Natural history books

[THOaken]

Hello. I know I ask about this a lot, but it's my primary interest. I have a lot of books on prehistory, but they mainly deal with archaeology, with the occasional bit on the land and how it was formed, but it struck me to realise I don't have any books on natural history itself. Sure, I have field guides and all sorts, but nothing on the history of nature, as it were.

I'm currently looking at these two choices:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trees-Natur...d=1400858925&sr=1-15&keywords=natural+history

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Making-...d_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=01MNW5SV5NF11MSWRHW2

I have Pyor's Britain BC, and this looks to be quite similar. I worry that he might delve too much into archaeology and human perspective, although I understand that natural history is inseparable from human history. This book is also an 800 page tome, which I don't really have the time to read.

Has anyone read these? Any recommendations?

 

[Goatboy]

Hiya,

Not sure if I've mentioned it to you before but Hostile Habitats - Scotland's Mountain Environment is a stonkingly good book covering geology, flora & fauna. It's based on Scotland (hence the title) but gives an idea of the history and formation of the landscape and what abides there. Well written and eminently digestible it really is a cracking read. Got it when it came out and have poured over it many times.

Of the other two I've only read the former and it to is well worth getting for the library. Well put together and some juicily good facts in there.

Hope this is of help.
GB.

 

[redandshane]

No advice for you whatsoever but I have put the second one http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Making-...UTF8&refRID=01MNW5SV5NF11MSWRHW2&tag=busuk-21 on my wishlist so Thanks for that

 

[Toddy]

You're going to college soon. Most of the Universities and so on have websites with details of the courses and reading lists. It might be an idea to have a look and see if your's does, and if so, then buy those ones. Give yourself a bit of a head start, so to speak.

I have some of the huge hardbacked Reader's Digest books on the Natural History of the British Isles, and they are very good indeed. A good read through and then use them as reference books. The tree one is particularly good.

Best of luck with it; I'm following the thread to catch the recommendations

cheers,
M

 

[THOaken]

I just started reading the Making of the British Landscape by Pryor and I realized it's not quite what I wanted. It looks great for an overall understanding of man's influence on the landscape, but I was somewhat fooled (and it's my fault) by the first few pages that dealt with natural processes such as glaciers and river flow, vegetation, soil types, geology and landform and the rest. What I wanted was a book on purely these natural aspects of Britain, but Pryor's book is more of an archaeological account of hill forts, dykes and the like, and I should've realized that. Make sure you know what you're buying folks. No disrespect to Francis, of course. I should've been more selective.

 

[Toddy]

Do you want Natural History, as in flora and fauna within regional variation? or Geology ? or is it some kind of synopsis that you're after ?
You can't remove people from our landscape; we've been here since the ice melted, and arguably persistantly here in the very south.
Mankind alters the world to suit himself and everything else has to accomodate as they can or literally go the way of the dodo. We are the biggest cause of extinctions of other species bar cataclysmic environmental incidents like asteroid strikes or massive volcanic eruptions. That has to be reflected in any comprehensive Natural History of the British Isles.

If what you really want is a decent flora, fauna, seashore, woodland, moorland, downs, farmlands, mountains, islands type of book, then you might do better looking under Georgraphy titles rather than archaeology or geology.

M

 

[THOaken]

Do you want Natural History, as in flora and fauna within regional variation? or Geology ? or is it some kind of synopsis that you're after ?
You can't remove people from our landscape; we've been here since the ice melted, and arguably persistantly here in the very south.
Mankind alters the world to suit himself and everything else has to accomodate as they can or literally go the way of the dodo. We are the biggest cause of extinctions of other species bar cataclysmic environmental incidents like asteroid strikes or massive volcanic eruptions. That has to be reflected in any comprehensive Natural History of the British Isles.

If what you really want is a decent flora, fauna, seashore, woodland, moorland, downs, farmlands, mountains, islands type of book, then you might do better looking under Georgraphy titles rather than archaeology or geology.

