Comments on: Book review – A (Very) Short History of Life On Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters

By: Book review – Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:58:04 +0000

[…] how plants shaped the terrestrial world and life on it. Earth’s biography has been told by many writers and Godfrey-Smith’s aim is not to give a rundown of all the major transitions in evolution. […]

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By: inquisitivebiologist

inquisitivebiologist — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 17:51:06 +0000

In reply to ingridcc.

Well, it so happens I reviewed that book and like it : )

Book review – Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA

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By: ingridcc

ingridcc — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 17:36:51 +0000

In reply to inquisitivebiologist.

Shubin’s Your Inner Fish was an exciting read. Also his Some Assembly Required. Maybe you wouldn’t be as interested, since you’re already up on all that as an evolutionary biologist! But I would love to know what you think of it (Some Assembly Required), like if it’s already dated and whether there are other or better books out there…

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By: inquisitivebiologist

inquisitivebiologist — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 07:44:03 +0000

In reply to ingridcc.

Thanks for the recommendations. Your Inner Fish is one of those classics I have not yet read. I think Shubin has another book coming about polar science, so that might an excuse…

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By: ingridcc

ingridcc — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 04:46:35 +0000

I love all the ‘history of the earth/ life’ books! I listened to Henry Gee’s short History of Life as an audiobook on a train trip across the U.S. while watching a lot of otherworldly scenery go by and the combination was sublime. Gee narrates it book himself and he’s magnificent, sounds like an old Shakespearean character actor with a sly sense of humor. (Turns out he’s not old at all, at least not compared to me!)

In your list of “history of the earth” titles, I highly recommend Robert Hazen’s The Story of Earth, it adds a lot to all the others, of course including more about the interconnectedness of living and mineral species, with very vivid visual imagery in his descriptions of different periods of early earth. (I think he single-handedly came up with the concept and study of mineral evolution and speciation back in the early 2000’s and blew every mineralogist’s and geologist’s minds! I remember a rockhound friend of mine back then hopping with excitement over it.)

Another even shorter book than Gee’s but more comprehensive/ detailed about the history of (animal) life is The Animal Kingdom, a Very Short Introduction, by Peter Holland, part of the Oxford University Press’s “a Very Short Introduction” series. Good accompaniment to Shubin’s Your Inner Fish. It’s a tiny thin book that blew my mind on almost every page with the field’s new (to me) recent revisions and discoveries. Plus so well-written – succinct but often humorous and clearly conveying Holland’s own amazement about his subject. Thoughtfully packed with more information than most big heavy popular science blockbusters, puts all the clades in perspective and makes them all interesting. (few illustrations, simple clear diagrams, small print).

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By: Book review – The Earth: A Biography of Life | The Inquisitive Biologist

Book review – The Earth: A Biography of Life | The Inquisitive Biologist — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 09:31:03 +0000

[…] have previously jokingly called the “Earth biography” a rite of passage for science writers; many […]

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By: bormgans

bormgans — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:43:31 +0000

Thanks, this seems interesting, as I haven’t read any of those similar books.

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By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 11:57:21 +0000

I learned about the importance of plate tectonics for life only recently. It might be the one thing why Earth didn’t end up as a second Venus. Venus is in many regards similar to Earth, but has no plate tectonics. Hopefully, the next missions to Venus will find out more!

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