Chapters

Despite being icons of the world-famous Galapagos Archipelago and the target of more than 50 years of conservation research and management, there has been relatively little written about the ecology and evolution of the Galapagos giant tortoises. This book, expertly edited by Galapagos legends James Gibbs, Linda Cayot and Wacho Tapia, fills this publishing void, covering everything we now know about these amazing species. I have written an introductory chapter on the way that the relationship between humans and giant tortoises has evolved over the last 500 years.

Sleep disturbances and sleep deprivation are increasingly common in modern society, argue Francesco Cappuccio and colleagues in Sleep, Health and Society published by Oxford University Press in 2018. Matt O’Neill (chair of Narcolepsy UK) and I wrote a chapter on living with narcolepsy in which we set out the challenges of securing a diagnosis, the options for treatment and the physiological and psychological consequences of this chronic sleep disorder.

In the quiet halls of the natural history museum, there are some creatures still alive with stories, whose personalities refuse to be relegated to the dusty corners of an exhibit. This collection of essays—from a broad array of contributors, including anthropologists, curators, fine artists, geographers, historians, and journalists—comprises short “biographies” of a number of famous taxidermised animals. It was a great privilege to contribute a chapter on Chi-Chi the giant panda in the North Hall of the Natural History Museum in London.