RaveLiterary Review (UK)Wonderfully wide-ranging ... [Nicolson] begins by looking closely at five life forms that appear in his pools ... Nicolson brings each of these vividly to life ... Nicolson’s mind is forever roaming beyond the narrow confines of biology ... As the book proceeds, the vision gets ever broader as Nicolson considers planetary forces and the dizzying notion of deep time and explores the human history of the Morvern shoreline ... Nicolson’s philosophical reflections lead him to ponder Heidegger’s ideas of ‘total thereness’ and ‘being-with’, and the Kantian notion of noumena ... This is a richly satisfying book, a worthy successor to Nicolson’s great study of seabirds ... Beautifully written and driven always by the author’s endless curiosity, his breadth of knowledge and his sense of the mystery and wonder of the world.
Henry Gee
RaveLiterary Review (UK)‘Once upon a time…’ The opening words of Henry Gee’s new book give notice that what follows will be a story – and a dazzling, beguiling story it is, told at an exhilarating pace. The scale is apparent from the first of a set of mind-boggling timeline graphics: this runs from the birth of the universe to ‘Extinction of life on Earth’, alarmingly close to the dotted line indicating ‘NOW’. This is a book to give you a dizzying perspective on such small matters as human civilisation ... A hugely enjoyable page-turner.
