Nature’s Genius Evolution's Lessons for a Changing Planet
- 9 Apr 2026
- 9781837261161
- £11.99
- 288 pp
- 129×198mm
- 8 May 2025
- 9781837260553
- £9.59
- 288 pp
- 8 May 2025
- 9781837260560
- £25
- 9 hrs 6 min
In a few words
This is the remarkable and mind-expanding story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants – and how they shape us – by professor David Farrier
In a few words
This is the remarkable and mind-expanding story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants – and how they shape us – by professor David Farrier
In a few words
Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing, this is the remarkable and mind-expanding story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants – and how they shape us – by professor David Farrier
Nature's Genius is a superb book: subtle, sharp-eyed and fascinating. Here, everyday beings and objects - dogs, buildings, spiders, clocks – are lit anew; thrown into surprising configurations and relationships. Damage and disorder are faced with clear eyes, but hope is also found in unexpected places. A tight, shimmering web of words
Robert Macfarlane
A fascinating, boundary-breaking, shape-shifting chimera of a book that shows how we might evolve to solve the problems we have caused our planet. Brilliantly written, surprising, inspiring and, ultimately, hopeful
Isabella Tree
Nature's Genius is a superb book: subtle, sharp-eyed and fascinating. Here, everyday beings and objects - dogs, buildings, spiders, clocks – are lit anew; thrown into surprising configurations and relationships. Damage and disorder are faced with clear eyes, but hope is also found in unexpected places. A tight, shimmering web of words
Robert Macfarlane
A fascinating, boundary-breaking, shape-shifting chimera of a book that shows how we might evolve to solve the problems we have caused our planet. Brilliantly written, surprising, inspiring and, ultimately, hopeful
Isabella Tree
Nature's Genius is a superb book: subtle, sharp-eyed and fascinating. Here, everyday beings and objects - dogs, buildings, spiders, clocks – are lit anew; thrown into surprising configurations and relationships. Damage and disorder are faced with clear eyes, but hope is also found in unexpected places. A tight, shimmering web of words
Robert Macfarlane
A fascinating, boundary-breaking, shape-shifting chimera of a book that shows how we might evolve to solve the problems we have caused our planet. Brilliantly written, surprising, inspiring and, ultimately, hopeful
Isabella Tree
More about
the book
‘Superb’ ROBERT MACFARLANE
‘Fascinating’ ISABELLA TREE
‘Inspiring’ CAL FLYN
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING
SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FOR NON-FICTION
For nearly four billion years, life on Earth has found new ways to adapt, reproduce and thrive. Now, in the face of climate change, nature is modelling ingenuity as never before.
David Farrier guides us through unexpected and hopeful examples of nature’s genius: whether urban pigeons building nests in the spiked structures meant to deter them or tomcod in the Hudson River that have become immune to highly toxic chemicals, coral used to make a natural and self-healing cement or computer chips derived from mycelium skin. Farrier shows us how nature is offering a blueprint that could help us design sustainable cities, remake our economies, solve our waste problem, rescue animals from the brink of extinction and choose a better future.
More about
the book
‘Superb’ ROBERT MACFARLANE
‘Fascinating’ ISABELLA TREE
‘Inspiring’ CAL FLYN
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING
SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FOR NON-FICTION
For nearly four billion years, life on Earth has found new ways to adapt, reproduce and thrive. Now, in the face of climate change, nature is modelling ingenuity as never before.
David Farrier guides us through unexpected and hopeful examples of nature’s genius: whether urban pigeons building nests in the spiked structures meant to deter them or tomcod in the Hudson River that have become immune to highly toxic chemicals, coral used to make a natural and self-healing cement or computer chips derived from mycelium skin. Farrier shows us how nature is offering a blueprint that could help us design sustainable cities, remake our economies, solve our waste problem, rescue animals from the brink of extinction and choose a better future.
More about
the book
‘Superb’ ROBERT MACFARLANE
‘Fascinating’ ISABELLA TREE
‘Inspiring’ CAL FLYN
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING
SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FOR NON-FICTION
For nearly four billion years, life on Earth has found new ways to adapt, reproduce and thrive. Now, in the face of climate change, nature is modelling ingenuity as never before.
