Why can't humans fly? Why are ants so strong? Why can't elephants jump? Our shape and size controls what we can and can't do. Find out how humans and animals are perfectly designed to live in their particular habitats, and discover the role that evolution has played in this. - White/Band 10 books have more complex sentences and figurative language. - Text type: A simple non-fiction book - Pages 30 and 31 explore the main themes from the book. - Curriculum links: Science: Ourselves; Literacy: Explanations

De Motu animalium is sometimes referred to in the medical literature. But who has read it? The book, originally published in Latin, seemingly constitutes the very first treatise on biomechanics. The author, Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608 - 1679), was professor of mathematics and physics in Pisa where he worked with Malpighi, who was professor of theoretical medicine and focused Borelli's interest on the movements of living creatures. This was the time of Galileo, Descartes, Newton and many others, when sciences exploded, sometimes leading to conflicts with religious authorities. De Motu animalium, Borelli's life work, has two parts. In the first part, he analyses the action of the muscles, the movements of the limbs and motions of man and animals, including skating, running, jumping, swimming and flying. The second part deals with what is now called physiology, considered from the point of view of a mechanist: heart beat, blood circulation, breathing, separation of urine from the blood in the kidneys, liver function, reproduction, fatigue, thirst, hunger, fever, and so on. This work shows Borelli to be a genial precursor. He expresses his opinion as a mathematician on problems which afterwards further stimulated the curiosity and endeavours of many generations of researchers. This book will be welcomed by anybody who is interested in the working of living bodies and in the history of human knowledge.

The New York Times–bestselling author of H is for Hawk explores the human relationship to the natural world in this “dazzling” essay collection (Wall Street Journal). In Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

Though we routinely take to the air, for many of us flying remains a mystery. Few of us understand the how and why of jetting from New York to London in six hours. How does a plane stay in the air? Can turbulence bring it down? What is windshear? How good are the security checks? Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of Salon.com's popular column, "Ask the Pilot," unravels the secrets and tells you all there is to know about the strange and fascinating world of commercial flight. He offers: A nuts and bolts explanation of how planes fly Insights into safety and security Straight talk about turbulence, air traffic control, windshear, and crashes The history, color, and controversy of the world's airlines The awe and oddity of being a pilot The poetry and drama of airplanes, airports, and traveling abroad In a series of frank, often funny explanations and essays, Smith speaks eloquently to our fears and curiosities, incorporating anecdotes, memoir, and a life's passion for flight. He tackles our toughest concerns, debunks conspiracy theories and myths, and in a rarely heard voice dares to return a dash of romance and glamour to air travel.

“Just astonishing . . . Our natural navigational capacities are no match for those of the supernavigators in this eye-opening book.”—Frans de Waal, The New York Times Book Review Publisher's note: Supernavigators was published in the UK under the title Incredible Journeys. Animals plainly know where they’re going, but how they know has remained a stubborn mystery—until now. Supernavigators is a globe-trotting voyage of discovery alongside astounding animals of every stripe: dung beetles that steer by the Milky Way, box jellyfish that can see above the water (with a few of their twenty-four eyes), sea turtles that sense Earth’s magnetic field, and many more. David Barrie consults animal behaviorists and Nobel Prize–winning scientists to catch us up on the cutting edge of animal intelligence—revealing these wonders in a whole new light.