The Kingfisher Encyclopedia Of Life

Description

This unique book is a treasure-trove of information about the natural world, presented in a truly original and attention-grabbing way. Instead of being arranged in the usual categories -- plants, fungi, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals -- species are arranged by how long they live. The approach taken is one of objective wonder -- from astonishment that the mayfly lives its full life in less time than it takes to read this book, to the awe inspired by trees over a thousand years old and colonies of simple life forms that have existed since before recorded time. At the heart of the book is the human story: a section looks at human life expectancy today and historically.

Author description

Graham L. Banes studied zoology at the University of British Columbia, Canada, before graduating from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. For the past five years, he has studied the orang-utans of Tanjung Puting National Park on the Indonesian island of Borneo. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge, England.