Book description
'A dazzling achievement. Richard Fortey is without peer among science
writers.' Bill Bryson
'The Earth is a true delight: full of awe-inspiring details… it blends
travel, history, reportage and science to creat an unforgettable picture
of our ancient earth.' Sunday Times
The face of the Earth, criss-crossed by chains of mountains like the
scars of old wounds has changed constantly over billions of years, and
the testament of the remote past is all around us.
In this book, Richard Fortey teaches us how to read its character,
laying out the dominions of the world before us. He shows how everything
- human culture, natural history, even the shape of cities - roots back
to a deeper geological truth. Far from being the driest of sciences, he
proves that geology informs all our lives in the most intimate way.
Nothing in this book seems to be at rest. The surface of the Earth
dilates and collapses; seas and mountains rise and fall; continents
move. We climb the Alps, wallow in Icelandic hot springs, dive down to
the ocean floor; we explore the barren rocks of Newfoundland, walk
through the lush ecosystems of Hawaii, cross the salt flats of Oman and
saunter along the San Andreas Fault. And Fortey is the ideal guide, his
descriptions of natural beauty as memorable as the best travel-writers,
his prose as gripping as the best novelist, his crystal-clear scientific
explanations fascinating and often surprising.
Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content
that appeared in the original print version. Praise for Richard
Fortey's work:
'This is not a book for people who like science books. It is a book for
people who love books, and life… [Fortey] has written a wonderful book.'
Tim Radford, Guardian
'Read this book because it is, indeed, the best natural history of the
first four billion years of life on earth.'
John Gribbin, Sunday Times
'Fortey writes beautifully and this is a wonderful biography of rock
and life… He has restored palaeontology to its rightful place in the pantheon.'
Lewis Wolpert, Observer
'Richard Fortey is a scientist… but his big, rich history of four
billion years of evolution is written with an artist's zest for life and
language… Anyone who wants to understand how we came to be here on
earth, 4,000,000,000 years after life began, should read this sparkling book.'
Maggie Gee, Daily Telegraph Richard Fortey is a senior paleontologist
at the Natural History Museum in London. His previous books include the
critically acclaimed LIFE: AN UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY, TRILOBITE! and the
prize-winning THE HIDDEN LANDSCAPE. He lives in London.
