Product Review

Nearly three centuries ago, Mark Catesby (1683-1749) set sail for the Americas. What he found here would change his life. What he recorded would challenge our view of the world and man's place in it. Discover the story of this almost forgotten scientist, artist and adventurer, whose extensive studies in the North American wilderness led to the greatest accomplishment in art and science relative to North America before the Revolution. Audubon, who came a century later, stood on his shoulders, as did most leading naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Catesby developed the first scientifically-based theory of bird migration - and was the first to write of the effects of habitat degradation on the survival of species. He printed only 160 copies of his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Costly in its day, it is now extremely rare. This film includes spectacular Catesby wildlife illustrations (morphing at times with live footage of his subjects) and action interviews at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the Royal Society and the Natural History Museum in London as well gorgeous footage of South Carolina's Lowcountry. It is enhanced by an original score of contemporary music played on period instruments as well as by true "state of the art" postproduction tools. Project advisors include almost all members of the academic community on both sides of the Atlantic who are recognized experts on Catesby's art and science.