Nature's Great Events: The Most Amazing Natural Events on the Planet - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226471543 ISBN 13: 9780226471549

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2009

Synopsis

Nature’s Great Events is the lavishly illustrated counterpart to the Discovery Channel’s landmark wildlife documentary, Nature’s Most Amazing Events. Using groundbreaking filming techniques and state-of-the-art scientific technologies, the book and the documentary on which it is based are epic in every sense, charting six seasonal events that transform entire ecosystems and the life experiences of the thousands of animals within them, from the largest mammals to the smallest microorganisms.

The six events include the flooding of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, which turns sprawling swaths of desert into an elaborate maze of lagoons and swamps; the melting of 10 million square kilometers of ice in the Arctic, which imperils polar bears across the region; the migration of the Serengeti, where life is on the edge for both predator and prey and where lions and wildebeest battle to survive; the great salmon run in British Columbia, where rivers teem with thousands of fish—and where grizzlies and wolves eagerly await them; the explosion of sea life in Alaska’s coastal waters, where countless animals from far and wide brave killer whales to feed; and the greatest marine spectacle on the planet, the annual tide of sardines along South Africa’s east coast, where the greatest concentration of predators—including sharks and dolphins—come to feast.

These events are among the processes most important to the survival of life on the planet. Tracking them at every stage with over 400 remarkable photographs throughout, the book follows individual animals as they live and die during these events, often capturing the drama from their unique point of view. The result is an awe-inspiring and truly novel work that brings these events into more brilliant focus than ever before.

About this title

About the Author

Karen Bass, Series Producer for Nature’s Great Events, is a TV producer and filmmaker whose award-winning works include Wild Caribbean, Andes to Amazon, Jungle, Pygmy Chimp, and episodes of Natural World and Wildlife on One.Brian Leith, Executive Producer for Nature’s Great Events, has been a producer and director for over twenty years in natural history filmmaking and is the author of The Descent of Darwin.

Review

"In conjunction with the forthcoming Discovery Channel series Nature's Most Amazing Events, comes [this] chronicle of six of nature's most awesome annual feats. . . . Lush photographs . . . and commentary from the photographers themselves put readers in the middle of the seasonal phenomena that shape and sustain the earth. . . . The detailed—almost reverent—images of imperiled habitats coupled with Bass’s call to urgency make this a beautiful, timely book."

(Publishers Weekly starred review)

"In conjunction with the forthcoming Discovery Channel series Nature's Most Amazing Events, comes a chronicle of six of nature's most awesome annual feats—the yearly flooding of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the pre-winter preparations and feasting on the coast of Alaska, land migrations on the Serengeti, the Arctic melts, the British Columbia salmon run and the migration of sardines pursued by sharks and dolphins in South Africa’s waters. Lush photographs from the BBC’s Natural History Unit and commentary from the photographers themselves put readers in the middle of the seasonal phenomena that shape and sustain the earth: cameraman Mike Holding watches as elephants wade into flooding waters cautiously, so as not to dirty it; on the southeasternmost tip of Alaska, assistant producer Joe Stevens unwittingly dives into the midst of a fish breeding ground. In her foreword, editor and producer Bass writes, "The Earth is changing fast; making this series was a sharp reminder that we cannot take these natural events for granted." The detailed—almost reverent—images of imperiled habitats coupled with Bass’s call to urgency make this a beautiful, timely book." (Publishers Weekly)

“From the rains that fall on Africa’s grassy plains to the melting ice that spring brings to the Arctic, the changing seasons set in motion life-altering events. . . . Filmmakers followed the seasons for Nature’s Great Events, a new book, and Nature’s Most Amazing Events, a Discovery Channel series.” (Time for Kids)

"Richly illustrated. . . . The book's accessible narrative is brilliantly executed; and the photography, featuring 400 images, is breathtaking. Many coffee-table books can provoke sticker shock, but this one . . . costs no more than a day at the zoo for a family of four. It takes you further, however, by revealing how the wild cousins of those captive animals live—and how their survival rests in our hands." (Christian Science Monitor)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0226471543
• ISBN 13: 9780226471549
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Bass Karen