Evolving Planet Four Billion Years of Life on Earth

by Kelly, Erica; Kissel, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780810994867
• ISBN10: 0810994860
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-01
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Summary

Evolution, always a hot topic, is the central focus of this wide-ranging history of life on Earth. Long before all the life we see today ever came to befrom the lions of Africa, to the ants of the rainforests, to the bacteria that thrive in the depths of the oceancountless other life-forms once swam, crawled, flew, or bloomed on our planet. The very first forms of life appeared on Earth four billion years ago. From single-celled organisms, to dinosaurs, to mammals, and finally to humans,Evolving Planettraces the path of life that has been constantly evolving. The book provides an overview of Earth's amazing diversity of life, both in the seas and oceans as well as on the land, and reveals its variety and uniqueness throughout the ages. With life comes death, and the book discusses the mass extinctionsfive thus farthat have also shaped the history of our planet. Readers will be able to see the whole history in perspective in this fascinating volume. The book includes a glossary, a pronunciation key, a bibliography, and an index.

Author Biography

Erica Kelly developed the Evolving Planet exhibition at The Field Museum. A writer and specialist in using creative interpretive methods to connect audiences with subject matter, she has developed exhibitions on topics ranging from ancient Chinese jades to natural disasters to the life cycle of the cicada. Richard Kissel is a paleontologist and educator at The Field Museum, where he served as content specialist on the Evolving Planet exhibition. He has traveled the world in search of fossils from throughout Earth’s history, excavating the remains of everything from trilobites to dinosaurs to mastodons. Erica and Richard both live in Chicago.