David Farrier guides us through unexpected and hopeful examples of nature’s genius: whether urban pigeons building nests in the spiked structures meant to deter them or tomcod in the Hudson River that have become immune to highly toxic chemicals, coral used to make a natural and self-healing cement or computer chips derived from mycelium skin. Farrier shows us how nature is offering a blueprint that could help us design sustainable cities, remake our economies, solve our waste problem, rescue animals from the brink of extinction and choose a better future.
A book of hope and wonder. I learned something new and thought-provoking, even inspiring, on every page
Cal Flyn
A wonderful exploration of nature's unrivalled ability to adapt to changing environments, and what we might belatedly learn from these interconnected ecosystems that we're also a part of as we navigate a more perilous Anthropocene. Full of fascinating details and insightful observations about the richly diverse behaviours and interactions of the world's extraordinary creatures
Gaia Vince
We are negligent: the natural world is vigilant. We spawn ugliness: the wild responds with beauty. Farrier’s exhilarating, splendidly written account of nature’s care for itself and us will help you sleep at night
Charles Foster
A bold vision
A book of hope and wonder. I learned something new and thought-provoking, even inspiring, on every page
Cal Flyn
A wonderful exploration of nature's unrivalled ability to adapt to changing environments, and what we might belatedly learn from these interconnected ecosystems that we're also a part of as we navigate a more perilous Anthropocene. Full of fascinating details and insightful observations about the richly diverse behaviours and interactions of the world's extraordinary creatures
Gaia Vince
We are negligent: the natural world is vigilant. We spawn ugliness: the wild responds with beauty. Farrier’s exhilarating, splendidly written account of nature’s care for itself and us will help you sleep at night
Charles Foster
A bold vision
A book of hope and wonder. I learned something new and thought-provoking, even inspiring, on every page
Cal Flyn
A wonderful exploration of nature's unrivalled ability to adapt to changing environments, and what we might belatedly learn from these interconnected ecosystems that we're also a part of as we navigate a more perilous Anthropocene. Full of fascinating details and insightful observations about the richly diverse behaviours and interactions of the world's extraordinary creatures
Gaia Vince
We are negligent: the natural world is vigilant. We spawn ugliness: the wild responds with beauty. Farrier’s exhilarating, splendidly written account of nature’s care for itself and us will help you sleep at night
Charles Foster
A bold vision
David Farrier
View profileDavid Farrier is Professor of Literature and the Environment at the University of Edinburgh. David’s first book, Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils, looked at the marks we are leaving on the planet and how these might appear in the fossil record in the deep future. It was named by both The Times and Telegraph as a book of the year, earned praise from Robert Macfarlane and Margaret Atwood, and has been translated into ten other languages. He has had pieces published in the Atlantic, BBC Future, Emergence, Prospect, Daily Telegraph, Orion and Washington Post. He has spoken at numerous online events, has given an invited lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, and has appeared on radio and podcasts such as BBC Free Thinking and Little Atoms.
@David_Farrier
David Farrier
View profileDavid Farrier is Professor of Literature and the Environment at the University of Edinburgh. David’s first book, Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils, looked at the marks we are leaving on the planet and how these might appear in the fossil record in the deep future. It was named by both The Times and Telegraph as a book of the year, earned praise from Robert Macfarlane and Margaret Atwood, and has been translated into ten other languages. He has had pieces published in the Atlantic, BBC Future, Emergence, Prospect, Daily Telegraph, Orion and Washington Post. He has spoken at numerous online events, has given an invited lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, and has appeared on radio and podcasts such as BBC Free Thinking and Little Atoms.
@David_Farrier
David Farrier
View profileDavid Farrier is Professor of Literature and the Environment at the University of Edinburgh. David’s first book, Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils, looked at the marks we are leaving on the planet and how these might appear in the fossil record in the deep future. It was named by both The Times and Telegraph as a book of the year, earned praise from Robert Macfarlane and Margaret Atwood, and has been translated into ten other languages. He has had pieces published in the Atlantic, BBC Future, Emergence, Prospect, Daily Telegraph, Orion and Washington Post. He has spoken at numerous online events, has given an invited lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, and has appeared on radio and podcasts such as BBC Free Thinking and Little Atoms. Nature’s Genius is his second book and was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing.
