The Story of Life

A comprehensive and well-illustrated guide to the story of life from the origin of the earth to the present day written from a scientific naturalist's viewpoint and set against a background of the world's changing climate and geology. Many existing books describe short periods in the history of life - the emergence of life, dinosaurs, etc but this covers the whole spectrum.

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 fascinating book.The story unfolds with the formation of the earth around four thousand million years ago, though it took until after massive bombardment by asteroids a hundred million years later for life to emerge and another fifteen million years until more complex life began to appear. Periods of relatively calm, like a kaleidoscope held still, were punctuated by five vigorous shakes of the kaleidoscope representing major extinctions, with innumerable minor jolts along the way. 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.Southwood''s love for his subject, and for the life he describes, shines through this carefully and straightforwardly crafted story. It is generously illustrated with line drawings showing the creatures and plants that inhabited the changing world and reconstructions of entire habitats, with maps of the globe that show the progress of the land itself.

How did life begin? What was ''snowball earth''? Why did the dinosaurs become extinct? Are we all descended from ''African Eve''? Will humans be responsible for the next major extinction? These and many other fundamental questions are addressed in this masterly account of The Story of Life, by eminent biologist and teacher Richard Southwood.The story unfolds with the formation of the earth around four thousand million years ago. Life first emerged a hundred million years later, and it took another fifteen million years for more complex life-forms to appear. Periods of relative calm were punctuated by five 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. The future now lies in the hands of this single species, Homo sapiens.In this carefully crafted story, Southwood''s love of his subject, and for the life he describes, shines through, to engage and inform scientist and general reader alike.