Australia Biology

A blend of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel and Simon Winchester’s Pacific, a thrilling intellectual detective story that looks deep into the past to uncover who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific, where they came from, how they got there, and how we know. For more than a...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Blazing...Visceral" (Los Angeles Times) · "Exceptional" (Newsweek) · "Bold...Heartfelt" (New York Times Book Review) · "Thought-provoking and thrilling" (GMA) · "Suspenseful and poignant" (Scientific American)· "Gripping" (The Sydney Morning Herald) From...

""[An] intriguing philosophical journey into a critical issue within evolutionary theory that for too long has remained unresolved."" —Wall Street Journal Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers. This book is a treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike.” —Richard...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER STARS OF THE PBS NOVA DOCUMENTARY CAN DOGS TALK? An incredible, revolutionary true story and surprisingly simple guide to teaching your dog to talk from speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger, who has taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using simple...

In the compelling popular science tradition of Sapiens and Guns, Germs, and Steel, a groundbreaking and eye-opening exploration that applies evolutionary science to provide a new perspective on human psychology, revealing how major challenges from our past have shaped some of the most...

In this fully revised and updated edition, neuroscientist Dr Sarah McKay delivers the essential guide to understanding women's brain health and wellbeing, redefining how we think and talk about the female brain across the lifespan. Women's brain health is no longer a niche topic. Neuroscience is...

An island born in fire and thunder when the Earth was young is the setting for this adventure with Jon Michaels and his marine-biologist mother. Join Jon as he explores the incredible barrier reef surrounding Moratonga. He feeds an octopus, encounters sharks, and dives to one of the strangest and most dangerous places on the planet: 20,000 feet down to hydrothermal vents, a world of black-smokers, huge tubeworms, and creatures who live without ever seeing the light of the sun.

The Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney makes a radical, compelling new account of the birth of language that puts women at the centre of the story. Conventional explanations for how humans became ‘the language animal’ (proposed by men such as Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker and Yuval...

BBC R4 Book of the Week ‘Brilliant’ Guardian ‘Fascinating and often delightful’ The Times What if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter? In Other Minds, Peter...

In his new book, acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley looks to the peculiar mating rituals of birds to better understand the rich origins and ongoing significance of Darwin's sexual selection theory. 'FASCINATING' The Times ‘Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers … A treat for bird...

Lian Nguyen has come to Pele to try to save his failing marriage and advance his husband’s career. However, not all is as it seems on the lava planet. The colony of New Australia is plagued by bad luck and ongoing issues. But it does present new opportunities. Lian is thrust into the heart of the problem, given command of the biology labs that are failing to feed the colony. Yet he is alone in his endeavour, for no other biologists have come to Pele. Lian is thrown into a sink-or-swim situation where he must swim, for failure will result in starvation and the collapse of the whole colony....

Winner of the Whitley Award for Best Natural History Book 2022 A compelling, funny, first-hand account of Australia's wonderfully unique mammals and how our perceptions impact their future. Think of a platypus: they lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), they produce milk without...