Search results for ""Author Michael Bright""

Follow the evolution of plants and animals, from the first living things 6 billion years ago to the animals living in the world today. Darwin's Tree of Life shows how the incredible diversity of life on earth came to be. This beautifully illustrated book starts from the dawn of life and shows the order in which plants and animals evolved, the different branches of 'The Tree of Life', and how plants and animals have changed over time in many amazingly different ways. Find out:· why crabs run sideway· which fish was the first to walk on land· why birds are similar to dinosaurs · why human brains are located in the head and not in our feet. which creatures can survive 30 years without eating· which mammal has the strongest bite of any predator· why hedgehogs have spinesStunningly illustrated by illustrator and print maker, Margaux Carpentier, children will enjoy finding out about a whole world of wonderful animals on our amazing planet Earth.The author, Michael Bright, has worked as an executive producer with the BBC's world-renowned Natural History Unit, based in Bristol, and with its Science Unit in London. He is author of over a hundred books on wildlife, science, travel, and conservation, including many for children. His bestseller Africa: Eye to Eye with the Unknown accompanied the popular television series presented by Sir David Attenborough. He is the recipient of many international radio and television awards, including the prestigious Prix Italia. He is a graduate of the University of London and a corporate biologist and member of the Royal Society of Biology.This book is perfect for the study of evolution, adaptation and inheritance in KS2 and KS2 science and covers topics such as classification, habitats and conservation.

Read more less

The vast majority of today's transport depends on fuel that comes from oil. Hundreds of thousands of items we use every day - from trainers to medicines - come from or use products that come from oil. But where does oil come from - and what happens when this ancient resource runs out?Oil is one of the most important resources to man today. It was discovered many thousands of years ago and has become central to the transport and petrochemical industries. Find out about the origins of oil - from its first discovery to its first use in industry. Learn how it is found, mined and processed into many different products that are used all over the world today - including petrol that we fill our cars with each day. Finally, consider the disasters that have resulted from the drilling, transportation and use of oil, as well as its future: what will happen when the oil finally runs out? We look at the advantages and disadvantages of oil, and the possible industry alternatives. Source to Resource is an incredibly valuable series in today's fast-paced world where natural resources are in such constant demand. Many people don't stop to think about where these resources come from and the journey they take from the raw material or element to the useful product that reaches us at home, school or work. Source to Resource provides that information as well as the chance to stop and think about our use of resources and the implications of the use of these for future generations. Other titles in the Source To Resource series include:From Field to PlateFrom Raindrop to Tap From Sunshine to Light Bulb

Read more less

From searingly hot deserts to lands of fire and ice, this book is a vivid journey through the natural wonders of the seven continents. With page after page of spectacular photographs, this book pays homage to the powerful forces that shape our planet - fire, ice, water, and wind - revealing a world with extraordinary landscapes and breathtaking geological features. These images, of geysers spewing scalding water, glaciers chiselling out the mountainsides, and red-hot molten lava exploding on contact with the ocean, demonstrate how Earth's current appearance resulted from the incessant, powerful, and widespread activity of nature and climate change over the various geological eras. The portrait that emerges from this exceptional journey through vast patchwork quilts of salt deposits, colourful canyons, ripple-like sand patterns, and vibrant meltwater pools and channels, captures a living, endlessly changing, planet.

Read more less

What happens when you turn on a tap? Or the washing machine, shower or garden hose? Water flows! Most of us use water all day, every day, without thinking about it. But how does it get to our homes?Water is one of the most amazing resources that we use in abundance and have come to rely on heavily. It is used in all sorts of household chores, leisure activities and in work and industry. From the pitter-patter of raindrops to the whoosh of water from the shower, we follow the journey from the source to the resource. We begin by looking at what water is and where it comes from, and the all-important water cycle. We then look at how water is stored and treated ready to be pumped around the country and into our homes. Finally we consider the environmental impact of our water use and what we can do to use less water in our daily lives. We also look at how people live in places that do not have a reliable water supply and methods that can be used to clean water that is in short supply. Other titles in the Source to Resource series include:From Field to PlateFrom Oil Rig to Petrol PumpFrom Sunshine to Light Bulb

Read more less

This book offers an in intriguing insight into the lives of brown bears, polar bears, black bears, pandas and others, with 190 exciting images. You can explore the amazing world of bears - how they survive and where they live, from the Arctic tundra and mountain slopes to scrub desert and tropical forest. It is packed with more than 190 stunning pictures from renowned wildlife photographers and artists. Detailed cross-sections and diagrams reveal the complex inner workings of a bear's powerful body. Myth boxes explore the many popular stories about these creatures, including Baloo in The Jungle Book, Goldilocks and the three bears, and Winnie the Pooh. It contains all the bear facts - a book to delight and inform 8- to 12-year-olds, at home or at school. From the fearsome grizzly of North America to the giant panda in the remotest regions of China, bears have long captured the human imagination. You can discover how they live, examine the differences between the species, and learn how they cope with their diverse habitats.Special focus sections allow you to observe detailed aspects of bear and panda life, such as the giant bears of Kodiak Island and how polar bear migration regularly brings a town in Canada to a standstill. Meanwhile, 'Did You Know?' features provide quirky facts that will amaze and amuse.

