Life on Earth
Written by David Attenborough
Narrated by David Attenborough
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Winner of Best Non-Fiction Audiobook at the New York Radio Awards 2019.
Shortlisted for Best Audiobook at the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018.
Shortlisted for Futurebook of the Year at the Futurebook Awards 2018.
The nation’s greatest voice, David Attenborough, reads a brand-new edition of Life on Earth, now available as an audiobook for the first time.
David Attenborough’s unforgettable meeting with gorillas became an iconic moment for millions of television viewers. Life on Earth, the series and accompanying book, fundamentally changed the way we view and interact with the natural world, setting a new benchmark of quality, influencing a generation of nature lovers. Told through an examination of animal and plant life, this is an astonishing celebration of the evolution of life on earth, with a cast of characters drawn from the whole range of organisms that have ever lived on this planet. Attenborough’s perceptive, dynamic approach to the evolution of millions of species of living organisms takes the reader on an unforgettable journey of discovery from the very first spark of life to the blue and green wonder we know today.
Now, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book’s first publication, David Attenborough has revisited Life on Earth, completely updating and adding to the original text, taking account of modern scientific discoveries from around the globe. This special anniversary edition provides a fitting tribute to an enduring wildlife classic, destined to enthral the generation who saw it when first published and bring it alive for a whole new generation.
This audiobook includes wildlife sounds from BAFTA Award winning sound recordist, Chris Watson, who has worked extensively with David Attenborough on his BBC projects. A soundscape appears at the beginning of each chapter to provide a fully immersive experience of the habitat and some of the species described. A full list of the tracks, as they appear in the audiobook, is available below.
- Prologue – Acacia scrubland dawn chorus in the Masai Mara, Kenya, featuring White-browed Robin-chat.
- Chapter One, The Infinite Variety – Tropical rain forest in Panama with the calls of Montezuma oropendola.
- Chapter Two, Building Bodies – Fish and crustaceans recorded underwater on a coral reef off Seligan island, Borneo.
- Chapter Three, The First Forests – Geysir and geothermal activity at Haukadalur hot springs in Iceland. This track also features the Strokkur geysir erupting.
- Chapter Four, The Swarming Hordes – Evening insect chorus in the Conkouati forest reserve, Republic of Congo.
- Chapter Five, The Conquest of The Waters – Ocean currents through sea kelp recorded at a depth of 8m, Moray Firth, Scotland.
- Chapter Six, Invasion of The Land – Reed frog chorus at sunset, Amboseli National Park, Kenya.
- Chapter Seven, A Watertight Skin – Seawash around basking marine iguanas, Isla San Cristóbal, Galapagos.
- Chapter Eight, Lords of The Air – Springtime dawn chorus with nightingale, Hambleton wood, Rutland Water nature reserve, UK.
- Chapter Nine, Eggs, Pouches and Placentas – forest chorus along riverside platypus territory, Queensland, Australia.
- Chapter Ten, Theme and Variation – Common Pipistrelle bats echolocating after sunset, Holystone woodland, Northumberland.
- Chapter Eleven, The Hunters and The Hunted – Spotted hyena contact calls at midnight in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
- Chapter Twelve, A Life in The Trees – Black howler monkeys calling across the tree canopy at sunrise in Belize.
- Chapter Thirteen, The Compulsive Communicators – Street market, Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, Northern India.
- Epilogue – Beach habitat in mangroves with Gre
David Attenborough
David Attenborough is one of the world’s leading naturalists and broadcasters. His distinguished career spans more than fifty years, and his multi-award winning films and series have been broadcast around the world.
More audiobooks from David Attenborough
Living Planet: The Web of Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life of Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Life on Earth
Related audiobooks
The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behaviour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden World: How Insects Sustain Life on Earth Today and Will Shape Our Lives Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Octopus Scientists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Life: A Walk through the Reaches of Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sixth Extinction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life: The Leading Edge of Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Anthropology, and Environmental Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paleontology: A Brief History of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alien Worlds: The Secret Lives of Insects Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Dinosaurs Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Curious Species: How Animals Made Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales from the Ant World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Butterflies: A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of the Earthworm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Company of Crows and Ravens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Nature For You
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Uncertain Sea: Fear is everywhere. Embrace it. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cactus Jack: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion -- Surprising Observations of a Hidden World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Genius of Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Venom Doc: The Edgiest, Darkest, Strangest Natural History Memoir Ever Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Elephant Whisperer: My Life With the Herd in the African Wild Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Escaping from Eden: Does Genesis teach that the human race was created by God or engineered by ETs? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Cry Wolf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with our Wild Neighbors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Life on Earth
71 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wirklich begeisternd der David Attenborough. Ein Buch das seinen einzigartigen Stil zum Ausdruck bringt
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love anything that David does. He has a captivating voice and love learning all the little bit of info. Very relaxing book, a pleasure
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Simply amazing, perfect bed time story, calming and relaxing voice!