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Humans have long believed themselves to be the superior species: we
consume other animals for food, experiment on them and slaughter
them for sport. But as well as the ethical issues surrounding our
treatment of other animals, our attitudes are responsible for
massive species loss and extinctions, the extensive destruction of
habitats and a growing threat of zoonotic pandemics. Drawing on
philosophy and theology, art and history, Between Light and Storm
is a penetrating account of our fraught relationship with animals.
It is also a timely and necessary plea for a more humane approach
to those with whom we share a planet.
One spring, many years ago, Esther Woolfson's daughter rescued a
fledgling rook. That rook, named Chicken, quickly established
herself as part of the family, and other birds, including an
irascible cockatiel and a depressive parrot, soon followed. But it
was the corvids - members of the crow family - who amazed Woolfson
with their personality and their capacity for affection. This
classic blend of memoir and natural history combines the author's
fascination with all things avian, from the mechanics of flight to
the science of birdsong, with her funny, tender stories of life
among the birds.
Beginning with the very origins of life on Earth, Woolfson
considers pre-historic human-animal interaction and traces the
millennia-long evolution of conceptions of the soul and conscience
in relation to the animal kingdom, and the consequences of our
belief in human superiority. She explores our representation of
animals in art, our consumption of them for food, our experiments
on them for science, and our willingness to slaughter them for
sport and fashion, as well as examining concepts of love and
ownership. Drawing on philosophy and theology, art and history, as
well as her own experience of living with animals and coming to
know, love and respect them as individuals, Woolfson examines some
of the most complex ethical issues surrounding our treatment of
animals and argues passionately and persuasively for a more humble,
more humane, relationship with the creatures who share our world.
Although mostly concealed, our bedrock geology profoundly
determines what we see around us - not just our landforms, but the
built environment too, from Aberdeen, often called the "granite
city" to Bath, constructed from honey-coloured limestone- rocks
shape the world around us. In Cornerstones, some of Britain's
leading landscape and nature writers consider their relationship
with the ground beneath their feet. Distinguished by a strong sense
of place and close observation, these essays take the reader out
into the landscape and convey the tactile heft, grain and rub of
the rock, showing how it shapes our familiar landscapes. Adapted
from the successful BBC Radio Three series, Cornerstones explores
how different rock types give rise to their own distinct flora and
fauna, and even affect the food we eat.
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