Book reviews
The Hidden Universe: Adventures in Biodiversity by Alexandre Antonelli (2022) 288 pp., Ebury Press/Penguin Random House, London, UK. ISBN 978-1-5291-0916-0 (hbk), GBP 14.99.
Globally, biodiversity is in crisis. Following centuries of overexploitation and the industri- alization of human society, over 1 million spe- cies are estimated to be at risk of extinction (Purvis, 2019) and many ecosystems are in se- vere decline. These have massive implications for billions of people, affecting our food and water supply as well as our health and cultural heritage. After more than 2 years of delays be- cause of the Covid-19 pandemic, in December 2022 world leaders met in Montreal to negoti- ate and finally adopt a landmark Global Biodiversity Framework, setting clear targets for countries to mitigate biodiversity loss. Following the failure to reach prior targets (Dickie, 2022), this new framework was con- sidered critical for nature and human society, and for ensuring the rights of Indigenous People are a central priority. The ambitious framework was adopted by most countries, making biodiversity conservation not just a cause for ecologists and environmentalists, but a priority for international cooperation. In light of this renewed interest comes a
new book by Kew Gardens’ Director of Science Alexandre Antonelli. The Hidden Universe sets out to provide a broad, accessible overview of biodiversity. Likening the diver- sity of life on Earth to stars in the universe, Antonelli discusses the five points of the bio- diversity ‘star’—species, genes, evolution, function and ecosystems—and their impor- tance, the threats facing them, and approaches to protect them. He draws upon his own lengthy career in botany, the history of sci- ence, and recent developments in understand- ing and protecting nature. Some of the most engaging passages are anecdotes from his own field research, including in his native Brazil, and later, when he was affiliated with the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and Kew Gardens in the UK. Antonelli succeeds in providing a broad,
layman’s overview of biodiversity and related issues that is accessible and concise. I particu- larly enjoyed reading about Antonelli’s life and experiences, in passages that are woven into his wider points. Highlights include him recalling visits to Kew’s portfolio of inter- national conservation projects, fighting The Washington Post over an editorial that argued we should not try to save threatened species (Antonelli & Perrigo, 2017), and struggling to secure a research visa for Brazil to study new
plants. Although many of the points made are not anything ground-breaking, I appre- ciated Antonelli’s modern lens; he discusses biodiversity’s links with Indigenous ecological knowledge, colonialism and the rights of nature as much as the historic work on Linnaeus and Wallace. There is emphasis on people being central in protecting biodiversity, and Antonelli liberally credits his diverse global network of collaborators and students as well as highlighting his own achievements. Descriptions of Kew’s broad range of collaborations—from a research site in Mada- gascar to furniture giant IKEA—provide a rich illustration of what modern conservation looks like. There is even a comprehensive glossary with key terms, and The Hidden Universe is beautifully illustrated with graphs, diagrams and images of species that make up our bio- sphere, as one would expect from a classic work of natural history. I went into this hoping to gain deeper in-
sight into what biodiversity means, how it is measured and how we conserve it. For its sub- ject, The Hidden Universe is slim and it could easily have been twice as long. The closing chapter also fell a little short of my expecta- tions: a series of recommendations focused on individual actions such as making environ- mentally conscious choices about diet, house- hold and garden, which—although they form a part of the solution—are smaller than the structural, global changes we really need to halt biodiversity loss. This was better executed in another excellent book on a similarly huge topic: Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers, on climate change, which lists a series of re- commendations and breathes more life into some ambitious and country-specific recom- mendations for Flannery’s fellow Australians. I would have liked Antonelli to provide a more ambitious vision for a future where na- ture can thrive, as he would be well placed to posit steps for systematic changes that could be taken at the level of large institutions or indeed countries such as Brazil, the UK or Sweden to give nature the space and resources it needs to recover and continue to provide for us and the many species with whom we share our planet. This is an accessible and engaging book for
anyone new to and interested in biodiversity, and it provides a good summary of modern conservation. Antonelli successfully breaks down this huge topic into digestible and en- gaging portions, and his inspiring journey and inquisitive personality shine throughout the book. However, a seasoned researcher or conservation practitioner will not find many new ideas here. Nevertheless, I hope this
book will help promote the importance of biodiversity to a wide audience in this critical decade to protect nature.
References
ANTONELLI,A. & PERRIGO,A.(2017) Opinion: We must protect biodiversity. The Washington Post, 15 December 2017.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2017/12/15/ 53e6147c-e0f7-11e7-b2e9-8c636f076c76_
story.html [accessed 8 December 2023].
DICKIE,G.(2022) Explainer: Why did past targets to protect nature fail over the last decade? Reuters, 9 December 2022.
reuters.com/business/environment/why- did-past-targets-protect-nature-fail-over- last-decade-2022-12-09/ [accessed November 2023].
PURVIS,A. (2019) How did IPBES Estimate ‘1 Million Species At Risk of Extinction’ in #GlobalAssessment Report.
ipbes.net/news/ how-did-ipbes-estimate-1-million-species- risk-extinction-globalassessment-report [accessed November 2023].
KIERAN MURRAY ( ,
Kieran.murray@fauna-
flora.org) Fauna & Flora, Cambridge, UK
The Killer Whale Journals: Our Love and Fear of Orcas by Hanne Strager (2023) 280 pp., Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA. ISBN 978-1-4214-4622-6 (hbk), USD 29.95.
It’s early afternoon, and in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, the autumn sun only just makes it above the horizon. Hanne Strager is about to board a boat she’s never seen, alongside a crew of people she’s never met. In accepting a job as a cook on board the old fishing-boat-turned-research-vessel Old-Bi, she is embarking on a lifelong adven- ture studying killer whales, and in The Killer Whale Journals, she is kind enough to take us along with her. The book—part history, part natural his-
tory, part autobiography and part travel book—is perhaps a little difficult to classify, but that is not a bad thing. It is meticulously researched yet anything but dense or slow; I found The Killer Whale Journals a great read that is further enhanced by a number of beau- tiful reprints and photographs, including some by wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen. The writing style is engaging and easy to fol- low, keeping the reader on board as we move with Strager from place to place.
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. Oryx, 2024, 58(2), 270–272 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000176
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