A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters
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- Create Date：2021-06-08 07:51:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Andrew H. Knoll
- ISBN：0062853910
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Summary
Odds are， where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava， crushed by a towering sheet of ice， rocked by a nearby meteor strike， or perhaps choked by poison gases， drowned beneath ocean， perched atop a mountain range， or roamed by fearsome monsters。 Probably most or even all of the above。
The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster， filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller。 But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative。 Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science， renowned geologist Andrew H。 Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth， charting our home planet's epic 4。6 billion-year story。 Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context， A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going。
Features original illustrations depicting Earth history and nearly 50 figures （maps， tables， photographs， graphs）。
The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster， filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller。 But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative。 Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science， renowned geologist Andrew H。 Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth， charting our home planet's epic 4。6 billion-year story。 Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context， A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going。
Features original illustrations depicting Earth history and nearly 50 figures （maps， tables， photographs， graphs）。
Reviews
Jeremy
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A nice overview of the state of knowledge of Earth's history。 Readable and engaging， like any contemporary pop science book worth reading it does a good job grounding its narrative in the evidence， theory and reasoning our understanding of the Earth is based on A nice overview of the state of knowledge of Earth's history。 Readable and engaging， like any contemporary pop science book worth reading it does a good job grounding its narrative in the evidence， theory and reasoning our understanding of the Earth is based on 。。。more
Jennie Chantal
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DNF 42%I’m giving up on this one。 I was hoping for something accessible to those of us without any background in the natural sciences。 I found the writing very dry and unfortunately without a glossary of terms I was often lost。
Linda Netzel
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I gave this book 5 stars because of the concise way in which the author handles very difficult material and makes it mostly readable。 He also does us the favor of providing "approachable" additional readings for each of the 8 chapters。 Chapter 7 was my favorite on Catastrophic Earth where he shares details of the likely causes of the previous 5 great extinction events。 This is the set up for the chapter on Human Earth where he matter of factly discusses how we are artificially creating similar c I gave this book 5 stars because of the concise way in which the author handles very difficult material and makes it mostly readable。 He also does us the favor of providing "approachable" additional readings for each of the 8 chapters。 Chapter 7 was my favorite on Catastrophic Earth where he shares details of the likely causes of the previous 5 great extinction events。 This is the set up for the chapter on Human Earth where he matter of factly discusses how we are artificially creating similar climate changes that occurred naturally during the previous 4+ billion years that either prevented life as we know it or destroyed life that existed at the time。 He handles this topic deftly and without self-righteousness。 Climate change is real and our delayed acceptance and incorporating meaningful change mean that our own children and grandchildren will pay the price。 I would also recommend any books by Elizabeth Kolbert who also does a great job of distilling complicated climate science with fascinating examples and with humor。 Even though the topic is no laughing matter。 。。。more
James Easterson
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A history and a warning。 Not to be ignored。 Change happens whether you like it or not。 It always happens。 Sometimes more dramatically and quicker than others。 We are in one of those times。
Howard Cincotta
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You may， however vaguely， know much of the information in this well-crafted book， but chances are you’ve never had it organized and condensed in such an engaging fashion。 The book is subtitled “Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters，” and Harvard professor Andrew Knoll actually pulls it off， starting with our best ideas about planetary formation and ending with whether climate change will usher in a more ominous epoch in Earth’s history。 In between， he covers everything from geology and atmospheri You may， however vaguely， know much of the information in this well-crafted book， but chances are you’ve never had it organized and condensed in such an engaging fashion。 The book is subtitled “Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters，” and Harvard professor Andrew Knoll actually pulls it off， starting with our best ideas about planetary formation and ending with whether climate change will usher in a more ominous epoch in Earth’s history。 In between， he covers everything from geology and atmospheric/ocean formation to dinosaurs and the rise of hominids。One of Knoll’s most surprising points is that life， in the form of cyanobacteria and other simple cellular organisms thrived and spread over the Earth millions of years before the carbon cycle and other natural processes released substantial amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere。 Knoll stresses these distinct developments by his organization of separate chapters for “Biological Earth，” followed by “Oxygen Earth，” “Animal Earth” — and only then “Green Earth，” when we first see a more recognizable planet of flora and fauna。 Another chapter， “Catastrophic Earth，” highlights how patterns of mass extinctions and violent environmental change have always punctuated Earth’s natural history。Knoll concludes with an authoritative， if familiar account of the perils and challenges of human-caused climate change。 “So here you stand， in the physical and biological legacy of four billion years，” he writes。 “You walk where trilobites once skittered across an ancient seafloor， where dinosaurs lumbered across Gingko-clad hillsides， where mammoths commanded a frigid plain。 Once it was their world， and now it is yours。” 。。。more
Robyn
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Notable Books #33
Elentarri
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A ridiculously brief and rather disjointed history of the Earth， starting from it's creation， plate tectonics， the first bacteria to larger creatures and the last chapter covers the evolution of evil humans and their impact on the Earth。 There is nothing new here。 Knoll's other book [Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth] was better written and more exciting than this one， and that book dealt with fossilized microbes for the most part！ This might make a nice A ridiculously brief and rather disjointed history of the Earth， starting from it's creation， plate tectonics， the first bacteria to larger creatures and the last chapter covers the evolution of evil humans and their impact on the Earth。 There is nothing new here。 Knoll's other book [Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth] was better written and more exciting than this one， and that book dealt with fossilized microbes for the most part！ This might make a nice introductory text to the history of Earth for a 10 year old or someone who has spent their life living under a rock， but Richard Fortey's books [The Earth and Life] provide much better and more coherent information on the Earth。 。。。more
