck by a simple yet profound truth. It all begins with plants. In this charming and inspiring book, Barnes takes us on a fascinating journey, from the simple genius of photosynthesis to the complex and bizarre ways that plants reproduce. We consider plants as varied as cabbages and conifers, familiar wildflowers and enigmatic orchids, nefarious parasites and plants that carry deadly poisons – helping us better appreciate the beauty and diversity of the natural world. Both a primer on botany and an exploration of how plants make our external and interior worlds, How to Be a Bad Botanist opens our eyes to the wonders around us. Plants are everywhere, in every part of your life, and you know more than you think.

THE BESTSELLING BIRDWATCHING CLASSIC - 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Look out the window. See a bird. Enjoy it. CONGRATULATIONS! You are now a bad birdwatcher. Anyone who has ever gazed up at the sky or stared out of the window knows something about birds. In this fun, eye-opening and inspiring book, award-winning nature writer Simon Barnes paints a riveting picture of how birdwatching has framed his life and can help us all to a better understanding of our place on this planet. How to be a Bad Birdwatcher shows why birdwatching is not the preserve of twitchers, but one of the simplest, cheapest and most rewarding pastimes around.

Svetoznámy prírodovedec sir David Attenborough vás prostredníctvom pera bestsellerového novinára pozýva do očarujúceho sveta rastlín, v ktorom sa odohrávajú strhujúce príbehy, aké dosiaľ videl len málokto. Plní údivu sa ocitnete uprostred tropických gigantov, ktorých koruny sa šplhajú do závratných výšok, v nehostinných podmienkach vyprahnutých púští, kde zásoby vody rozhodujú o prežití, či hlboko pod vodnou hladinou, kde rastliny zápasia s nedostatkom slnečného svetla. Niektoré stromy žijú stovky rokov, kým iné, menšie rastlinky sa dožívajú len niekoľkých krátkych týždňov. Nechajte sa uchvátiť emotívnymi príbehmi prekvapivých hrdinov, rozmanitosťou a divokosťou prírody! Kniha je sprievodným dielom k prelomovej televíznej sérii stanice BBC s rovnomenným názvom. Z anglického originálu The Green Planet (Witness Books, Veľká Británia 2022) preložila Mária Terenová.

Anglický novinář a spisovatel Simon Barnes v knize Zelená planeta říká, že ve světě rostlin nic není takové, jak to vypadá. Rostliny mohou být stejně agresivní a soutěživé jako živočichové a jejich osudy bývají podobně dramatické. Objevíme rostliny, které nemilosrdně pohltí hostitelskou rostlinu, ale i ty, které si vytvářejí hluboké a složité vztahy s jinými druhy organismů. Budeme putovat z jednoho prostředí do druhého, od druhově nejbohatších deštných pralesů po drsné pouště, kde se zdá, že je existence života nemožná. Dále se podíváme na sezonní kontrasty, na to, jak se krajina během roku téměř k nepoznání změní. A přesuneme se i do vody, kde veškerý život začal. S využitím nejnovějších technologií a představením více než dvou desetiletí objevů odhaluje kniha úchvatný život rostlin tak jako nikdy předtím - život plný pozoruhodného chování a emotivních příběhů. Publikace doprovází úspěšný dokumentární seriál televizní stanice BBC, na kterém spolupracoval Sir David Attenborough.

Anglický novinář a spisovatel Simon Barnes v knize Zelená planeta říká, že ve světě rostlin nic není takové, jak to vypadá. Rostliny mohou být stejně agresivní a soutěživé jako živočichové a jejich osudy bývají podobně dramatické. Objevíme rostliny, které nemilosrdně pohltí hostitelskou rostlinu, ale i ty, které si vytvářejí hluboké a složité vztahy s jinými druhy organismů. Budeme putovat z jednoho prostředí do druhého, od druhově nejbohatších deštných pralesů po drsné pouště, kde se zdá, že je existence života nemožná. Dále se podíváme na sezonní kontrasty, na to, jak se krajina během roku téměř k nepoznání změní. A přesuneme se i do vody, kde veškerý život začal. S využitím nejnovějších technologií a představením více než dvou desetiletí objevů odhaluje kniha úchvatný život rostlin tak jako nikdy předtím - život plný pozoruhodného chování a emotivních příběhů. Publikace doprovází úspěšný dokumentární seriál televizní stanice BBC, na kterém spolupracoval Sir David Attenborough.

Výnimočný príbeh 100 predstaviteľov živočíšnej ríše, ktorí najväčšmi ovplyvnili svet a spôsob, akým ho vnímame. Simon Barnes vybral do knihy 100 zvierat, ktoré najväčšmi ovplyvnili ľudstvo. Ukazuje, ako sme zdomácnili zvieratá na jedlo a dopravu, vysvetľuje, že tieto tvory boli hnacou silou poľnohospodárstva a vďaka nim sa zrodila civilizácia. Istý druh bĺch takmer zničil európsku civilizáciu a zabíjanie turov bolo prostriedkom na zlikvidovanie jednej civilizácie a na vznik inej. Autor uvádza aj to, prečo vďaka skúmaniu holubov nastal významný pokrok v ľudskom myslení. Blízky vzťah medzi ľuďmi a zvieratami na celej planéte je podstatou našej existencie. Táto nádherne ilustrovaná kniha nám pomáha lepšie pochopiť naše miesto vo svete a prináša nádej, že sa oň začneme lepšie starať. Tak by sme mohli zachrániť medvede biele, moderný symbol blížiacej sa straty a ničoty. Mohli by sme zachrániť sami seba. Simon Barnes je novinár a autor mnohých kníh o divej prírode. V roku 2014 získal cenu Rothschild Medal za ochranu prírody. Žije v Norfolku s rodinou a s koňmi a spravuje tam územie s rozlohou niekoľkých hektárov, na ktorom sa usiluje zachovať divú prírodu. Z anglického originálu preložila Sofia Skokanová.

