First we take the plunge, off the boat and into the blue. Once the bubbles clear, wonders emerge. Guided by the camera, the eye is initially drawn to the obvious: turtles, rays, eels, jellies, fish. But the star of this show is a different kind of animal. The focus shifts, and we see a variety of fabulously intricate and colourful structures, some branched like trees, others spiny and globular. Each edifice in this marine metropolis was erected by corals — master builders now under unprecedented threat. Read more
Charles Darwin famously built a circular path in the grounds of Down House near Orpington, Kent, soon after he moved there in 1842. It became known as the Sandwalk, a gravel-lined oval walk around the trees and bushes he planted. He called this his ‘thinking path’ and walked it morning and afternoon, often with his fox terrier Polly, observing seasonal changes, while mulling over his most difficult problems. Read more
About this blog
A View from the Bridge is the blog for Books and Arts, culture hub of the top international science journal Nature. Here you’ll find essays on the nexus of science and the arts, reviews of relevant books and exhibitions, musings on science fiction and much, much more. To explore the whole of Books and Arts content, see nature.com/booksandarts.
Barbara Kiser, Books and Arts Editor