Lyall Watson

Originally published: New York: Morrow, 1984.

A Natural History of the Wind

Heaven's Breath

The Natural History of the Supernatural

Supernature

A scientific safari and personal memoir celebrating the enigmatic dignity of the world's largest land animal. As a child in South Africa, spending summers exploring the wild with his boyhood friends, Lyall Watson came face to face with his first elephant. This "entertaining and enchanting" work (Washington Post Book World) chronicles how Watson's fascination grew into a lifelong quest to understand the nature and behavior of this impressive creature. From that moment on, Watson's fascination grew into a lifelong obsession with understanding the nature and behavior of this impressive creature. Around the world, the elephant—at once a symbol of spiritual power and physical endurance—has been worshipped as a god and hunted for sport. "Watson's insights and speculations are dazzling, but what lends them power is his extraordinary knowledge of evolutionary biology and animal behavior, ethnography and South African history" (Wade Davis, National Geographic Society). "Like a shaman, Watson conjures up the spirit of the massive beast" (Publishers Weekly), documents the animal's wide-ranging capabilities to remember and to mourn, and reminds us of its rich mythic origins, its evolution, and its devastation in recent history. Part meditation on an elusive animal, part evocation of the power of place, Elephantoms presents an alluring mix of the mysteries of nature and the wonders of childhood.

Elephantoms: Tracking the Elephant

At a time when violence threatens to become epidemic and genocide takes the place of diplomacy in many regions of the world, it is no longer enough to simply dismiss such dark behavior as "human nature." People need to know why such atrocities and horrors take place, and the usual moral, religious, political and philosophical explanations have proved inadequate. With Dark Nature, world naturalist Lyall Watson presents a scientific examination of evil. Drawing on the latest insights of genetics, evolutionary ethology, anthropology and psychology, he takes the discussion of evil out of the realm of monsters and demons to reveal it for what it truly is: A biological reality that may be terrifying but can be controlled. Groundbreaking, fascinating and eminently readable, Dark Nature is a vital and timely antidote to modern despair.

Natural History of Evil, A

Dark Nature

And the Remarkable Nature of Smell

Jacobson's Organ

Drawing on the latest insights of evolutionary ethnology, anthropology and psychology, Lyall Watson examines the nature of good and evil in biological terms.

A Natural History of Evil

A thought-provoking look at the world of the supernatural that shows how many paranormal events can be explained by what we already know—or don’t know—about the natural world. Scientist and rationalist Lyall Watson, the author of the million-copy bestseller Supernature, reveals the inconsistencies, blank spots, and “soft edges” in current scientific theory that make the existence of the supernatural not only an intriguing possibility—but a necessary and perfectly logical part of our explanation of the workings of the universe. Examining breakthroughs in science from biology to biofeedback, from quantum physics to paraphysics, the author proposes a revolutionary synthesis of nature and supernature. He offers surprising insights into such “unexplainable” phenomena as telepathy, reincarnation, synchronicity, poltergeists, evolutionary intelligence, and other mind-bending questions challenging science today. Beyond Supernature is a groundbreaking new chapter in the never-ending search for reality. It is a book for anyone who can still look at the world with both common sense and a sense of wonder.

A New Natural History of the Supernatural

Beyond Supernature

Noch immer krankt die ökologische Diskussion daran, daß die Natur gleichsam durch einen Weichzeichner betrachtet wird: hier das ebenso zerstörerische wie selbstzerstörerische Verhalten des Menschen, dort die empfindliche Balance einer unberührten, "unschuldigen" Naturwelt.Dieses Bild ist unhaltbar. Am Beispiel zahlreicher farbig und eindringlich geschilderter Tierbeobachtungen, die er mit den entsprechenden Verhaltensformen des Menschen vergleicht, zeigt Lyall Watson, daß die Wurzel des "Bösen", der Heimtücke und der nackten Gewalt in der Natur selbst liegt; genauer: im blinden Egoismus der Gene. (Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine frühere Ausgabe.)

Eine Naturgeschichte des Bösen

Die Nachtseite des Lebens

A Natural History of the Supernatural

The Tradition of the New

Neophilia

Jerry Derbyshire

This illustrated, wide-ranging meditation on water reveals striking revelations about both the science of water and its impact on civilization

A Celebration of the Wonder of Water

The Water Planet

Examines the role of evil in society and tries to determine its reason for existing by examining cultural, biological, psychological, and ethological considerations

A fascinating study of the human sense of smell takes a close-up look at Jacobson's Organ, an anatomical features first discovered in 1811 and once dismissed as vestigial, and its significance in terms of a pheromonal mechanism that helps control human awareness, sexual behavior, and emotional states. Reprint.

Jacobson's Organ and the Remarkable Nature of Smell

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. So why do we persist in dismissing the nose as a blunt instrument? Smell is our most seductive and provocative sense, invading every domain of our lives. We can identify our relatives, detect the availability of a potential mate, sniff out danger, and distinguish between good and bad food just with our noses. In this surprising and delightful book, Lyall Watson rescues our most unappreciated sense from obscurity. He brings to light new evidence concerning Jacobson's Organ: an anatomical feature discovered high in the nose in 1811 and dismissed for centuries as a vestigial ghost. Yet recent research has shown Jacobson's Organ to be an incredibly influential pheromonal mechanism that feeds the area of the brain affecting our awareness, emotional states, and sexual behavior. Following the seven classes of smell devised by the pioneering botanist Carolus Linnaeus in his Odores Medicamentorum, Watson examines the roles of smell and pheromones in humans, plants, and animals. He reveals the curious ways in which trees communicate their distress, the olfactory abilities of feral children, the bond we have with our offspring, the psychosexual effects of perfume, and the link between smell and memory formation. Jacobson's Organ unlocks the door to the strange world of this mysterious sense.

Jacobson's Organ: And the Remarkable Nature of Smell

A collection of reminiscences of a white South African boy introduces the people and culture of Africa and demonstrates the love he feels for his homeland

Growing Up in Africa

Warriors, Warthogs, and Wisdom

The bestselling author of Supernature and Lifetide presents a brilliant new collection of essays on the strange side of natural history.

Riddles of Natural History

The Dreams of Dragons

The Biology of the Unconscious

Lifetide

Science no longer holds absolute truths. Between nature and the supernatural is the host of happenings the author describes as supernature.

Lyall Watson

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