11 studies on life on Earth. Christmas lectures of the Royal Institution of Great Britain

This collection of lectures of the Royal Institute is devoted to the study of various organisms that can reveal the secret of life on Earth. A hundred years ago, scientists, using drawings, tried to recreate how dinosaurs looked, and today the idea of ​​extinct reptiles has changed dramatically. Already at the beginning of the last century, researchers warned of the threat of the next mass extinction of species. Then the idea of ​​ecosystems was voiced in which various inhabitants of our planet organically interact: plants, fish, animals, insects. They communicate with each other and the natural environment, send signals about the danger and know how to defend themselves, and some amaze with their singing, such as hunchbacked whales. In the XXI century, science confirms: people are largely dependent on the complex and fragile relationships between animals and plants