From the author of The History of the World in 100 Animals, a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week, comes an inspirational new book that looks at the 100 plants that have had the greatest impact on humanity, stunningly illustrated throughout. As humans, we hold the planet in the palms of ours hands. But we still consume the energy of the sun in the form of food. The sun is available for consumption because of plants. Plants make food from the sun by the process of photosynthesis; nothing else in the world can do this. We eat plants, or we do so at second hand, by eating the eaters of plants. Plants give us food. Plants take in carbon dioxide and push out oxygen: they give us the air we breathe, direct the rain that falls and moderate the climate. Plants also give us shelter, beauty, comfort, meaning, buildings, boats, containers, musical instruments, medicines and religious symbols. We use flowers for love, we use flowers for death. The fossils of plants power our industries and our transport. Across history we have used plants to store knowledge, to kill, to fuel wars, to change our state of consciousness, to indicate our status. The first gun was a plant, we got fire from plants, we have enslaved people for the sake of plants. We humans like to see ourselves as a species that has risen above the animal kingdom, doing what we will with the world. But we couldn't live for a day without plants. Our past is all about plants, our present is all tied up with plants; and without plants there is no future. From the mighty oak to algae, from cotton to coca here are a hundred reasons why.

'David Attenborough's gobsmacking, awe-inspiring return' The Guardian 'The Green Planet reveals the secret lives of plants in the same way The Blue Planet opened our eyes to the oceans' New Scientist There's something new under the sun Plants live secret, unseen lives - hidden in their magical world and on their timescale. From the richest jungles to the harshest deserts, from the snowiest alpine forest to the remotest steaming swamp, Green Planet travels from one great habitat to the next, showing us that plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as the animals on our planet. You will discover agents of death, who ruthlessly engulf their host plant, but also those that form deep and complex relationships with other species, such as the desert cacti who use nectar-loving bats to pollinate. Although plants are undoubtedly the stars of the show, a fascinating new light will be shed on the animals that interact with them. Using the latest technologies and showcasing over two decades of new discoveries, Green Planet reveals the strange and wonderful life of plants like never before - a life full of remarkable behaviour, emotional stories and surprising heroes.

A powerful and fascinating insight into the 100 animals - from the blue whale to the mosquito - that have had the biggest influence on humanity through the ages. We are not alone. We are not alone on the planet. We are not alone in the countryside. We are not alone in cities. We are not alone in our homes. We are humans and we love the idea of our uniqueness. But the fact is that we humans are as much members of the animal kingdom as the cats and dogs we surround ourselves with, the cows and the fish we eat, and the bees who pollinate so many of our food-plants. In The History of the World in 100 Animals, award-winning author Simon Barnes selects the 100 animals who have had the greatest impact on humanity and on whom humanity has had the greatest effect. He shows how we have domesticated animals for food and for transport, and how animals powered agriculture, making civilisation possible. A species of flea came close to destroying human civilisation in Europe, while the slaughter of a species of bovines was used to create one civilisation and destroy another. He explains how pigeons made possible the biggest single breakthrough in the history of human thought. In short, he charts the close relationship between humans and animals, finding examples from around the planet that bring the story of life on earth vividly to life, with great insight and understanding. The heresy of human uniqueness has led us across the millennia along the path of destruction. This book, beautifully illustrated throughout, helps us to understand our place in the world better, so that we might do a better job of looking after it. That might save the polar bears, the modern emblem of impending loss and destruction. It might even save ourselves.

WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH BOOKSELLER BOOK OF THE MONTH: 'It is beautifully, persuasively written - and what's more, it works.' 'Barnes describes the wonders of nature with an infectious enthusiasm' Guardian 'Such a good idea' Chris Packham 'Barnes, a passionate writer on wildlife...is an endearingly boisterous guide' Daily Mail We're not just losing the wild world. We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing. But we can make hidden things visible, and this book features 23 spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home. Mammals you never knew existed will enter your world. Birds hidden in treetops will shed their cloak of anonymity. With a single movement of your hand you can make reptiles appear before you. Butterflies you never saw before will bring joy to every sunny day. Creatures of the darkness will enter your consciousness. And as you take on new techniques and a little new equipment, you will discover new creatures and, with them, new areas of yourself that had gone dormant. Once put to use, they wake up and start working again. You become wilder in your mind and in your heart. Once you know the tricks, the wild world begins to appear before you. For anyone who wants to get closer to the nature all around them and bring it back into focus, this is the perfect read.