Status
Available
Collection
Publication
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
Description
By one of Britain's most gifted scientists: a magnificently daring and compulsively readable account of life on Earth (from the "big bang" to the advent of man), based entirely on the most original of all sources--the evidence of fossils. With excitement and driving intelligence, Richard Fortey guides us from the barren globe spinning in space, through the very earliest signs of life in the sulphurous hot springs and volcanic vents of the young planet, the appearance of cells, the slow creation of an atmosphere and the evolution of myriad forms of plants and animals that could then be sustained, including the magnificent era of the dinosaurs, and on to the last moment before the debut of Homo sapiens. Ranging across multiple scientific disciplines, explicating in wonderfully clear and refreshing prose their findings and arguments--about the origins of life, the causes of species extinctions and the first appearance of man--Fortey weaves this history out of the most delicate traceries left in rock, stone and earth. He also explains how, on each aspect of nature and life, scientists have reached the understanding we have today, who made the key discoveries, who their opponents were and why certain ideas won. Brimful of wit, fascinating personal experience and high scholarship, this book may well be our best introduction yet to the complex history of life on Earth. A Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection With 32 pages of photographs.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member psiloiordinary
A wonderful journey through the history of life on this planet. The author takes the time to dally over interesting diversions and injects autobiographical life lessons and amusement to help keep our feet firmly in the present day.
So we get to know more about our current understanding of the huge
Fortey's obvious delight in his subject shines through and this book is great for both the layman and scientist alike.
If you are at all curious about why and how we we got here then this book is great start in exploring such a vast topic.
So we get to know more about our current understanding of the huge
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vistas of time the stretch behind us and what our relatives were up to and we get an inkling of the kinds of people who are doing the research.Fortey's obvious delight in his subject shines through and this book is great for both the layman and scientist alike.
If you are at all curious about why and how we we got here then this book is great start in exploring such a vast topic.
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LibraryThing member snash
Who could possibly whip up your interest and enthusiasm for slime mold or Spriggina, a several cell animal present millions of years ago? Richard Fortey in Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth is who. He writes with awe, knowledge, and enthusiasm about the
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development of life with some lively descriptions of the people and expeditions who have uncovered it. It presents the history of life in its presently understood version; that our understanding can and will change with new evidence is consistently brought up. It's a wonderfully engaging and informative book Show Less
LibraryThing member deebee1
This is a big book, the story of four billion years of evolution, a history of our planet before man appears. Fortey takes the reader to a fascinating journey in time that begins in the shores of Spitsbergen. His recollection of his first expedition, in that bare, gray rocky outcrop, draws us into
While many things from this book are quite familiar to most people, Fortey's narrative is so wonderfully written, his curiousity and wonder infusing every page, that what is already fascinating becomes wondrous. This book came out in 1997, so some of the information may already be outdated, still it is a worthwhile read of the origins of the greatest wonder of all.
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the world of rocks and the stories that tell of the beginnings of our planet, spun from dust and rock. He guides us through the processes which gave rise to conditions that proved favourable to the formation of the most primitive forms of life, which are evidenced in fossil records, some organisms of which are very much still with us. Then on to the development of more complex organisms, the places they inhabited. He pictures for us the rich marine broth, the periodic crisis the planet goes through with the climatic cycles, that eventually released creatures from this marine soup to slouch landwards. He depicts the silent greening of the world in the Devonian period, and the wondrous engineering of a tree. In these carboniferous forests, we behold the instance when the last physical, threshold was crossed: from the ground to the air. He talks of continental drift, and of dinosaurs great and small, including a fascinating chapter on theories of the end and controversies surrounding them. Then there is the appearance of mammals, and the special case of Australian mammals. The last chapter, as befits its place in the evolution of life in our planet, is about us, humans, our origins and the earliest journeys of our ancestors. While many things from this book are quite familiar to most people, Fortey's narrative is so wonderfully written, his curiousity and wonder infusing every page, that what is already fascinating becomes wondrous. This book came out in 1997, so some of the information may already be outdated, still it is a worthwhile read of the origins of the greatest wonder of all.
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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
Encyclopedic overview of a truly overwhelming topic. The author is clearly passionate about his topic, and communicates it wonderfully.
LibraryThing member kencf0618
Excellent science read. It has the sweep of an Olaf Stapledon.
LibraryThing member oldman
A complex and difficult book to read relates the history of life in the first 4 billion years of its existence on earth. four stars
LibraryThing member greeniezona
My impatience with this book was rarely the book's fault, but more often just friction coming from the fact that this is an evolution story for the lay reader, and I've already heard all the basic outlines so many times before. I'd bought this so many years ago, when the information would have been
There were some magical descriptive moments, and I appreciated some of the discussions on how scientific controversies were/are resolved. But a lot of familiar information plus some odd asides made large chunks of the book a slog.
Not sure exactly who I would recommend this to. In general, I think most readers would be better off reading a more recently written book.
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fresher, and I might have liked it better then. But, that's what it is.There were some magical descriptive moments, and I appreciated some of the discussions on how scientific controversies were/are resolved. But a lot of familiar information plus some odd asides made large chunks of the book a slog.
Not sure exactly who I would recommend this to. In general, I think most readers would be better off reading a more recently written book.
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LibraryThing member neurodrew
The Folio edition of this book was published in 2008, and follows the 1998 first publication, with some emendations. Fortey is a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in London. He has a chatty voice, his text contains as much about his own history as that of natural history. The many
Some facts and quotes that I found worth noting:
“When phosphorus was used to make matches, employees in match factories often suffered a ghastly and rotting disease known as ‘phossy jaw” (page 39)
Graptolites - fossilized in Ordovician deep sea mud, the appearance is of a double saw blade joined at one end. They probably floated near the surface and collected plankton. (Page 129-130)
“Sheep are legendarily near the bottom of the league, quivering dullards animated by nervousness alone, dunces of the mammal class, dolts and dimwits. It is grudgingly acknowledged that these allegedly obtuse animals can survive in places and conditions where sparkling wits are useless, but somehow the poor sheep acquires no credit for this performance.” (Page 299)
“A review of the history of life should provoke awe, above all else. As Goethe said, Zum Erstaunen bin ich da - I am here to wonder.”
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color photographs are linked well to the text, and create a very beautiful volume. Some facts and quotes that I found worth noting:
“When phosphorus was used to make matches, employees in match factories often suffered a ghastly and rotting disease known as ‘phossy jaw” (page 39)
Graptolites - fossilized in Ordovician deep sea mud, the appearance is of a double saw blade joined at one end. They probably floated near the surface and collected plankton. (Page 129-130)
“Sheep are legendarily near the bottom of the league, quivering dullards animated by nervousness alone, dunces of the mammal class, dolts and dimwits. It is grudgingly acknowledged that these allegedly obtuse animals can survive in places and conditions where sparkling wits are useless, but somehow the poor sheep acquires no credit for this performance.” (Page 299)
“A review of the history of life should provoke awe, above all else. As Goethe said, Zum Erstaunen bin ich da - I am here to wonder.”
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LibraryThing member Elizabeth80
Enjoyed Richard Fortey's presentation of life on earth, especially his last chapter. While I knew some aspects of his topic, he brought it all together in one book with sly comments showing a wry sense of humor. Great book for me to read before going to sleep.
Subjects
Awards
Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize (Shortlist — 1998)