How do we think about the things we have lost? How can we use what we know about extinctions – cultural, biological and industrial – to reconnect with nature?
In the 18th century, scientists contemplated the concept of extinction for the first time. This idea fascinated Melanie Challenger. She travelled to the abandoned whaling stations of South Georgia, the melting icescape of Antarctica and the Inuit camps of the Arctic, where she traced the links between human activities and environmental collapse.
On Extinction is an account of Challenger's journey that brings together ideas about cultural, biological and industrial extinction in a wonderful, thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful book.