The natural world has always inspired fascination and still intermittently keeps one of this site's contributors in work. In 1922, Secrets of Nature, a pioneering series exploring animal, plant and insect life, made wondrous worlds and natural processes visible for the first time: sweet peas unfurl in the sunlight, white owls swoop on their prey, sea life lurks on the ocean floor and moths patiently spin their cocoons.

These rarely-seen films – now brought to DVD for the first time – were made by enterprising men and women such as Percy Smith and Mary Field, at the forefront of science and nature filmmaking, who developed groundbreaking techniques of time-lapse, microscopic and underwater cinematography.

Paving the way for the natural history programmes that millions know and love today, these Secrets, with intriguing titles like The Strangler, Magic Myxies and Floral Co-operative Societies, offer an entertaining, absorbing, and very special glimpse into the mysteries of the natural world.

Secrets of Nature – Pioneering natural history films, 1922–1933 will be released on UK DVD on 19th July 2010 by the BFI at the RRP of £19.99. The disc will contain 19 films in total, specificallly:

The Techniques
Fathoms Deep Beneath the Sea (1922)
The Plants of the Pantry (1927)
Magic Myxies (1931)
The World in a Wine-glass (1931)
Romance in a Pond (1932)
Brewster's Magic (1933)

The Birds
The Cuckoo's Secret (1922)
The White Owl (1922)
The Bittern (1931)
The Nightingale (1932)

The Insects
Skilled Insect Artisans (1922)
The Battle of the Ants (1922)
Busy Bees (1926)
The Aphis (1930)

The Plants
Floral Co-operative Societies (1927)
Peas and Cues (1930)
Scarlet Runner & Co (1930)
The Strangler (1930)
Gathering Moss (1933)

All of the films have been digitally remastered. Also included is:

• Percy Smith with Herons (1921), an extract from the Urban Movie Chats series: one of nature filmmaking's pioneers in the role of adoptive father;
• A 38-page illustrated booklet featuring newly commissioned essays by leading researchers and scholars including the Science Museum's Tim Boon, film notes, photographs and illustrations.