Second of a three-part exploration of the raw forces that control all life on earth.
Tight Budgets. Tight energy budgets have shaped animal design and led to the ultimate gamble for life - the human brain. Producer Keith Scholey : "The programme is designed to turn up an interesting view of nature, dealing with what biologists call ecological energetics. Basically they make out a 'bill' for everything, showing how nature works as an economy. A big brain such as a human's or a great ape's, drains a quarter of the energy bill, which is too expensive to make it other than a bizarre evolutionary sideshoot."
Narrated by Robert Lindsay. Series editor Mike Salisbury
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