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Birdwatchingwatching
Sep 22, 2024 12:35 AM

Author:Alex Horne

Birdwatchingwatching

Alex Horne is not a birdwatcher. But his dad is, so with the prospect of fatherhood looming on his own horizon, Alex decided there was no better time to really get to know both his father and his father's favourite hobby. So he challenged his dad to a Big Year: from 1 January to 31 December they would each try to spot as many birds as possible; the one who spied the most species would be the victor. Along the way Alex would find out what makes his dad tick, pick up a bit of fatherly wisdom and perhaps even 'get into' birdwatching himself.

Join Alex as he journeys from Barnes to Bahrain in this charming tale of obsession, manliness, fathers and sons, and the highly amusing twists and turns of a year-long bird race.

Reviews

Horne's observations are at once funny and fascinating

—— Metro (Review for 'Birdwatching' show)

Rather like a rare bird - his ostensible subject - [Horne] is a fragile delight, covering any subject with a daft, surreal charm

—— The Sunday Times (Review for 'Birdwatching' show)

Remarkably touching, honest, and dryly witty

—— Time Out

Enjoyable and entertaining

—— Stephen Moss , Guardian

The Stern Review led the way in explaining the economic theory of climate change. His Blueprint sets out in practical terms why the world needs to act, what we need to do, and how, if we take action, we can build a new era of prosperity and growth.

—— Adair Turner, Chairman of the FSA and Chairman of the Climate Change Committee

Despite his gloomy predictions Lord Stern's overall argument is one of optimism

—— Louise Gray , Daily Telegraph

The book is written for a wider audience than the official report and incorporates some more recent (and worrying) findings from climate science

—— Economist

lays out a road-map for managing the climate crisis

—— Robert Constanza , Nature

Impassioned...will give pause to all but the most doctrinaire

—— Daragh Downes , The Irish Times

Immensely informative

—— Ian Pindar , Guardian

He has lost none of his virtuosity in explanation, narration and the presentation of a clinching fact

—— Evening Standard

Dawkins remains a superb translator of complex scientific concepts ... he has a way of making the drollest details feel like a revelation

—— Publishers Weekly

This is the book Richard Dawkins needed to write and many need to read - a comprehensive account of evolution which faces the difficulties and questions his critics have raised. In it he draws on his great ability to write about science in a way that is clear, absorbing and vivid

—— Lord Harries of Pentregarth (formerly Bishop Richard Harries)

... He is an awesome thinker, a superb writer whose explanatory skills I envy, who dismisses his opponents with the thoroughness of a top silk

—— The Times

Dawkins emerges like a prize-fighter, knocking out of the ring all objections

—— Nature

Most importantly his writing radiates an intense sense of fascination. He is a great explainer, taking complex biological processes and making them accessible

—— Independent

If you want to understand evolution, I doubt there are many better at explaining it to laymen than Dawkins... A writer who is red in tooth and pen, his opponents don't stand a chance

—— Scottish Sunday Herald

An accessible, colourful and beautifully detailed look at many scientific wonders - whether it's the great variety of dogs or the sex life of orchids - and a great primer for those coming fresh to the subject

—— Irish Times

Richard Dawkin's new book... gives the fact-rejecters their just deserts

—— Daily Telegraph

The book is full of evidence, some familiar and some new. Its case is presented in a manner succinct, clear and sometimes vivid

—— Daily Telegraph

No other book currently available approaches Dawkin's comprehensive yet accessible treatment of the extraordinarily diverse and massive body of data that drives ineluctably to the same conclusion

—— National Center for Science Education

The Greatest Show on Earth is a lucid, thorough and often exciting survey of evolution and takes in rats' teeth, dogs, bacteria, the so-called missing link, crustaceans, giraffe anatomy, hummingbirds, chimpanzees, enzymes - you name it. It is informed in nearly every paragraph by Mr. Dawkins's irrepressible enthusiasm

—— Sarah Lyall , New York Times

The Greatest Show on Earth... is essential reading. I would currently rate it... as the best overall book on the evidence for Evolution

—— Marc E. Miquel , SCOPE

This is a magnificent book of wonderstanding: Richard Dawkins combines an artist's wonder at the virtuosity of nature with a scientist's understanding of how it comes to be

—— Matt Ridley, author of "Nature via Nurture"
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