Read more less

Follow the evolution of plants and animals, from the first living things 6 billion years ago to the animals living in the world today. Darwin''s Tree of Life shows how the incredible diversity of life on earth came to be. This beautifully illustrated book starts from the dawn of life and shows the order in which plants and animals evolved, the different branches of ''The Tree of Life'', and how plants and animals have changed over time in many amazingly different ways. Find out: why crabs run sideway which fish was the first to walk on land why birds are similar to dinosaurs why human brains are located in the head and not in our feet. which creatures can survive 30 years without eating which mammal has the strongest bite of any predator why hedgehogs have spinesStunningly illustrated by illustrator and print maker, Margaux Carpentier, children will enjoy finding out about

Read more less

Take a trip around the world to discover the busy animals active during the day, and the magical creatures that come out at night in twelve unique habitats in this extensive exploration of the natural world. This book's fun flip-book format gives readers two books in one. Beginning with the daytime, children can explore the biodiversity of a huge range of landscapes. Readers can then flip the book and arrive at extraordinary night-time scenes where the hidden, rarely seen creaturesof the night come out to play in the same landscapes, all for children to uncover. This innovative title looks at the animals of both day and night in a huge variety of habitats including the South American Rainforest, African Savannah, Australian Outback and Andes Mountains. Firm favourites and widely unknown creatures, of both the day and night, are explored, including: Cockroaches, silverfish and leopards that scour cities by night Parrotfish, shrimps and epaulette sharks that roam tropical coral reefs by day Aye-ayes, leaf-tailed geckos and tomato frogs that emerge in the Madagascan night Wild boar, brown bears and jays that enjoy the European woodland in the sunshine Sections on the animals of dawn and dusk, and even urban wildlife, make this a truly fascinating, comprehensive and fresh look at the natural world for children. The magic of the natural world during both the day and night is brought to life with Nic Jones' vibrant illustrations.Daytime and Night-time provides the perfect opportunity for children to compare and contrast twelve habitats during the day and night, and uncover the true biodiversity of our planet at all times of the day.

Read more less

Produced with the Natural History Museum, this book brings you closer to the wildlife that''s hard to reach - to the animals and plants in the skies, deep underwater, on clifftops, in caves and underground. Find out how plants and animals adapted to these environments and about wildlife from long ago. Filled with stylish linocut prints of wildlife, this is a book you will admire for its beauty as well as for the fascinating information inside.Discover the snow leopard as it hunts mountain goats and sheep, the ghostly pale, eel-shaped olm and a mysterious orchid that only blooms underground.With gorgeous linocut prints, this beautiful book reveals the textures and patterns of the natural world.

Read more less

Discover the best disguised animals on the planet!Some animals disguise themselves to look like plants or rocks. Others disappear from view altogether as they blend in to their habitats. How do they do this?In Animals in Disguise, learn how animals hide in plain sight and why. From avoiding predators and protecting themselves to ambushing or sneaking up on prey, each featured animal has an astonishing skill for keeping out of sight.With different creatures from around the world, organised by classification, this book encourages the reader to seek out each creature hiding in plain sight in the full-page photograph. Younger children will enjoy looking at the photos to spot the camouflaged animals. To help find them, a second picture shows the animal clearly and all is revealed at the end of the book.Perfect for readers aged 9 and up.

Read more less

Wild animals do the most extraordinary things. Some are exceptionally bright, use tools and solve complex problems. Others are devious: they cheat, steal and run protection rackets. There are animals with enormous appetites and those that self-medicate. Then we come across the extreme travellers: the highest flyers, the deepest divers and the fastest runners. But which animal is the most venomous, and which the most dangerous? Which has the loudest voice, the longest tongue, the biggest eyes or the most powerful bite? How do animals tell the time? How did the zebra get those stripes? And what is the most mysterious animal on Earth? The Frog with Self-cleaning Feet is a miscellany of fascinating animal anecdotes, facts and figures. The weird, the wonderful and the downright unbelievable of the animal world - you couldn't make it up!

Read more less

Browning’s Fra Lippo Lippi says that we may pass things a hundred times and never see them. One thing that Browning’s readers have passed without seeing, or at least without remarking upon, is the circular conclusion in so many of his poems. Some sixty poems (almost a third of them) have such conclusions. These sixty span his entire career and include both well-known and neglected poems. The circular conclusion is so called because it returns to the introduction — circles back round to it — by repeating something from the introduction. Although in principle this rhetorical device is quite simple, in practice Browning works many and complex variations on it. Also, by incorporating this repeated words or phrases within the body of the poems, he uses them to make structural divisions. And above all, by selecting for repetition key words or phrases, he indicates central themes in the poems. An analysis of repetition in the poems allows us to see more clearly their circularity, the divisions of the circles, and their themes. It also brings to light thematic dynamism of the poems, some of them concluding with a restatement of the theme set forth in the repetition to trend at a point beyond the original idea, some reversing in their conclusions the statement made in the introduction, and some restating at the end the introductory statement after two reversals. Finally, by focusing on the introductions and conclusions of the poems, we clarify the dramatic situations, which are ordinarily established in these two places, and come to see their relationships with the monologues they encircle. All this we see, not with the optics of modern literary theory, but simply by looking at Browning’s work with the same careful attention Fra Lippo Lippi pays to God’s creation.