M

Yes, I think I want more of a natural history synopsis of the different regions of the British Isles and the flora and fauna contained therein. I understand that you can't seperate man from the British landscape, but knowing about hill forts doesn't particularly help me on a conservation and countryside management course. I appreciate pre/ancient history in its own right, but I'm more interested in the natural. I'd like just a comprehensive overview book on natural processes that shaped Britain, from the mountains of the North to the chalk downlands and in between. The content of Alan Titchmarsh's book looks rather good, but I'm hesitant to buy anything on the subject from a gardener. So yes, I'm looking for something like that.

 

[copper_head]

The natural history of Selborne is a classic of the subject and available as a free download from project guttenberg.

 

[THOaken]

Actually with some more thought, I think I want a book on the subject of geography itself. There's no need to limit it to one place, in this case Britain. I'm interested in the universal natural principles of mountain making, erosion, glaciers, plant life etc. An introduction to geography and the environment is what I need.

 

[Toddy]

Buy this one for under a fiver, including postage. It's well worth a read for a decent background and reference

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780600315407/Country-Life-Book-Natural-History-0600315401/plp

atb,
M

 

[THOaken]

Buy this one for under a fiver, including postage. It's well worth a read for a decent background and reference

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780600315407/Country-Life-Book-Natural-History-0600315401/plp

atb,
M

What is its content? And isn't it a bit outdated?

 

[Toddy]

Thoaken, you'll never be satisfied.

It's a huge great table book. You sit down and read, none of this taking it for a wander.
It covers every habitat in the British Isles, it covers how they were created, it covers the flora and fauna, and the man made landscapes.

It is not a book for a specialist, I know, I am one, but it's a blooming good over all reading of the how and why and what and where of the Natural History of the UK, and it'll cost you buttons.....and that's only because people like you think it's old therefore it must be outdated. It's not, rabbits are still rabbits, and lochs are still lochs.

If you want specialist, heavy indepth analysis, complete with every single bit of information we know, then you will need to break down your book list into individual sections. Mountains, glaciation, riverine, lacustrian, moorland, woodland, specialist flora, fauna, fish, sea-mammals, insects, etc., and then you will need to do the same for the man made influences in it all.
It's a life times study and you'll never know it all. We're still researching, studying and analysing.

You have to start somewhere though, and this book is a really good straightforward overview. A gentle introduction that's worth having a read through again.

It's time you started to emulate the sponge, and just soak up knowledge. Then be analytical about it and make up your own mind, but you can't do that with nothing in.

What do the college advise on the topic ? Is there a specific NH book on their reading list ?

M

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Thoaken, you'll never be satisfied.

It's a huge great table book. You sit down and read, none of this taking it for a wander.
It covers every habitat in the British Isles, it covers how they were created, it covers the flora and fauna, and the man made landscapes.

It is not a book for a specialist, I know, I am one, but it's a blooming good over all reading of the how and why and what and where of the Natural History of the UK, and it'll cost you buttons.....and that's only because people like you think it's old therefore it must be outdated. It's not, rabbits are still rabbits, and lochs are still lochs.

If you want specialist, heavy indepth analysis, complete with every single bit of information we know, then you will need to break down your book list into individual sections. Mountains, glaciation, riverine, lacustrian, moorland, woodland, specialist flora, fauna, fish, sea-mammals, insects, etc., and then you will need to do the same for the man made influences in it all.
It's a life times study and you'll never know it all. We're still researching, studying and analysing.

You have to start somewhere though, and this book is a really good straightforward overview. A gentle introduction that's worth having a read through again.

It's time you started to emulate the sponge, and just soak up knowledge. Then be analytical about it and make up your own mind, but you can't do that with nothing in.

What do the college advise on the topic ? Is there a specific NH book on their reading list ?

M

Thanks Mary, Just purchased a copy from amazon for my daughter.

 

[THOaken]

Thoaken, you'll never be satisfied.

It's a huge great table book. You sit down and read, none of this taking it for a wander.
It covers every habitat in the British Isles, it covers how they were created, it covers the flora and fauna, and the man made landscapes.

It is not a book for a specialist, I know, I am one, but it's a blooming good over all reading of the how and why and what and where of the Natural History of the UK, and it'll cost you buttons.....and that's only because people like you think it's old therefore it must be outdated. It's not, rabbits are still rabbits, and lochs are still lochs.