Robert R。 Annand
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When i started this book， i was familiar with the orgination story。 But i didn't realize how long it was until water showed up everywhere on earth and what a delay the lack of oxygen occupied。 In short i found A Brief History of Earth: a real education in the first seven chapters and a blossoming knowledge of the eighth。 When i started this book， i was familiar with the orgination story。 But i didn't realize how long it was until water showed up everywhere on earth and what a delay the lack of oxygen occupied。 In short i found A Brief History of Earth: a real education in the first seven chapters and a blossoming knowledge of the eighth。 。。。more
Petra X feels guilty DNFing two books in a row
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The book opens with the most honest statement I have ever read: "In the beginning was 。。。 well。。。 a jot， a speck， a fleck， at once incomprensibly small but unimaginably dense。 It wasn't a localised concentration of stuff in the vast emptiness of the universe。 It was the universe。 How it got there， no one knows。" What I learned from the book was how the sun generates heat。 It took me endless readings of that chapter to actually understand it， I have no background in physics at all， and for that t The book opens with the most honest statement I have ever read: "In the beginning was 。。。 well。。。 a jot， a speck， a fleck， at once incomprensibly small but unimaginably dense。 It wasn't a localised concentration of stuff in the vast emptiness of the universe。 It was the universe。 How it got there， no one knows。" What I learned from the book was how the sun generates heat。 It took me endless readings of that chapter to actually understand it， I have no background in physics at all， and for that the book is 5 stars。 The title exactly describes the contents， and for a basic book covering from the speck to us right now， it is really excellent reading， but it isn't always easy。 But then the best things often aren't （view spoiler）[chocolate excepted， sadly （hide spoiler）]。 。。。more
Robyn Puffenbarger
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Deep earth history！Really liked reading this for more information on topics including plate tectonics and the oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere。 Very cool dive into flora and fauna of early seas， and then onto land。 And neat explanations of volcanism and glaciers， how this can change world-wide climate， and levels of various gases。 I’d say this was a very approachable book， it is written for anyone with an interest in Earth’s geological history and how life interacts with the planet。
Miguel
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Can a 5 hour audiobook cover the entirety of Earth’s history in a comprehensive way？ This book certainly tries and succeeds on one level， but of course given its scope and the fact that most of the topics discussed have books in their own right naturally means that it only touches the surface in a many cases。 Still， it does succeed in presenting a lot of geological info in a very short framework。
Kurt Anderson
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Pretty dry reading。 I enjoy reading science books but this one was a bit of a slog。 Took me over a week to get through which is not usual for me。
Melissa
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DNF - Reads like a dense textbook crammed into eight chapter。
Honeybee26
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its a good book but ive just been in a reading rut lately so i feel i forced myself to read it。 its informative and straight to the point which i like but yea。。。just wasnt feeling it unfortunately
Kristina Setka
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The last paragraph of this book — wow。 The book maps out the history of earth， and the sections are proportionate to different phases of Earth’s existence。 I found myself wanting to read more about the human’s negative impact on Earth。 。。。A big statement in a small amount of time， just the last few pages of the book outline Human Earth。 Little nuggets like: “。。。 a recent estimate suggests that by 2050， Toronto will have a climate much like that of present-day Washington， D。 C。”
Paleoanthro
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A remarkable， well-written， and enlightening read that brings to the forefront the interplay of biology and geology on live on Earth。 In an engaging style， Knoll highlights how our changing environment， brought on by human action， will led to mass extinction and environmental disturbances that will impact everyone on the planet。 The evidence is in the geological record and highlights what will happen as the Earth continues to warm， as it has happened before。 A short， but very informative read th A remarkable， well-written， and enlightening read that brings to the forefront the interplay of biology and geology on live on Earth。 In an engaging style， Knoll highlights how our changing environment， brought on by human action， will led to mass extinction and environmental disturbances that will impact everyone on the planet。 The evidence is in the geological record and highlights what will happen as the Earth continues to warm， as it has happened before。 A short， but very informative read that is highly recommended for everyone！ 。。。more
Jason Furman
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This was a nice， breezy tour of everything from the formation of the earth， its early geologic history， to the emergence of life， the transformation of the atmosphere， mass extinctions， animals， and humans。 It begins and ends with a plea on climate change and the environment。 All of it felt up-to-date and reliable， nice pictures and tables， but more of a review than any sort of original argument or synthesis。 Not a criticism， just makes it more workmanlike useful to read than especially memorabl This was a nice， breezy tour of everything from the formation of the earth， its early geologic history， to the emergence of life， the transformation of the atmosphere， mass extinctions， animals， and humans。 It begins and ends with a plea on climate change and the environment。 All of it felt up-to-date and reliable， nice pictures and tables， but more of a review than any sort of original argument or synthesis。 Not a criticism， just makes it more workmanlike useful to read than especially memorable。 。。。more
Kathleen Gray
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I'm not a scientist nor do I have a particularly good understanding of geology so this - this was an eye opener。 Knoll has written an accessible， informative， and instructive book about， well， how the earth was formed。 He explores the intersection between biology and geology。 The first half of this relatively slim volume is about rocks （for want of a better word） but it then moves into dinosaurs， mammals， and how man must make changes in order to preserve。 It's not polemic， btw， but informative。 I'm not a scientist nor do I have a particularly good understanding of geology so this - this was an eye opener。 Knoll has written an accessible， informative， and instructive book about， well， how the earth was formed。 He explores the intersection between biology and geology。 The first half of this relatively slim volume is about rocks （for want of a better word） but it then moves into dinosaurs， mammals， and how man must make changes in order to preserve。 It's not polemic， btw， but informative。 I admit to reading this in bits because of the subject matter but it's not dry and it's totally accessible。 Thanks to edelweiss for the ARC。 Excellent read。 。。。more
Andréa
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Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss。
Joe Jones
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