BOOK REVIEWS Small Blue World
King Of All Balloons Unlocking the lost history of the first truly British balloonatic
Life is much better down where it’s wetter
■ Author: Mark Davies ■ Publisher: Amberley ■ Price: £20.00 / $34.95 ■ Release date: Out now
■ Author: Jason Isley ■ Publisher: Michael O’Mara Books ■ Price: £12.99 (approx $18.60) ■ Release date: Out now
This playful collection of photos is a lighter way to look at man’s impact on the environment. The opening of the book sets up a future world in which the sea levels have risen and humans are forced to live under the waves. Tiny models of humans are placed into submerged environments and expertly photographed, with funny
little descriptions placed by each one. The whole thing might seem like a joke, but there’s an important message hidden here as well – a comment both on man’s poor ability to co-exist with other species, and on the future of the planet. It’s well worth a look.
You might think that the title of ‘first aerial traveller in Britain’ went to Vincenzo Lunardi, but Lunardi simply lived and studied in the United Kingdom. As this book explains, James Sadler was born the son of a pastry cook in 1753, and left behind his lowly upbringing to become Britain’s first homegrown balloonist. In this soaring tale, Davies covers his multiple journeys, from attempted channel-crossings to an ill-fated flight over the Irish Sea. It’s a fascinating read, cleverly reconstructed with input from all kinds of sources, including famous literary onlookers and newspaper clippings. Just be prepared – it’s tough going if you’re not already invested in the subject matter.
Geography Taking a trip around the modern world ■ Author: Danny Dorling, Carl Lee ■ Publisher: Profile Books ■ Price: £8.99 (approx $13.00) ■ Release date: Out now Everyone has studied geography at some point in their lives – whether it’s sitting at a desk in school and reading about glaciers, or standing on a beach looking at the rocks at your feet. As Dorling and Lee’s book clearly states, “geography is all around us”. However, unlike the lessons taught in schools, this focuses on topics such as globalisation, sustainability and equality. If you were considering geography as a profession, this book will only convince you to pursue it. It poses big, exciting questions, and, in answering, creates more questions that you will want to go and research for yourself. It’s inspirational stuff.
Death On Earth: Adventures In Evolution And Mortality
Restless Creatures
A billion-year history of movement
A story about death, life, and more death ■ Author: Jules Howard ■ Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma ■ Price: £16.99 / $27.00 ■ Release date: Out now
You may be thinking that the subject of death is a heavy one. With any other author, you’d be right, but where this succeeds is in its personality, and approachable nature. It’s explained through first-person stories, callbacks to great scientists, and seemingly unrelated stories that all tie back into the overarching WWW.HOWITWORKSDAILY.COM
theme. It’s written like a story in flowing prose, and the result is a book that not only educates but also entertains. You may, at points, forget that you’re reading a nonfiction book – and that’s exactly why you never feel uncomfortable reading about what could be a pretty morbid topic.
■ Author: Matt Wilkinson ■ Publisher: Icon Books ■ Price: £20.00 / $28.99 ■ Release date: Out now Movement is an integral part of life – as Wilkinson points out in the opening paragraph, when he asks readers to get up and walk around. It’s fundamental to our existence, but we take it for granted every day. Wilkinson strives to show that we really shouldn’t do so throughout the book, which takes a much closer look at ground-based movement, flying, and even the locomotion of plants in a comprehensive and easy-to-understand cross-section of movement and its evolution over time. It’s genuinely interesting – you’ll soon find yourself hooked, even if you’ve never really thought about movement before.
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