In The Lost World, the first in a series of books to feature the bold Professor Challenger—a character many critics consider one of the most finely drawn in science fiction—Challenger and his party embark on an expedition to a remote Amazonian plateau where, as the good professor puts it, “the ordinary laws of Nature are suspended” and numerous prehistoric creatures and ape-men have survived. “Just as Sherlock Holmes set the standard—and in some sense established the formula—for the detective story . . . , so too has The Lost World set the standard and the formula for fantasy-adventure stories . . . ,” Michael Crichton writes in his Introduction. “The tone and techniques that Conan Doyle first refined in The Lost World have become standard narrative procedures in popular entertainment of the present day.”

A scientist finds dinosaurs roaming in an unexplored area in South America.

The protagonist of these stories is the maddening, irascible and fascinating Professor George Edward Challenger. In these collected tales he faces adventures such as that high above the Amazon rain forest in "The Lost World" and the challenges of"The Land of Mist."

A brief meditation on the role of technology in his own life and how it has changed the landscape of the United States from "America's greatest philosopher on sustainable life and living" (Chicago Tribune). "A number of people, by now, have told me that I could greatly improve things by buying a computer. My answer is that I am not going to do it. I have several reasons, and they are good ones." Wendell Berry first challenged the idea that our advanced technological age is a good thing when he penned "Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer" in the late 1980s for Harper's Magazine, galvanizing a critical reaction eclipsing any the magazine had seen before. He followed by responding with "Feminism, the Body, and the Machine." Both essays are collected in one short volume for the first time.

More than a hundred years ago, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a novel called The Lost World with the exciting premise that dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts still ruled in South America. Little did Conan Doyle know, there were terrifying monsters in South America--they just happened to be extinct. In fact, South America has an incredible history as a land where many strange creatures evolved and died out. In his book Giants of the Lost World: Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Monsters of South America, Donald R. Prothero uncovers the real science and history behind this fascinating story. The largest animal ever discovered was the huge sauropod dinosaur Argentinosaurus, which was about 130 feet long and weighed up to 100 tons. The carnivorous predator Giganotosaurus weighed in at more than 8 tons and measured more than 47 feet long, dwarfing the T. rex in comparison. Gigantic anacondas broke reptile records; possums evolved into huge saber-toothed predators; and ground sloths grew larger than elephants in this strange, unknown land. Prothero presents the scientific details about each of these prehistoric beasts, provides a picture of the ancient landscapes they once roamed, and includes the stories of the individuals who first discovered their fossils for a captivating account of a lost world that is stranger than fiction.

”Doyle’s modesty of language conceals a profound tolerance of the human complexity”-John Le Carré “Every writer owes something to Holmes.” -T.S. Eliot Although Sherlock Holmes is Arthur Conan Doyle’s most popular character, the introduction of Professor Challenger in The Lost World offers readers one of popular fictions most offbeat characters ever penned; In this thrilling adventure story the eccentric and ornery paleontologist leads an expedition into the deep jungle of the Amazon basin in search of prehistoric creatures. in the process they are taken prisoner by a tribe of ape-men and are caught in the middle of a conflict between their captors and a local indigenous tribe. The Lost World is narrated by the unwavering young reporter Edward Malone, who yearns for a spectacular adventure in order to attract the affections of a love interest. When the journalistic opportunity arises to cover the story of the strange expedition of Professor Challenger, Malone accepts the dangerous assignment. The scientific and professional reputation of Professor Challenger had been compromised by his insistent theory that a long extinct species of prehistoric creatures was thriving deep in the Amazon. In the interest in reclaiming his credibility, Professor Challenger enlists four men, including Malone, to prove his theory. Once in the Amazon, the expedition is joined by a flank of native guides who lead the group through the dangers of the jungle and to the remote plateau, which is completely cut off from the surroundings. When the four British explorers cross on a precarious bridge, one of the local guides destroys the overpass in an act of betrayal, trapping the four men on the mysterious plateau. Professor Challenger, Malone, and the other two men set up a camp, and in very little time discover the existence of the great beasts. Gripped in the fear of the great danger of the creatures, their bad fortunes turn worse when everyone but Malone are taken as prisoners by a strange tribe of Ape-Men who also inhibit the plateau. Still in captivity, the men are caught during a violent conflict between the Ape-men and a rival faction of indigenous inhabitants, yet they also have the opportunity for escape. The Lost World is among Sir Conan Doyle’s finest achievements, a thrilling science-fiction classic that continue to captivate readers. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Lost World is both modern and readable.