Here on Earth

A Natural History of the Planet

Tim Flannery

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN:
  9780802195234
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Evolution

With this awe-inspiring account of earth's evolution, "you'll discover why Tim Flannery's books have made him the rock star of modern science" (Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of  Guns, Germs, and Steel).
 
Beginning at the Big Bang,  Here on Earth explores the evolution of Earth from a galactic cloud of dust and gas to a planet with a metallic core and early signs of life within a billion years of being created.
 
In a compelling narrative, internationally-acclaimed scientist, explorer, conservationist, and "crackerjack storyteller" Tim Flannery describes the formation of the Earth's crust and atmosphere, as well as the transformation of the planet's oceans from toxic brews of metals to life-sustaining bodies covering seventy percent of the planet's surface—which first appeared as ocean-born microscopic plants and bacteria with the metal brew serving as a catalyst for the earliest biological processes known to exist ( Publishers Weekly).
 
From this beginning of life on Earth, Flannery tells the fascinating story of the evolution of humanity, exploring several early human species—from the diminutive creatures proclaimed as "hobbits" who lived in Africa around two million years ago to Homo erectus—before turning his attention to Homo sapiens.
 
Drawing on Charles Darwin's and Alfred Russell Wallace's theories of evolution and Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis,  Here on Earth is "an educational project worthy of Flannery's great talents" ( The Guardian).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• SECTION 1 MOTHER NATURE OR MONSTER EARTH?
• SECTION 2 A TUR BULENT YOUTH
• SECTION 3 EVER SINCE AGRICULTURE
• SECTION 4 TOXIC CLIMAX?
• SECTION 5 OUR PRESENT STATE
• SECTION 6 AN INTELLIGENT EARTH?
• Acknowledgments
• Endnotes
• Index