Read more less

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... When you dive into the sea, do you ever wonder what's down there, beneath you, poised to take an inquisitive bite? Author of Jaws Peter Benchley and film director Steven Spielberg certainly did, for below the waves lies a world we neither see nor understand; an alien world where we are but the briefest of visitors. The Shark that Walks on Land uncovers tales of ancient and modern mariners, with stories of sea serpents, mermaids and mermen, sea dragons, and the true identity of the legendary kraken. But this book contains more than just a medley of maritime myths and mysteries for marine biologists; it celebrates wonderful discoveries by blending the unknown and the familiar in an entertaining miscellany of facts, figures and anecdotes about the myriad creatures that inhabit the oceans. Along the way we meet the giants, the most dangerous, the oddballs and the record breakers - and the shark that really does walk on land!

Read more less

In seventeen volumes, copublished with Baylor University, this acclaimed series features annotated texts of all of Robert Browning’s known writing. The series encompasses autobiography as well as influences bearing on Browning’s life and career and aspects of Victorian thought and culture. Volume XI of The Complete Works of Robert Browning contains two strikingly disparate long poems from the 1870s, Fifine at the Fair and Red Cotton Night-Cap Country. In Fifine at the Fair, Browning creates an idiosyncratic version of the Don Juan figure, a distinctly post-Romantic and intellectual Don Juan who derives little from any literary predecessor. The legendary character is realized in a modern French setting, the village of Pornic, a favorite vacation spot for Browning. The poem is a sustained exercise in self-justification and casuistry, with Don Juan persuading himself that he can reconcile his love of his wife with his carnal love for a gipsy girl. Though Red Cotton Night-Cap Country is similarly concerned with a struggle between spirit and flesh, the poem is entirely based in contemporary events. Using newspaper accounts and legal documents, Browning tells the strange and shocking tale of a rich and devout Frenchman who throws himself from the roof of his chateau, convinced that heaven will deliver him from death. Upon the question of his sanity hinges the disposition of his considerable estate, and the poet traces the claims and counterclaims to their settlement in court only a few months before he wrote the poem. As always in this series of critical editions, a complete record of textual variants is provided, as well as extensive explanatory notes.

Read more less

Fully-illustrated and with a fun and innovative flip-book format, the book provides the perfect way to explore and compare the extreme environments of the two Poles. Take a trip to the ends of the earth and discover the extreme environments of the North and South Poles. Find out which animals live where, what the weather and climate is like and the effect global warming is having. Beginning with the North Pole, the book introduces the geography and climate of the Arctic. Readers will discover how climate change is affecting sea ice and why multi-year ice is so important to walruses and polar bears. Find out what ice floes are and what lives under the ice. The many uses of the Arctic are explained, from the home it provides to whale hunters to the rocket and missile test sites it houses. And then flip the book over and you arrive in the South Pole… The famous race to reach the Pole in 1911 is retold and readers will discover why the orca is the ultimate polar predator. The huge tabular icebergs, sub-glacial lakes and ice chimneys of the Antarctic are brought to life in all their impressive glory, not to mention the sea spiders, 'death star' starfish and other undersea giants!

Read more less

Produced with the Natural History Museum, this book brings you closer to the wildlife that's hard to reach - to the animals and plants in the skies, deep underwater, on clifftops, in caves and underground. Find out how plants and animals adapted to these environments and about wildlife from long ago. Filled with stylish linocut prints of wildlife, this is a book you will admire for its beauty as well as for the fascinating information inside.Discover the snow leopard as it hunts mountain goats and sheep, the ghostly pale, eel-shaped olm and a mysterious orchid that only blooms underground.With gorgeous linocut prints, this beautiful book reveals the textures and patterns of the natural world.

Read more less

You don't know home until you leave it. With over 200 spectacular images, including astonishing satellite images and stills from the BBC Natural History Unit’s footage, Earth from Space reveals our planet as you’ve never seen it before.For decades we competed to be the first to reach space, but it was when we looked back at Earth that we were truly awestruck. Now, for the first time, using advanced satellite images we can show the earth’s surface, its mega structures, weather patterns and natural wonders in breathtaking detail.From the colours and patterns that make up our planet to the mass migrations and seismic changes that shape it, Earth from Space sheds new light on the planet we call home. It reveals the intimate stories behind the breathtaking images, following herds of elephants crossing the plains of Africa and turtles travelling on ocean currents that are invisible unless seen from space. The true colours of our blue planet are revealed, from the striped tulip fields of Holland to the green swirl of a plankton super bloom that attracts a marine feeding frenzy. Whether it's the world’s largest beaver dam – so remote it was only discovered through satellite imagery – or newly formed islands born from volcanic eruptions, discover a new perspective on our ever-changing planet.

Read more less