
The Hidden World
How Insects Sustain Life on Earth Today and Will Shape Our Lives Tomorrow
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Narrated by:
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Dr. George McGavin
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David Attenborough
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Alison Steadman
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Jane Horrocks
About this listen
“This audiobook tells the tales of the little things that rule our world. How they came to be here, what they do for us, and their uncertain future in a world that doesn't care about them nearly enough. Hopefully George's wise words can redress that balance, before it's too late.” Steve Backshall MBE, explorer, naturist and TV presenter
“Crawling with detail, glowing with extraordinary facts and rich with humour and personality, George McGavin introduces us to his life-long passion - the wonderful world of insects.” Alice Roberts, biologist, TV presenter and author
If you are at all interested in life on our planet, then you need to know about insects. They are the most successful group of animals ever to have lived on Earth. Making up three quarters of all animal species, insects conquered the planet long ago. They were among the very first animals to appear on land and were the first to take to the air. Their total biomass is at least 10 times that of all humans and our livestock combined. This world is not ours alone. We are newcomers on a planet made and maintained by insects. If we are going to appreciate the massive part that insects play in the ecology of our planet we need to understand where they came from and how they became so successful. The survival of insects is key to our own survival. All Creatures Small and Great is an important and timely work to engage people with wildlife, when the world is rapidly losing its biodiversity. Featuring bonus audio content including full-length interviews and immersive binaural nature sounds for focus and relaxation.
Join Dr George McGavin on an exciting audio journey to help us understand the fascinating world of insects. Along the way we are transported from bee-filled meadows to the forest floor, following Dr McGavin as he meets national treasures Sir David Attenborough, Alison Steadman and Jane Horrocks, and a range of experts such as Professors Stephen Simpson, Helen Roy, Phil Stevenson, Karim Vahed and Erica McAlister to understand more about their passion for these incredible creatures.
Dr George McGavin is a regular TV and radio presenter for the BBC and others. He is an Honorary Research Associate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and a Research Associate of The Department of Zoology of Oxford University as well as a Senior Principal Research Fellow of Imperial College. George's work has taken him from the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea to the caves of Thailand and from the jungles of Belize to the savannas of Tanzania. Dr George McGavin has several insect species named in his honour and hopes they survive him.
Guest contributors include:
Sir David Attenborough – Broadcaster and Natural Historian
Alison Steadman – Actress and Ambassador for the London Wildlife Trust
Dr Erica McAlister – Senior Curator, Natural History Museum
Professor Philip C. Stevenson – Chemical Ecologist, Kew Gardens
Professor Stephen Simpson – Biologist and Biomedical Scientist
Professor Helen Roy – President of the Royal Entomological Society
Professor Karim Vahed – Entomologist specializing in insect behaviour
Anne Riley –Wharfedale Naturalists' Society
Jane Horrocks – Actress and co-host of the podcast Queen Bees
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“George McGavin is a rarity.” (Sir David Attenborough)
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Lives of Weeds explores the tangled history of weeds and their relationship to humans. Through eight interwoven stories, John Cardina offers a fresh perspective on how these tenacious plants came about, why they are both inevitable and essential, and how their ecological success is ensured by determined efforts to eradicate them. Linking botany, history, ecology, and evolutionary biology to the social dimensions of humanity's ancient struggle with feral flora, Cardina shows how weeds have shaped - and are shaped by - the way we live in the natural world.
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Review from a weed professional
- By TSP on 11-08-22
By: John Cardina
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Symphony in C
- Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything
- By: Robert M. Hazen
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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An enchanting biography of the most resonant - and most necessary - chemical element on Earth. Carbon. It's in the fibers in your hair, the timbers in your walls, the food that you eat, and the air that you breathe. It's worth billions as a luxury and half a trillion as a necessity, but there are still mysteries yet to be solved about the element that can be both diamond and coal. Where does it come from, what does it do, and why, above all, does life need it?
