Taxonomy is described sometimes as a science and sometimes as an art, but really it’s a battleground.

Language is more fashion than science, and matters of usage, spelling and pronunciation tend to wander around like hemlines.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.

If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To attain any kind of life in this universe of ours appears to be quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky, of course: We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. It is a talent we have only barely begun to grasp.

America is a very seductive place in terms of lifestyle and comfort, but it wasn't for me.

People don't talk like this, theytalklikethis. Syllables, words, sentences run together like a watercolour left in the rain. To understand what anyone is saying to us we must separate these noises into words and the words into sentences so that we might in our turn issue a stream of mixed sounds in response.

Consider the Lichen. Lichens are just about the hardiest visible organisms on Earth, but the least ambitious.