Life Changing: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON GLOBAL CONSERVATION

by Helen Pilcher

Overview

In this post-natural history guide, Helen Pilcher invites us to meet key species that have been sculpted by humanity.

We are now living through the post-natural phase, where the fate of all living things is irrevocably intertwined with our own. We domesticated animals to suit our needs, and altered their DNA—wolves became dogs to help us hunt, junglefowl became chickens to provide us with eggs, wildebeest were transformed through breeding into golden gnus so rifle-clad tourists had something to shoot. And this was only the beginning. As our knowledge grew we found new ways to tailor the DNA of animals more precisely; we've now cloned police dogs and created a little glow-in-the-dark fish—the world's first genetically modified pet. The breakthroughs continue.

Through climate change, humans have now affected even the most remote environments and their inhabitants, and studies suggest that through our actions we are forcing some animals to evolve at breakneck speed to survive. Whilst some are thriving, others are on the brink of extinction, and for others the only option is life in captivity. Today, it's not just the fittest that survive; sometimes it's the ones we decide to let live.

According to the Bible, Noah built the original ark to save the world's creatures from imminent floods. Now the world is warming, the ice caps are melting and sea levels are rising. With nowhere "wild" left to go, Helen Pilcher proposes a New Ark. In this entertaining and thought-provoking book, she considers the many ways that we've shaped the DNA of the animal kingdom and in so doing, altered the fate of life on earth. In her post-natural history guide, she invites us to meet key species that have been sculpted by humanity, as well as the researchers and conservationists who create, manage and tend to these post-natural creations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472956712
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	784,976
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Helen Pilcher is a professional science writer with a Ph.D. in stem cell biology and years of stand-up comedy under her belt. Her previous book for Bloomsbury Sigma, Bring Back the King, was Radio 2 "Fact not Fiction" book of the week. It received widespread, positive reviews from outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Sunday Times and Science magazine, and was described by comedian Sara Pascoe as "science at its funniest." Helen has worked as a freelance science writer and communicator for the last 12 years. She has written for many different places including the Guardian, New Scientist, BBC online, Nature magazine and BBC Wildlife magazine. Prior to her freelance career, she worked as a reporter for Nature.

Helen worked as a stand-up comedian for over ten years, before the birth of her children put a stop to staying awake beyond 9pm. During this time, she performed at the Edinburgh comedy festival, at London's Comedy Store, and at various smoky pubs and clubs across Britain. She has been a finalist for Jongleurs's New Act of the Year, the BBC's New Stand Up Competition and Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Chapter 1 The Wolf that Rolled Over 15

Chapter 2 Strategic Moos and Golden Gnus 45

Chapter 3 Super Salmon and Spider-Goats 77

Chapter 4 Game of Clones 111

Chapter 5 Screwworms and Suicide Possums 143

Chapter 6 The Age of the Chicken 171

Chapter 7 Sea-Monkeys and Pizzly Bears 201

Chapter 8 Darwin's Moth 233

Chapter 9 Resilient Reefs 261

Chapter 10 Love Island 289

Chapter 11 Pigs and Purple Emperors 319

Chapter 12 The New Ark 349

Additional Reading 361

Acknowledgements 369

Index 373

Editorial Reviews

02/10/2020

Science writer Pilcher (Bring Back the King) delivers an agreeable account of how humans have bred and altered animals throughout history. Cheerfully, she imagines how a Stone Age boy, intent on “mischief” while the adults were out hunting, might have grabbed a wolf puppy from its den as its mother lurked nearby, thus beginning the human program of animal domestication. She proceeds to address opposing theories on how domestication happened, and delves into the complexities of genetic modification. Pilcher maintains a mostly lighthearted tone, with chapter titles such as “Strategic Moos and Golden Gnus” and references to how “evolutionary mischief-making” has resulted in “bald cats, long-haired hamsters” and “goldfish with Elvis-like quiffs.” She portrays the technology for writing genetic code as merely the most recent iteration of a long-established process, and optimistically explores its many applications (such as engineering female goats to produce milk containing strands of spider silk, a material stronger than steel). Taking a wider and more somber view, she reflects on how “in a relatively small slice of geological time—the last 12,000 years or so,” humanity has made... irrevocable changes to the Earth itself.” Popular science readers will find her entertaining work illuminates many of those changes. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

2020-01-13
An exploration of humans' role as "curators of the planet that we have come to dominate."

Transforming plants and animals for our own benefit began in prehistoric times, according to this expert, often unsettling account of this transformation's progress, which accelerated after World War II and will soon reach warp speed with advances that continue to build on those from the past decade. Science writer Pilcher, whose previous book was about de-extinction, writes that it began with the dog, domesticated tens of thousands of years ago. This was accomplished by simple Darwinian natural selection: The most amiable wolves prospered by associating with humans, produced far more offspring than their unfriendly peers, and they now vastly outnumber them. Similarly, by selecting only desirable qualities, our ancestors converted other flora and fauna to more productive crops and domestic animals. After scientists learned the secrets of DNA in the mid-20th century, genetic modification worked its wonders so well that today, there is enough food to feed the world—a goal widely considered impossible 50 years ago. Readers who forget the downside to ordering the Earth for our convenience will squirm as Pilcher chronicles how the world's jungles are being cleared to grow food mostly intended to feed livestock, which make up 60% of the planet's large land animals. Humans come next at 36%. Wildlife brings up the rear, at 4% and dwindling. Chickens are by far the most common bird. We eat more than 65 billion (!) each year, and their massive bone remains will lead future paleontologists to believe that chickens were the 21st-century's dominant life form. Concluding on an upbeat but only mildly uplifting note, Pilcher recounts successful efforts to restore barren countryside to genuine wilderness and the rescue of the cute, flightless New Zealand kakapo from extinction.

An impressive rendering of the disturbing history of human tinkering with nature.

Kirkus Reviews

An impressive rendering of the disturbing history of human tinkering with nature.” —Kirkus Review

“Pilcher's amusing yet grounded excursion into the essential ways humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms must coexist is both a rich and riotous popular science trove well worth contemplating.” —Booklist

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