Description
WORLDS APART
Stand in a city mid-morning as cars and buses
rush by and it is difficult to believe that nature
can coexist with all the concrete, glass, pollu-
tion,. and noise. Much of wildlife retreats as
cities grow and spread across the land. The
original plants and animals are pushed far-
ther and farther away, many eventually dying
out. Some wildlife, however, is tenacious. It
hangs on in tiny remnants in parks and
squares, ready to recolonize should conditions
change. Then there are those plants and
animals that actually find a man-made habitat
to their liking.
If man were to disappear tomorrow from the
cities, within months, if not weeks, nature
would start to reclaim her lost territory. If
man continues along his apparently suicidal
paths, the cities will grow into super-cities
and man’s social problems will increase; but
no matter what happens, wildlife will be there
in some form or other.
Islands, of course, usually teem with a fas-
cinating mixture of wildlife. The climates of
tropical islands have made them seem like
paradise to city-worn men and women. And
yet, man has made something of a mess, even
in paradise. Mixing up animals and plants
that should never be living alongside each
other, man has helped to destroy nicely
balanced communities and in their place has
created deserts or uninteresting farmlands.
In text and in splendid colour photographs,
Worlds Apart looks at the vastly different
worlds of the city and the island, each more
complex than it seems at first glance.
About the Authors
John A. Burton was born in 1944 and has been
an active naturalist ever since the age of 14
when he joined the London Natural History
Society. His main interest in natural history
is conservation, particularly of reptiles, am-
phibians, and bats. He has been connected
with the campaign for the protection of British
wildlife, as well as with campaigns to control
trade in rare animals.
He is at present honorary editor of Birds
International, published by the International
Council for Bird Preservation, and he is
Natural History Consultant to Friends of the
Earth. He spent five years working in the
Exhibition Section of the London Natural
History Museum, and has published numerous
papers on mammals, amphibians, and swifts
in urban areas. He has written several books,
including Birds of the Tropics, The Naturalist
in London, and more recently a Field Guide
to Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and
Europe. He has also written several books for
children.
John Sparks graduated in Zoology and Marine
Biology at the University of London, and in
1964 he attained his Ph.D in Animal Behaviour
for work on the social behaviour of Indian wax-
bills and finches. After spending two years as
a research fellow at the London Zoo he joined
the B.B.C. as a radio producer. At present he
is a television producer with the Natural
History Unit of the B.B.C. at Bristol, where
he lives with his wife and two children.
Dr. Sparks has travelled extensively over
the world and has written several books,
including Animals in Danger and Bird
Behaviour. He is also the joint author of
Penguins and Owls: Their Natural and
Unnatural History.
Hardcover
144 pages
In good to very good preloved condition except for some yellowing to book jacket and a small 25mm tear at bottom right corner of paper cover
