Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Biology

David Attenborough first appeared in front of a television camera in the 1950s when, together with London Zoo's Curator of Reptiles, Jack Lester, he persuaded the BBC to mount and film an animal-collecting expedition. The result was Zoo Quest. Specially recorded for audio, David Attenborough's early adventures are sometimes life-threatening, often hilarious and always totally absorbing. The warmth and enthusiasm that have made him a broadcasting legend are instantly apparent here as he recounts this magical journey.

Throughout the ages, human beings have had a profound fascination with the natural world. It has influenced all aspects of our civilisation, from science and religion to music, art, literature and film. These 12 episodes, taken from Radio 4's epic series Natural Histories, find presenter Brett Westwood exploring two major groups of animals - fish, who have lived on Earth for over 450 million years, and invertebrates, who make up 97 percent of all species worldwide - to find out how our perception and representation of them has changed over time.

Presenters Becky Ripley and Emily Knight mull over a multitude of bewildering and brain-teasing questions as they try to make sense of what we humans are all about - with a little help from some other species. What can the swirling patterns in a starling murmuration tell us about the way our ideas spread? Can ants teach us anything about avoiding a pandemic? And how could a brainless single-cell slime mould help to solve our trickiest problems?