Evolution: The Story of Life

by Douglas Palmer, Kathy Green (Primary Contributor), Peter Barrett (Illustrator)

Evolution recreates the 3.5-billion-year story of life on Earth in stunning detail through vivid full-color illustrations and graphics, the latest scientific information, and hundreds of photographs. At the heart of the book is an astonishing, beautifully detailed panorama by renowned illustrator Peter Barrett that, in 100 double-page site reconstructions, offers a freeze-frame view of the communities―from microbes to humankind―that have lived on our planet’s continents and in its oceans. These groundbreaking artworks, based on the most recent findings at some of the most famous fossil sites around the world, are paired with an authoritative and highly informative text written for a wide audience of readers. A landmark project, published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his book On the Origin of Species , Evolution has been produced in association with the Natural History Museum in London, one of the most important centers of evolution research in the world.The volume includes an index of the hundreds of species shown in the illustrations, introductory articles on evolution, and many other features, making it a must-have reference for all homes, schools, and libraries.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Evolution, Palaeontology, History

374 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Douglas Palmer is a science writer, academic, and author of many books on paleontology, including Life Before Man and Graptolites: Writing in the Rock. In addition to writing numerous articles for leading journals such as Science and New Scientist, he teaches Natural and Earth Sciences at Cambridge University, England.

Reviews

[Heather Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

High school and adult public libraries will want to keep Evolution: The Story of Life (University of California, 978-0-520-25511-1) perennially open on a table as it can’t help but stop people in their tracks. Using illustrated diorama-like spreads, photographic sidebars, and concise text blocks, author Douglas Palmer and illustrator Peter Barrett chart the planet’s progress. From the “microbial mats” at Strelley Pool, Western Australia, 4650 million years ago, to the first magnolias 66 million years ago, to the present-day “geological revelation” of the Grand Canyon, Evolution brings temporal order to Darwin’s laws—”being Growth with Reproduction; Inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction.” Introductory sections on Darwin, fossils, and suggestions for how to use the book are followed by appendices charting the trees of life, a gazette of world fossil sites, species listings, and compact timelines. Evolution is an outstanding catalogue that makes comprehensible all life’s common ancestry without sacrificing complexity, abundance, or diversity.

Review originally appeared in ForeWord Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done. I love the illustrations, putting the various creatures in appropriate environments. I can almost visualize this as an interactive website with the way that the windows point to further description and remarkable fossil photos. My favorite section is the species listing, gorgeous photography. The only teeny tiny criticism is that many of the photos of the fossils are fairly small. Then again, if I want large photos of the fossils, this book provides plenty of information for me to get my Google on. The information on the various eras is sufficient to get a basic idea of what was going on. An incredible addition to my biology book collection.

[Steve LaForest]

Paleontology, includes much biology re diversity of life, cladograms.

Publ. by Mitchell Beazley, an imprint of Octopus Books; some errors!