author

Arthur Nicols

Drawn to geology, natural history, and life in colonial Australia, this 19th-century writer turned scientific curiosity into lively, readable books. His work ranges from the formation of the earth to vivid firsthand accounts of the Australian bush.

1 Audiobook

The puzzle of life and how it has been put together : A short history of the formation of the earth, with its vegetable and animal life, from the earliest times, including an account of prehistoric man, his weapons, tools, and works

The puzzle of life and how it has been put together : A short history of the formation of the earth, with its vegetable and animal life, from the earliest times, including an account of prehistoric man, his weapons, tools, and works

by Arthur Nicols

About the author

Arthur Nicols was a 19th-century geologist, naturalist, and author whose books brought science and field observation to a general audience. His known works include Chapters from the Physical History of the Earth, Natural History Sketches among the Carnivora, Wild and Domesticated, The Acclimatisation of the Salmonidae at the Antipodes, and Wild Life and Adventure in the Australian Bush: Four Years' Personal Experience.

Records connected with colonial Australian fiction identify him as an author, and other library and catalog sources link him with natural history writing and Australian subjects. A Royal Collection Trust entry dates him to 1840–1891 and describes Wild Life and Adventure in the Australian Bush as an account of his years in the bush, including encounters with Australian wildlife.

Nicols also appears in the historical record through correspondence with Charles Darwin, suggesting that his observations were part of wider Victorian scientific conversations. Although many personal details remain hard to confirm, his surviving books show a writer eager to explain the natural world in an accessible, curious, and adventurous way.