Product Description

How old is the universe? When did life on earth begin? What happened to the dinosaurs? How was the moon created? How did ancient Chinese science shape the modern world? How did Islam trigger globalization? Are humans really superior to other living things? And how can you fit the complete history of the planet into one pocket-sized book? These are just some of the questions answered in Christopher Lloyd's acclaimed 13.7 billion year history - now in brief. In this thrill-ride across millennia and continents, the complete history of the planet comes to life: from the Earth's fiery birth to its near-obliteration in the Triassic period, and from the first signs of human life to the tentative future of a world with a burgeoning population and a global warming crisis. Covering a wide range of topics including astrophysics, zoology, and sociology, and complete with maps and illustrations, What on Earth Happened? In Brief is the endlessly entertaining story of the planet, life, and people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22882 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'Compelling remarkably far-reaching and even-handed' Sunday Times 'An ambitious history of the planet from the Big Bang to the present day' Daily Telegraph Books of the Year

Review
"This book should be on every child's Christmas list...."

Review
"A charming book.... remarkably far-reaching and even-handed"

Customer Reviews

A must have item!
Who say's history is boring? Here we learn how past history will shape things to come...

Christopher Lloyd's book is a complete walk through of history from the big bang to the present day.

Providing history with such a holistic overview is a powerful reason to buy this book and should be a 'must have' item for every Year 7 school child in the UK studying history. It provides the reader with a true sense of history over time and space and the interrelationship with the natural environment - something that most children don't get an appreciation of in school. (I should know being an ex-teacher!)

The flexibility of the book is something that stands out - on the one hand it is an excellent reference book that will not date, on the other hand the author's easy and amusing narrative style makes this also a very easy "pick up and read when you like" coffee table book!

For me, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read from cover to cover. A gift for any occassion that will not fail to disappoint.

What On Earth Happend by Christopher Lloyd
This is a fabulous book ... an important book ... not just a history book but something that gives a fantastic perspective, a glimpse of how we got here. The narrative flows through key points of the story of planet, the life on the planet and critically how humans fit into this story in the extraordinarily brief moment we've been
around. It weaves together the disparate bits of knowledge you may have along with much that probably you don't know into something that connects & illuminates. The whole is even greater than the sum of the parts ... indeed it is quite a moving experience at times and certainly enormously stimulating and relevant to many of the big questions we ask; both philosphical, political and simply everyday curiousities.
The book also has user friendly lay out making it easy to use as a reference or a good read. There are top ten lists e.g. key events, people, fruits & seeds, creatures etc and time is condensed & colour coded onto a 24hr clock. Eye opening and working on a number of different levels, I can thoroughly recommend this to everyone.What on Earth Happened?: The Complete Story of the Planet, Life and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day

What On Earth Happened?
"What On Earth Happened" is a brief history of the world from the beginning. It includes scientific, cultural, artistic, political, religious, ethical, philosophical and environmental perspectives - why each began, how each developed, where they fit (or don't) in today's world, and what their contribution might be to the future. If you feel you want a clearer, bigger picture of how it all fits together, presented in a very accessible format of text and illustrations, then this book is a must! Some might call it a coffee table book - but I read it from cover to cover; transfixed by the way random pieces of information stored unhelpfully in my memory were given a legitimate place in the structure of everything else. Nothing is covered in detail, which might be frustrating for some. However, this is the book I wish I had read as a teenager before encountering the world through the eyes of my own specialist area. Rather than finding yourself dangling in the midst of life with a lot of understanding about your immediate field, but little about everyone else's, read this book to put the rest in perspective,