Learn more about exploring the seashore and the treasures to be found, from seashells and pebbles to seaweed and sand, and discover the secrets of the tide and conservation, plus how to be a responsible collector and how to record your finds.

The eagerly anticipated conclusion to Peter Godfrey-Smith’s three-part exploration of the origins of intelligence on Earth, which began with the bestselling Other Minds in 2018 and continued with Metazoa in 2020.

Peter Godfrey-Smith, the scuba-diving philosopher, examined the evolution of sentience in Other Minds. In Metazoa he asked how that consciousness shaped and was shaped by animal bodies. Now, in Living on Earth, he takes that line of questioning a step further, asking, how has life shaped and been shaped by our planet?

He visits the largest living stromatolite fields, examples of how cyanobacteria began belching oxygen into the atmosphere as they converted carbon dioxide and water into living matter using the sun’s light. The extraordinary increase in oxygen in the atmosphere resulted in an explosion in the diversity of life. And so began a riotous tangle of coevolution between plants and animals, as each changed the environment around them allowing others to utilise these new ecosystems and thus new species to evolve. From cyanobacteria, through algae on to ferns or trees or grasses, and from protists , through invertebrates and fish through the dinosaurs and on to birds and mammals – our planet has seen an explosion of life forms, all reacting to their environment and all creating new environments that allow other life to evolve.

In our own evolutionary line, an initially unremarkable mammal changed in new ways, evolving to come out of the trees to inhabit new savannas and then onto inhabit the whole planet. One of the most adaptable species ever found on Earth, and arguably the species causing the most change, humans are still part of this 3.8 billion year history of life forms changing the world around them.

In Living on Earth, Godfrey-Smith takes us on a grand tour of the history of life on earth. He visits Rwandan gorillas and Australian bowerbirds, returns to coral reefs and octopus dens, considers the impact of language and writing, and weighs the responsibilities our unique powers bring with them, as they relate to factory farming, habitat preservation, climate change, and the use of animals in experiments. Living on Earth shows that Humans belong to the infinitely complex system that is the Earth, and our minds are products of that system, but we are also an acting force within it. We are creatures of Earth, but we hold Earth’s future in our hands. It is a responsibility that we must all understand and accept.

We have explored more of the surface of the Moon than we have of the deep sea. From vampire squid to giant spider crabs, and from hydrothermal vents to bioluminescence, its watery depths are both fascinating and terrifying.

Deep Water explores, through spectacular images and expert text, how this unique habitat came into being, what lives there and why, how it has evolved and what the future will bring for this dark and mysterious environment.

Calling all budding explorers! The Animal Explorers series will inspire you to follow your dreams.

In Toby the Deep-Sea Diver, Toby is a young tiger who longs to explore the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean.  All he needs is courage, determination – and a home-made submersible!

• Sharon Rentta’s gorgeous, glowing illustrations bring the whole underwater world to life, from whales and turtles to dugongs and angler fish!  
• Packed with humorous details to point out and share
• Mini biographies at the end of the book tell the stories of three amazing, real-life oceanographers
• Animal Explorers is a witty, entertaining picture-book series that will inspire children to follow their dreams