As part of the University of Sheffield’s Off the Shelf festival, Broadcaster and campaigner Chris Packham came to the Octagon to talk about his new book Earth. The book was written with Andrew Cohen who is the producer of the book’s accompanying BBC series and is about the history of the place we all call home.
Earth explores how our planet has changed since its existence and shows how life will have a lasting impact on Earth’s story. He said: “Telling stories about the natural world is something I’ve been doing since I could speak.” It’s a book that looks at the big picture and although it was not deliberate to anchor the book and series in the present moment of the climate crisis, it feels pretty unavoidable when you’re looking at how the Earth responds to change.
The book pays particular attention to how life specifically changes the planet and how it bounces back and revives itself. Chris Packham said: “Life’s tenacity always comes through…even if we mess things up, life will continue to prosper on our planet.”
The best part about listening to Chris Packham speak is hearing the sheer passion in his voice as he discusses the vast topics like the permanence and tangibility of life on Earth. He talked about soaking up every experience on the TV show as he recalled visiting cave drawings in France describing it as “one of the most exciting moments of my life.” To be able to captivate and hold my attention when discussing scientific subjects is a real talent and I think Chris Packham excels at lighting a fire in the people that he talks to; you could feel a certain kind of intensity in the air as everyone hung onto his every word.
What stayed with me the most from his talk is that humanity is great at finding a cure for problems, but we fail ourselves by not looking for a prevention. Often, we do not deal with our problems until something tragic happens and this truly is failing us now, and in the future too.
Rating: ★★★★★
Earth: Over 4 Billion Years in the Making was published in 2023. Other Off the Shelf Festival events can be found here
