The Story of Life - Hardcover

"Extremely few living scientists would be able to cover the entire history of life authoritatively, with wisely chosen examples and principles, presented in lucid prose, and all in fewer than 260 well-illustrated pages. Richard Southwood has done so." "This remarkable book succeeds, within less than 300 pages, in summarizing everything essential about all living creatures for more than three billion years. If you are looking for one convenient, reliable, highly readable reference to replace your whole library, this is it."--Jared Diamond "Besides being a gripping yarn, The Story of Life is an impeccable review of the science."--Lynn Dicks, New Scientist "Extremely few living scientists would be able to cover the entire history of life authoritatively, with wisely chosen examples and principles, presented in lucid prose, and all in fewer than 260 well-illustrated pages. Richard Southwood is one of them, has done so, and I accordingly recommend this book to scientists and public alike."--E O Wilson "This remarkable book succeeds, within less than 300 pages, in summarizing everything essential about all living creatures for more than three billion years. If you are looking for one convenient, reliable, highly readable reference to replace your whole library, this is it."--Jared Diamond "Besides being a gripping yarn, The Story of Life is an impeccable review of the science."--Lynn Dicks, New Scientist "Extremely few living scientists would be able to cover the entire history of life authoritatively, with wisely chosen examples and principles, presented in lucid prose, and all in fewer than 260 well-illustrated pages. Richard Southwood is one of them, has done so, and I accordingly recommend this book to scientists and public alike."--E O Wilson "This remarkable book succeeds, within less than 300 pages, in summarizing everything essential about all living creatures for more than three billion years. If you are looking for one convenient, reliable, highly readable reference to replace your whole library, this is it."--Jared Diamond "Besides being a gripping yarn, The Story of Life is an impeccable review of the science."--Lynn Dicks, New Scientist "Extremely few living scientists would be able to cover the entire history of life authoritatively, with wisely chosen examples and principles, presented in lucid prose, and all in fewer than 260 well-illustrated pages. Richard Southwood is one of them, has done so, and I accordingly recommend this book to scientists and public alike."--E O Wilson "This remarkable book succeeds, within less than 300 pages, in summarizing everything essential about all living creatures for more than three billion years. If you are looking for one convenient, reliable, highly readable reference to replace your whole library, this is it."--Jared Diamond "Besides being a gripping yarn, The Story of Life is an impeccable review of the science."--Lynn Dicks, New Scientist "Extremely few living scientists would be able to cover the entire history of life authoritatively, with wisely chosen examples and principles, presented in lucid prose, and all in fewer than 260 well-illustrated pages. Richard Southwood is one of them, has done so, and I accordingly recommend this book to scientists and public alike."--E O Wilson

How did life begin? What really was "snowball earth"? Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Are we all descended from "African Eve"? Will humans be responsible for the next major extinction? All these are addressed in this book. The story unfolds with the formation of the earth around 4000 million years ago, though it took until after massive bombardment by asteroids 100 million years later for life to emerge and another 15 million years until more complex life began to appear. Periods of relative calm were punctuated by five vigorous shake-ups representing major extinctions, with innumerable minor jolts along the way, then five million years ago, an able ape evolved that gradually came to dominate and control the other animals and plants. Evolution in all its complexity has been put aside and the future lies in the hands of single species.