Alice Roberts has been travelling the world - from Ethiopian desert to Malay peninsula and from Russian steppes to Amazon basin - in order to understand the challenges that early humans faced as they tried to settle continents. On her travels she has witnessed some of the daunting and brutal challenges our ancestors had to face: mountains, deserts, oceans, changing climates, terrifying giant beasts and volcanoes. But she discovers that perhaps the most serious threat of all came from other humans. When our ancestors set out from Africa there were already two other species of human on the planet: Neanderthal in Europe and Homo erectus in Asia. Both (contrary to popular perception) were intelligent, adept at making tools and weapons and were long adapted to their environments. So, Alice asks, why did only Homo sapiens survive? Part detective story, part travelogue, and drawing on the latest genetic and archaeological discoveries, Alice examines how our ancestors evolved physically in response to these challenges, finding out how our colour, shape, size, diet, disease resistance and even athletic ability have been shaped by the range of environments that our ancestors had to survive. She also relates how astonishingly closely related we all are. As a lecturer in Anatomy at Bristol University, Alice Roberts is eminently qualified to write this book. As a talented artist, she is perfectly qualified to illustrate it, and dotted throughout this lively book are many of the sketches and photographs from her travels.

Around 60,000 years ago, a man—genetically identical to us—lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. How did this real-life Adam wind up as the father of us all? What happened to the descendants of other men who lived at the same time? And why, if modern humans share a single prehistoric ancestor, do we come in so many sizes, shapes, and races? Examining the hidden secrets of human evolution in our genetic code, Spencer Wells reveals how developments in the revolutionary science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. Replete with marvelous anecdotes and remarkable information, from the truth about the real Adam and Eve to the way differing racial types emerged, The Journey of Man is an enthralling, epic tour through the history and development of early humankind.

Reach back through time and shake hands with your ancestors. Run alongside a group of early humans on a blazing African savannah as they take the first steps in a journey that leads -- eventually -- to all of us. Professor Alice Roberts takes you on a voyage of evolution and migration from the first humans around two and a half million years ago to horse riders galloping into the dawn of the Bronze Age.

An extraordinary exploration of the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites. By using new advances in genetics and taking us through important archaeological discoveries, Professor Alice Roberts helps us better understand life today. ‘This is a terrific, timely and transporting book - taking us heart, body and mind beyond history, to the fascinating truth of the prehistoric past and the present’ Bettany Hughes We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons, from burial sites and by using new technology to analyse ancient DNA. Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went and how we came to be on this island. It explores forgotten journeys and memories of migrations long ago, written into genes and preserved in the ground for thousands of years. This is a book about belonging: about walking in ancient places, in the footsteps of the ancestors. It explores our interconnected global ancestry, and the human experience that binds us all together. It’s about reaching back in time, to find ourselves, and our place in the world. PRE-ORDER CRYPT, THE FINAL BOOK IN ALICE ROBERTS' BRILLIANT TRILOGY – OUT FEBRUARY 2024.

A quirky and inspired guide to your very own origin story. This enlightening and irresistible book for adults explains how you were made—not with the standard euphemisms told to us as children, but with vivid, exacting prose that unveils all the complex processes we never knew produced human life. With a brilliant talent for thoughtful, charming science writing, Katharina Vestre takes us from cell to human and shares surprising facts along the way—such as that sperm have a sense of smell and that hiccups were likely inherited from our ancient, underwater ancestors. She also shows why gender is more complicated than we think and reveals the questions scientists still ponder about how we came to be. A miniature drama of cosmic significance, this is the incredible story of you.

Named a Best Book of the Year for the Know-It-All by The Globe and Mail In this richly illustrated volume, a leading neurobiologist presents fascinating stories of plant migration that reveal unexpected connections between nature and culture. When we talk about migrations, we should study plants to understand that these phenomena are unstoppable. In the many different ways plants move, we can see the incessant action and drive to spread life that has led plants to colonize every possible environment on earth. The history of this relentless expansion is unknown to most people, but we can begin our exploration with these surprising tales, engagingly told by Stefano Mancuso. Generation after generation, using spores, seeds, or any other means available, plants move in the world to conquer new spaces. They release huge quantities of spores that can be transported thousands of miles. The number and variety of tools through which seeds spread is astonishing: we have seeds dispersed by wind, by rolling on the ground, by animals, by water, or by a simple fall from the plant, which can happen thanks to propulsive mechanisms, the swaying of the mother plant, the drying of the fruit, and much more. In this accessible, absorbing overview, Mancuso considers how plants convince animals to transport them around the world, and how some plants need particular animals to spread; how they have been able to grow in places so inaccessible and inhospitable as to remain isolated; how they resisted the atomic bomb and the Chernobyl disaster; how they are able to bring life to sterile islands; how they can travel through the ages, as they sail around the world.

Every part of the human body has a name - and story. But how familiar are you with your arachnoid mater or your Haversian canals? Anatomical Oddities is an artistic and linguistic adventure, taking the reader on a journey to discover the hidden landscape of the human body: its crypts and caverns, gorges, islets and mountains. Along the way, we dip into the history of our relationship with the human body and the discoveries that paved the way for modern anatomy and medicine. Quirky, bizarre and beautiful, these pages feature original artworks from Professor Alice Roberts. The intricate details of the human body, the stories of people who unearthed its secrets, and the meanings of the words we use to describe it are laid bare.

A classic Canadian story of the bravery and ingenuity of three animals who find their way home. First published in 1961, The Incredible Journey tells the story of three pets: a young Labrador retriever, an old bull terrier, and a Siamese cat. While their owners are away in England, they are being cared for by a family friend at his home in the country. But a miscommunication occurs between the friend and his housekeeper when he goes on a hunting trip, and the animals are left alone for a several hours, with a gnawing instinct that something has gone wrong. They soon set off on a journey to find home, which instinct tells them is to the west. They travel 400 kilometres across the Northern Ontario wilderness, facing many obstacles along the way: swift-flowing rivers and the rugged landscape; wild animals and unsympathetic humans; starvation, injuries and sheer exhaustion. Separately they would not have survived, but together this disparate group prevails, and they find their way home to the family they love.

Presents information about the human body, its systems, and how they function, with press-out cardboard components and instructions to build an anatomical model.