Trials of Life

Viac o knihe

Watching and filming animals worldwide has occupied much of my working life. By the late 1970s, the marvels I witnessed became a dazzling, almost confusing kaleidoscope, prompting a need to organize them into a coherent survey of the planet's natural history. This led to a decade of work resulting in three books and three 13-part television series: Life on Earth, The Living Planet, and The Trials of Life. Together, they explore three major aspects of natural history observable through living wild animals: their diversity, ecology, and behavior. The Trials of Life focuses on the last and most dramatic aspect. Every animal, from rats to rattlesnakes, lobsters to llamas, and even humans, faces a series of life challenges—growing up, finding food, navigating their environment, defending against threats, socializing, and mating. While the problems may be similar across species, the solutions are astoundingly varied. For instance, ants in the Sahara navigate featureless sands by observing the sun, fireflies use Morse code-like signals to attract mates, and chimpanzees in West African forests collaborate in complex hunting strategies.