If you want specialist, heavy indepth analysis, complete with every single bit of information we know, then you will need to break down your book list into individual sections. Mountains, glaciation, riverine, lacustrian, moorland, woodland, specialist flora, fauna, fish, sea-mammals, insects, etc., and then you will need to do the same for the man made influences in it all.
It's a life times study and you'll never know it all. We're still researching, studying and analysing.

You have to start somewhere though, and this book is a really good straightforward overview. A gentle introduction that's worth having a read through again.

It's time you started to emulate the sponge, and just soak up knowledge. Then be analytical about it and make up your own mind, but you can't do that with nothing in.

What do the college advise on the topic ? Is there a specific NH book on their reading list ?

M

I'm aware of this, but can't you see I was just asking because I'm rather hesitant to buy a book when I can't actually look inside, so I wanted to know its content. I appreciate what you've said and I understand. I was merely trying to get a better understanding of the book.

Edit: And concerning my curiosity of its being "outdated", I think that was a fair question to ask for such a subject. Considering that some of the more scientific facts might be wrong, perhaps? I'll take your word for it and buy it, Toddy. Thanks.

 

[Tengu]

Ive got some of those RD books if you want them and can collect

 

[Toddy]

I'm aware of this, but can't you see I was just asking because I'm rather hesitant to buy a book when I can't actually look inside, so I wanted to know its content. I appreciate what you've said and I understand. I was merely trying to get a better understanding of the book.

Edit: And concerning my curiosity of its being "outdated", I think that was a fair question to ask for such a subject. Considering that some of the more scientific facts might be wrong, perhaps? I'll take your word for it and buy it, Toddy. Thanks.

It's not a science book, it's not a definitive academic book on any part of the whole jigsaw of Natural History of the British Isles. It won't give you a huge long list of papers and publications; it will give descriptions and explanations and illustrations, and a wide ranging overview of it all.
For a few pounds it's a very good background read. It's the kind of stuff that should be general knowledge for everyone, I think; but then I think everyone ought to know how to make most things too and that every home ought to have a basic reference library
I know the internet is a marvellous thing, but it is incredibly biased because either you pay for academic access or accept that it's a free for all and there's a tremendous amount of mince mixed in with some truly excellent and informative sites.

atb,
M

 

[demographic]

Mountains and Moorlands by William H. Pearsall is a very good informative book on ... yep you guessed it...Mountains and moorlands.

Is it a bit dated? Well, its got a hell of a lot of useful facts about things that have been there for millions of years. Suppose millions of years could be described as dated.
perhaps a little too informative sometimes as its densely packed with info to the point where I sometimes felt the need for lighter reading.

As there's several for about two quid its worth a go though eh?
Underlying geology, Soil types, effects of glaciation, flora, fauna. A very densely packed little book.

 

[THOaken]

It's not a science book, it's not a definitive academic book on any part of the whole jigsaw of Natural History of the British Isles. It won't give you a huge long list of papers and publications; it will give descriptions and explanations and illustrations, and a wide ranging overview of it all.
For a few pounds it's a very good background read. It's the kind of stuff that should be general knowledge for everyone, I think; but then I think everyone ought to know how to make most things too and that every home ought to have a basic reference library
I know the internet is a marvellous thing, but it is incredibly biased because either you pay for academic access or accept that it's a free for all and there's a tremendous amount of mince mixed in with some truly excellent and informative sites.

atb,
M

I'm fine with it not being an academic read. I'm not an academic, obviously. I just appreciate up to date facts because there's no reason to read old news. If it has the "why" and "how" of the British landscape and you recommend it and the facts aren't completely out of date, then I'll buy it. I'm just making sure, and I take your word for it, but it's not just an over-sized field guide which details little else than showing you what a Pine Marten looks like, for example? What I mean by that is I'd like a bit more information on the geological history, the main regions, soil types, shaping of the landscape, etc. If it has information such as this then it's all good.

Edit: I'm going to buy this too. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=455344027&pf_rd_i=468294

 

[THOaken]

 

[Toddy]

That's a good set there
Good background understanding and a wide ranging general knowledge too.

atb,
M