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
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Helen Pilcher is a tea-drinking, biscuit-nibbling science and comedy writer. She has a PhD in Cell Biology from London's Institute of Psychiatry. A former reporter for Nature, she now specializes in biology, medicine and quirky off-the-wall science, and writes for outlets including New Scientist and BBC Focus. Unusually for a self-proclaimed geek, Helen also used to be a stand-up comedian before the arrival of children meant she couldn't physically stay awake past 9pm. She now gigs from time to time, and lives in rural Warwickshire with her husband, three kids and besotted dog.

@HelenPilcher1

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

Tackles how humans are altering existing animal life. It has some good lines and is richly entertaining throughout, but under the surface it is pretty serious.'” —Sunday Times

“Helen Pilcher takes on the unenviable task of describing how our species has been on a collision course, spanning roughly 300,000 years of history, with the rest of life on earth. It shouldn't make for good reading but, mercifully, Pilcher is both very funny and very, very clever.” —Gillian Burke, biologist and TV presenter

“With warm wit and glorious pace, Life Changing delivers an eloquent commentary on this, the age of post-natural history. Expertly pulling together and detailing the work of hundreds of scientists around the world, Pilcher encourages us to ask timely questions about our role as stewards and curators of a planet struggling under our influence.” —Jules Howard, naturalist, science writer and author of Death on Earth

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

“Science writer Pilcher (Bring Back the King) delivers an agreeable account of how humans have bred and altered animals throughout history ... Popular science readers will find her work entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly

“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

From the Publisher

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