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There is a Caveat
- By Joseph L Contreras on 06-26-19
By: Robert M. Hazen
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Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses
- From the Plague of Athens to COVID-19
- By: Heather E. Quinlan
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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It can come in waves - like tidal waves. It changes societies. It disrupts life. It ends lives. As far back as 3000 B.C.E. (the Bronze Age), plagues have stricken mankind. COVID-19 is just the latest example, but history shows that life continues. It shows that knowledge and social cooperation can save lives. Viruses are neither alive nor dead and are the closest thing we have to zombies. Their only known function is to replicate themselves, which can have devastating consequences on their hosts.
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Some good info but
- By Dogs Land on 10-23-24
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The Forest Unseen
- A Year's Watch in Nature
- By: David George Haskell
- Narrated by: Michael Healy
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In this wholly original audiobook, biologist David Haskell uses a one-square-meter patch of old-growth Tennessee forest as a window into the entire natural world. Visiting it almost daily for one year to trace nature's path through the seasons, he brings the forest and its inhabitants to vivid life. Each of this audiobook's short chapters begins with a simple observation: a salamander scuttling across the leaf litter; the first blossom of spring wildflowers.
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Delightful stories
- By Eleanor B. Hildreth on 08-03-15
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Soil
- By: Matthew Evans
- Narrated by: Matthew Evans
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Soil is the unlikely story of our most maligned resource as swashbuckling hero. A saga of bombs, ice ages and civilisations falling. Of ancient hunger, modern sicknesses and gastronomic delight. It features poison gas, climate collapse and a mind-blowing explanation of how rain is formed. For too long, we've not only neglected the land beneath us, we've squandered and debased it, by over-clearing, over-grazing and over-ploughing.
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Ground breaking! only metaphorically
- By Terri on 10-15-21
By: Matthew Evans
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The Mind of a Bee
- By: Lars Chittka
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Most of us are aware of the hive mind—the power of bees as an amazing collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals? In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka draws from decades of research, including his own pioneering work, to argue that bees have remarkable cognitive abilities. He shows that they are profoundly smart, have distinct personalities, can recognize flowers and human faces, exhibit basic emotions, count, use simple tools, solve problems, and learn by observing others. They may even possess consciousness.
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A Nerdgasm: Informative Yet Deterministic
- By Drone Boy on 08-06-22
By: Lars Chittka
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Astronomy 101
- From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts About the Universe
- By: Carolyn Collins Petersen
- Narrated by: Wendy Tremont King
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Too often, textbooks obscure the beauty and wonder of outer space with tedious discourse that even Galileo would oppose. Astronomy 101 cuts out the boring details and lengthy explanations, and instead, gives you a lesson in astronomy that keeps you engaged as you discover what's hidden beyond our starry sky. From the Big Bang and nebulae to the Milky Way and Sir Isaac Newton, this celestial primer is packed with hundreds of entertaining astronomy facts you won't be able to get anywhere else.
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The Coming Storm
- A Journey into the Heart of the Conspiracy Machine
- By: Gabriel Gatehouse
- Narrated by: Gabriel Gatehouse
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A compelling mix of reportage and personal experience, The Coming Storm gets under the skin of these conspiracy theories to show us a radical new kind of politics emerging, a movement that has coalesced around a loose alliance of white supremacists, men's rights activists, tech bros, and radically disenchanted leftists. As we approach the 2024 US presidential election, and perhaps the most perilous moment in the history of American democracy, Gatehouse's book tells us some dark truths about our present, and provides clues about our future.
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Down the Rabbit Hole
- By psychosteve on 11-16-24
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A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
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I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
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The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
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Great Book, Great Narration, But...
- By Henny Button on 09-18-10
By: Sam Kean
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Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
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Soul Stirring
- By KatieBourgeois on 02-23-19
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Soul of an Octopus
- A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
- By: Sy Montgomery
- Narrated by: Sy Montgomery
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Sy Montgomery's popular 2011 Orion magazine piece, "Deep Intellect", about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death, went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. Since then Sy has practiced true immersion journalism, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, pursuing these wild, solitary shape-shifters.
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Eight legs and so much more!
- By Kirstin on 07-02-15
By: Sy Montgomery
What listeners say about The Hidden World
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. Moras
- 01-09-23
Great broad overview
I myself am pursuing this field and this book was great! I particularly like the chapter of parasitic insects!
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