Natural Histories

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Nature that has had a profound impact on human culture and society across history.

Nature that has got under our skin and profoundly impacted human culture and society across our history.

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Natural Histories: Birds Eggs

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Birds Eggs

BBC Radio 4 - Natural Histories, Birds Eggs

Brett Westwood explores the role birds' eggs have played in religion, art and literature.

Brett Westwood explores the role birds' eggs have played in religion, art and literature. From 2015

Beautiful, fragile, mysterious – we have always loved birds' eggs.  Their colours are more of a hue, the patterning gorgeous to the eye, no wonder they have been collected from time immemorial.  Eggs are a symbol of new life, a transformation that speaks to us of great truths beyond the purely biological.  Easter eggs are a symbol of Christ's resurrection  and were adopted from pagan beliefs about Ostara, the goddess connecting to various German Easter festivities.) The egg has been used as a metaphor for the origin of the universe in many traditions.  We have used them in cooking – or eaten raw - since our time on earth.  We have used the hard shell for decoration, and Faberge designed exquisite bejewelled eggs of gold and precious stones  for the Tsars of Russia.  A peculiar tradition of using eggs to record the varied faces of clowns arose just after WW2 when new clowns stamped their identity on the world by registering their unique features on eggs – there is now a clown egg museum.  The natural variety in bird's eggs, even clutches in the same year, can be very different, is prized by collectors, determined to own the greatest diversity of any one species.  Along with collecting comes money and then fraud.  Pleasing to hold, beautiful on the eye, versatile in cooking, intriguing in nature, practical as well - eggs will always inspire us. From 2015

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