A New History of Life Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

Bloomsbury presents A New History of Life by Peter Ward amp Joe Kirschvink read by William Elsman

The history of life on Earth is in some form or another known to us allor so we think A New History of Life offers a provocative new account based on the latest scientific research of how life on our planet evolvedthe first major new synthesis for general readers in two decades

Charles Darwins theories first published more than 150 years ago still set the paradigm of how we understand the evolution of lifebut scientific advances of recent decades have radically altered that Now two pioneering scientists draw on their years of experience in paleontology biology chemistry and astrobiology to deliver an eyeopening narrative using a generations worth of insights culled from new research

Writing with zest humor and clarity Ward and Kirschvink show that many of our longheld beliefs about the history of life are wrong Three central themes emerge First Ward and Kirschvink argue that catastrophe shaped lifes history more than all other forces combinedfrom notorious events like the sudden extinction of dinosaurs to the recently discovered Snowball Earth and the Great Oxygenation Event Second life consists of carbon but oxygen carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide determined how it evolved Third ever since Darwin we have thought of evolution in terms of species Yet it is the evolution of ecosystemsfrom deepocean vents to rainforeststhat has formed the living world as we know it Ward and Kirschvink tell a story of life on Earth that is at once fabulous and familiar And in a provocative coda they assemble discoveries from the latest cuttingedge research to imagine how the history of life might unfold deep into the future