Kirjahaku

Collecting curiosities was a gentlemanly occupation for wealthy and educated 18th-century Europeans. Few creatures aroused more curiosity than those from Australia. But collections demand organisation, and classification itself reveals patterns to life that cannot be ignored. From a leisurely occupation, the science of biology was born. Cabinets de curiosites became national museums, with specimens from Australia playing an integral role in all kinds of biological debates. Australian museums now foster their own research and continue to provide major and sometimes unexpected perspectives to international scientific developments. Continent of Curiosities follows the thread of individual natural history stories through the scientists of one of Australia's oldest museums, Museum Victoria. Together, these stories weave a history of the development of biological science from an Australian perspective, with insights into the people and places that influence the way we see and understand the natural world around us.

Fire has shaped the Australian landscape and the lives of Australians for thousands of years--and will continue to do so as the climate changes. For all our advances in prevention and prediction, planning and communication, bushfires keep claiming our lives and our homes. How can we avoid another Ash Wednesday or Black Saturday?Danielle Clode has lived in the bushfire danger zone and studied the past and recent history of fire management and fire-fighting. Here she tells the complex story of Australia's relationship with fire, from indigenous practices to country fire brigades and royal commissions--as well as her own story of living with the threat of fire. A Future in Flames is a vivid history, a sombre reflection and an invaluable guide for living and dealing with fire.

While British soldiers and settlers colonised Australia, French scientists continued to explore its coastlines and study its strange flora and fauna. Lap rouse and Labillardi re, Baudin and Bougainville and others left their own, lighter marks on the country in the name of human knowledge.This is their story--deeply researched and richly imagined by zoologist and award-winning science writer Danielle Clode. Voyages to the South Seas is an exhilarating expedition through a key period in the European exploration of the Pacific and in the history of science.

Koalas regularly appeared in Australian biologist Danielle Clode’s backyard, but it was only when a bushfire threatened that she truly paid them attention. She soon realized how much she had to learn about these complex and mysterious animals. In vivid, descriptive prose, Clode embarks on a delightful and surprising journey through evolutionary biology, natural history and ecology to understand where these enigmatic animals came from and what their future may hold. She begins her search with the fossils of ancient giant koalas, delving into why the modern koala has become the lone survivor of a once-diverse family of uniquely Australian marsupials. Koala investigates the remarkable physiology of these charismatic creatures. Born the size of tiny “jellybeans,” joeys face an uphill battle, from crawling into their mother’s pouch to being weaned onto a toxic diet of gum-tree leaves, the koalas’ single source of food. Clode explores the complex relationship and unexpected connections between this endearing species and humans. She explains how koalas are simultaneously threatened with extinction in some areas due to disease, climate change and increasing wildfires, while overpopulating forests in other parts of the country. Deeply researched and filled with wonder, Koala is both a tender and inquisitive paean to a species unlike any other and a call to ensure its survival.

Koalas regularly appeared in Australian biologist Danielle Clode’s backyard but it was only when a bushfire threatened that she truly paid them attention. She soon realised how much she had to learn about these complex and mysterious animals. In vivid, descriptive prose, Clode embarks on a delightful and surprising journey through evolutionary biology, natural history and ecology to understand where these enigmatic animals came from and what their future may hold. She begins her search with the fossils of ancient giant koalas, delving into why the modern koala has become the lone survivor of a once-diverse family of uniquely Australian marsupials. Koala investigates the remarkable physiology of these charismatic creatures. Born the size of tiny “jellybeans”, joeys face an uphill battle, from crawling into their mother’s pouch to being weaned onto a toxic diet of gum-tree leaves, the koalas’ single source of food. Clode explores the complex relationship and unexpected connections between this endearing species and humans. She explains how koalas are simultaneously threatened with extinction in some areas due to disease, climate change and increasing wildfires, while overpopulating forests in other parts of the country. Deeply researched and filled with wonder, Koala is both a tender and inquisitive paean to a species unlike any other and a call to ensure its survival.

When John Long clamped his hands around a fossil at the age of seven, it sparked a lifelong love affair with collecting artefacts from another time. His many ground-breaking discoveries have changed our thinking about the early evolution of back-boned animals. He was Australia's only President of the world's largest palaeontology society, and worked with the Australian Federal Police to bust the illegal fossil trade, yet Professor Long mysteriously still finds time for other pursuits, such as writing 26 adult and children's books relating to science.