Product Description

An astonishing new book is being created. Using all the available fossil record as evidence, it presents the entire four-billion-year story of life on Earth in one single super-panoramic tableau. Never before has our collective story been told so effectively, so compellingly, so coherently, and so beautifully. At the heart of the book is an astonishing 50m-long artwork displayed across 200 pages, supported by hundreds of photographs and illustrations, that tells the story of life on Earth. The groundbreaking visual content is complemented by an authoritative text commentary, making "Evolution" a unique work of family reference, complete with an A-Z of hundreds of species that are shown in the artwork, background information on the theory of evolution, illustrated family trees for the major anaimal groups, stunning photography of life's modern diversity, and details of where all the crucial fossil evidence can be seen today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33597 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-07
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

About the Author
Peter Barrett is a renowned natural history illustrator of more than thirty years standing. This book represents the pinnacle of his career. He lives in Devon. Douglas Palmer is a science writer and academic currently teaching at Cambridge University. His articles appear regularly in New Scientist, BBC Wildlife magazine and Science magazine. He is the author of several books, including Earth, Atlas of the Prehistoric World, Neanderthal and The Illustrated Encycopledia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life.

Customer Reviews

Everything you need to know ...
... and never knew where to ask. This book is a triumph of structure, lucidity and design; it begins at the beginning, and lures you through the ensuing four billion years with seductive artwork, precise annotations, and crystal-clear prose. At its heart are 100 illustrations, each occupying a double-page spread, and recreating sites - from Western Australia to Arizona, from volcano to tropical forest, with ocean and desert inbetween - at crucial stages of the evolutionary story. The flora and fauna that existed at each period are imagined in delicate detail based on a seemingly forensic study of the evidence gleaned from bones and fossils. The composition is a joy - the true brilliance of which is revealed in a fold-out at the back of the book, where all the artworks flow together to create a panoramic view of the history of life. In addition there are discrete sections - site gazetteer, time-line, species listing, etc - which enable more detailed exploration away from the big-picture heart of the book.
It's unique - an extraordinary achievement.

The Big Explosion
I agree with the previous reviewer in every detail. This book is a stupendous achievement. Working in association with the Natural History Museum in London to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, Douglas Palmer, a science writer and lecturer at Cambridge University, and Peter Barrett, an internationally renowned artist, have created a vision of the story of life on earth in a format which makes it accessible to all ages. Two-thirds of every page is a developing pictorial history of life, each page following smoothly from the previous one so the story is seen as a continuum which hypnotises the mind - a unique concept which is brilliantly pertinent to the subject. This continuum is further clarified in the pull-out section inside the back cover, where the history, from the first organisms to the present day, can be seen in one sweeping panorama. The organisation of the format of the book must have been formidable. All children are fascinated by prehistoric life and before they are reading they will love the illustrations. But details are highlighted on each page, giving the scientific explanation which is yet accessible to all. The text on Darwin, on reconstructing the past, on fossils, on the explosion of life I find fascinating. My grandchildren already delight in showing off their knowledge - Oh, grandma, we all know it all started with a big explosion - and of the latin names of prehistoric animals. This will keep them occupied for winters to come. I hope the book may somehow become part of education in American schools especially those who teach 'Creationism' as an alternative subject.

Evolution as you have never seen it before
Speaking as an obsessive buyer of books, I have to say that 'Evolution' has given me more pleasure than any other book I have acquired in years. It is a book to pore over, to dip into, to marvel at. It is full of interest and sheer visual enjoyment. And there are some extraordinary surprises.

If I had been the first here to review it, I would have just sung its praises, as I would have wanted others to buy it and enjoy it as I have done. As I'm not, and others have done that very adequately, I thought it would be useful, instead, to identify what the book's particular features are, what it attempts to do and what it does not.

Unlike so many other picture books on the subject it doesn't show examples of ancient species in a generalised way or in isolation. Open it up anywhere in its main middle section and what you get is a wonderful piece of artwork extending across a big double-page spread, Each spread presents a picture of life as found at a specific important site and at a specific period in time. It reconstructs the animals, plants and environments from the fossil and geological evidence found at that site, and gives you an artist's impression of what you might actually have seen, had you been there. Each spread is a single, carefully reconstructed snapshot in time and space. Delightfully however, if you could place these spreads side by side they would merge into one another to form a huge diorama of life on earth. This is a beautiful as well as an informative book!

At the top of each page is a timeline showing exactly where you are along the journey through earth's long history. The specific site is named and some of its main features; climate, geology, ecosystem are briefly mentioned. At the bottom of the page you have short but informative descriptions of the site, the period and some of the lifeforms, together with a keyed list which names the plants and animals shown in the artwork. There are a number of small pictures showing the actual fossils or blow-ups of the main artwork drawing your attention to particular details. At the bottom also there is a small map showing the location of the site and another showing the changing shape and arrangment of the continents. (I was fascinated to see Scotland finally bump into and attach itself to England down near the south pole somewhere in the Devonian period while the first fish were still crawling out of the seas. Amazing!)

At the front of the book there are short illustrated sections explaining evolution, the different kinds of fossils, and the history of evolutionary thought. At the back there is a large section which neatly depicts the long and ever-branching lines of descent from single-celled animals to the present (cladistics). There is a gazetteer of the sites, a listing of species together with a lot more detail, a glossary of terms and much more. In fact, there is enough here to keep you going for years.

The book is beautifully produced; the artwork is extremely attractive to adults and children alike; it is informative and, being written in association with the Natural History Museum, I presume its science is reliable as well. What more can I say?