What do you think?
Rate this book
Nature's Great Events: The Most Amazing Natural Events on the Planet
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.
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.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Karen Bass
1 bookLibrarian's note: there is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.
Karen Bass is a producer and book editor for the BBC.
Karen Bass is a producer and book editor for the BBC.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 25, 2011
This book covers the six story television series in far greater depth with fascinating facts and pictures.
Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes
What ages would I recommend it too? – Toddlers and older. The pictures are fascinating to any age, and can be treated like a bedtime storybook.
Length? – At 315 pages, each segment is about 26 pages long, an hour or so read per night.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Ocean, desert, polar regions.
Written approximately? – 2007.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – You wonder what will happen next on the planet. Will these same events be viewable in ten years, and how will they change?
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? This book is written with British spelling and measurements. While this may not be too confusing in fiction, where measurements occur less often, lengths in feet and miles in this book can become confused to the reader. Often, you have to stop, go back, and re-read a sentence leaving out the first measurement for the one in parenthesis.
Short storyline: Each segment follows the film team of each particular show. My favorite by far is "The Great Plains," with the story of the desert antelope and the elephants. The Ice stories could be refreshing in summer for those who like icy stories.
Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes
What ages would I recommend it too? – Toddlers and older. The pictures are fascinating to any age, and can be treated like a bedtime storybook.
Length? – At 315 pages, each segment is about 26 pages long, an hour or so read per night.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Ocean, desert, polar regions.
Written approximately? – 2007.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – You wonder what will happen next on the planet. Will these same events be viewable in ten years, and how will they change?
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? This book is written with British spelling and measurements. While this may not be too confusing in fiction, where measurements occur less often, lengths in feet and miles in this book can become confused to the reader. Often, you have to stop, go back, and re-read a sentence leaving out the first measurement for the one in parenthesis.
Short storyline: Each segment follows the film team of each particular show. My favorite by far is "The Great Plains," with the story of the desert antelope and the elephants. The Ice stories could be refreshing in summer for those who like icy stories.
May 24, 2014
This book is somewhere between a photography book and a natural history one. Chronicling several 'events' on the planet, it is chock-full of interesting facts and stories. It really makes you appreciate the incredible synchronization that happens every day in this phenomenal planet. Many of the photos were quite spectacular, but the stories lack plot or structure, which can make for a confusing read.
September 19, 2009
Not only is this book GORGEOUS, but it was so interesting to read from the perspective of the people who catch these amazing events on film. My favorite picture was of the hundreds of white beluga whales swimming through turquoise arctic melt waters. My favorite story was the lions of the Great Wildebeest Migration. Stunning.
Read
August 8, 2009I won a copy of this book while dicking around on twitter, so I love it already. Plus, it has a dust jacket, a very nice matte finish cover that is not a simple copy of the DJ, and printed endsheets - very fancy schmancy.
August 22, 2015
The photography is absolutely stunning.
November 3, 2013
One of the best nature books I've read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews