Survivors

The Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind (Text Only)

AvRichard Fortey

E-bok

Engelska, 2011

97 kr

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Beskrivning

This ebook edition does not include illustrations.An awe-inspiring journey through the eons and across the globe, in search of visible traces of evolution in the living creatures which have survived from earlier times and whose stories speak to us of seminal events in the history of life.The history of life on Earth is far older – and far odder – than many of us realise. In `Survivors’, acclaimed author Richard Fortey traces this history not through fossil records, but in the living stories of organisms that have survived nearly unchanged for hundreds of millions of years and whose existence today affords us tantalising glimpses of landscapes long vanished.For evolution has not obliterated its tracks. Scattered across the globe, strange and marvellous plants and animals have survived virtually unchanged since life first began. They range from humble algal mats dating back almost two billion years to hardy musk oxen, which linger as the last vestiges of Ice Age fauna.Following in Fortey’s questing footsteps, `Survivors’ takes us on a fascinating journey to these ancient worlds. On a moonlit beach in Delaware where the horseshoe crab shuffles its way through a violent romance, we catch a glimpse of life 450 million years ago, shortly after it diversified on the ocean floor. Along a stretch of Australian coastline, we bear witness to the sights and sounds that would have greeted a Precambrian dawn. Finally, in the dense rainforests of New Zealand where the secretive velvet worm burrows into the rotting timber of the jungle floor, we marvel at a living fossil which has survived unchanged since before the dissolution of the Gondwana supercontinent.Written with Fortey’s customary sparkle and gusto, this wonderfully engrossing exploration of the world’s oldest flora and fauna brilliantly combines the best science writing about the origins of life with an explorer’s sense of adventure and a poet’s wonder at the natural world. Utterly compelling, eye-opening and awe-inspiring, this is a book for anyone with an interest in evolution, in nature, in the remarkable scope of geological time and our own modest interaction with it – in short, in life itself.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2011-09-01
Språk:Engelska
Filformat:EPUB
Kopieringsskydd:LCP
ISBN:9780007441389
Förlag:HarperCollins Publishers

Utforska kategorier

Sanna berättelser inom Biografier
Biovetenskap inom Naturvetenskap och teknik
Paleontologi inom Naturvetenskap och teknik

Mer om författaren

Richard Fortey spent his working life in palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, specialising in trilobites and becoming a world expert. He was elected President of the Geological Society of London for its bicentennial year of 2007 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature. He has received the Frink Medal, the Michael Faraday Prize and the Lewis Thomas Prize for science writing, as well as the silver medal of the Zoological Society for science communication. He is the writer of eight previous science and nature books, including two Sunday Times bestsellers, all of which are still in print. He has presented many television programmes across the BBC and other channels.

Recensioner i media

Praise for THE EARTH: 'A dazzling achievement. Richard Fortey is without peer among science writers.' Bill Bryson Praise for LIFE: 'This is not a book for people who like science books. It is a book for people who love books, and life! wonderful.' Tim Radford, Guardian More praise for LIFE '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!sparkling' Maggie Gee, Daily Telegraph '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 'The tale of life needs constant retelling. Thank some happy accident of history that we have Fortey to tell it to us anew.' Ted Nield, New Scientist More praise for THE EARTH 'Books with a title this ambitious generally do not live up to their billing. This one does.' New Scientist '"The Earth" is a true delight: full of awe-inspiring details!it blends travel, history, reportage and science to create an unforgettable picture of our ancient earth.' Sunday Times '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 Praise for DRY STORE ROOM NO. 1 'This book is worthy of the place it tells us about, and that is a pretty lofty chunk of praise.' The Times 'In this loving survey of his life at the [Natural History] Museum, Fortey!is never less than enthused by all the museum's collections.' Financial Times 'Fortey!sneaks us behind the scenes with all the glee of a small child seeing for the first time the museum's iconic Diplodocus skeleton ! always authoritative ! the beauty of the book is that -- just like a museum -- you can visit the different sections in any order you choose, lingering in the places that most take your fancy ! and there is plenty of solid science to enjoy, elucidated with brilliant flair.' Sunday Times