A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters
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- Create Date：2021-10-17 08:51:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Henry Gee
- ISBN：1529060575
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Summary
In the tradition of E。H。 Gombrich， Stephen Hawking， and Alan Weisman—An entertaining and uniquely informed narration of Life's life story。
In the beginning， Earth was an inhospitably alien place—in constant chemical flux， covered with churning seas， crafting its landscape through incessant volcanic eruptions。 Amid all this tumult and disaster， life began。 The earliest living things were no more than membranes stretched across microscopic gaps in rocks， where boiling hot jets of mineral-rich water gushed out from cracks in the ocean floor。
Although these membranes were leaky， the environment within them became different from the raging maelstrom beyond。 These havens of order slowly refined the generation of energy， using it to form membrane-bound bubbles that were mostly-faithful copies of their parents—a foamy lather of soap-bubble cells standing as tiny clenched fists， defiant against the lifeless world。 Life on this planet has continued in much the same way for millennia， adapting to literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter and thriving， from these humblest beginnings to the thrilling and unlikely story of ourselves。
In A （Very） Short History of Life on Earth， Henry Gee zips through the last 4。6 billion years with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual rigor。 Drawing on the very latest scientific understanding and writing in a clear， accessible style， he tells an enlightening tale of survival and persistence that illuminates the delicate balance within which life has always existed。
In the beginning， Earth was an inhospitably alien place—in constant chemical flux， covered with churning seas， crafting its landscape through incessant volcanic eruptions。 Amid all this tumult and disaster， life began。 The earliest living things were no more than membranes stretched across microscopic gaps in rocks， where boiling hot jets of mineral-rich water gushed out from cracks in the ocean floor。
Although these membranes were leaky， the environment within them became different from the raging maelstrom beyond。 These havens of order slowly refined the generation of energy， using it to form membrane-bound bubbles that were mostly-faithful copies of their parents—a foamy lather of soap-bubble cells standing as tiny clenched fists， defiant against the lifeless world。 Life on this planet has continued in much the same way for millennia， adapting to literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter and thriving， from these humblest beginnings to the thrilling and unlikely story of ourselves。
In A （Very） Short History of Life on Earth， Henry Gee zips through the last 4。6 billion years with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual rigor。 Drawing on the very latest scientific understanding and writing in a clear， accessible style， he tells an enlightening tale of survival and persistence that illuminates the delicate balance within which life has always existed。
Reviews
John Gribbin
，
Henry Gee's history of life on Earth is really the story of where we came from -- from the first bacteria right up to date。 As always， he writes with great clarity and conveys masses of information in an accessible way。 My only complaint is that it is too short -- I was left wanting more！ It doesn't quite top The Accidental Species， but to say it is Gee's second-best book is intended as a high compliment。 Henry Gee's history of life on Earth is really the story of where we came from -- from the first bacteria right up to date。 As always， he writes with great clarity and conveys masses of information in an accessible way。 My only complaint is that it is too short -- I was left wanting more！ It doesn't quite top The Accidental Species， but to say it is Gee's second-best book is intended as a high compliment。 。。。more
Kyle
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Very impressive short book on the complete history of life。 So much is covered but perfectly explained - just right to understand and be interesting but not too much to be mind numbing or too little and be incomprehensible。 Gee explains things well and keeps it interesting and moving。 Great book to understand where we are， how we got here and where we are going。 Loved this 'pithy' book。 Very impressive short book on the complete history of life。 So much is covered but perfectly explained - just right to understand and be interesting but not too much to be mind numbing or too little and be incomprehensible。 Gee explains things well and keeps it interesting and moving。 Great book to understand where we are， how we got here and where we are going。 Loved this 'pithy' book。 。。。more
Sarah
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"A （Very） Short History of Life on Earth" was a fascinating read and I really enjoyed learning more about the different life forms that came before us and might come after us。 "A （Very） Short History of Life on Earth" was a fascinating read and I really enjoyed learning more about the different life forms that came before us and might come after us。 。。。more
Brian Clegg
，
In writing this book， Henry Gee had a lot to live up to。 His earlier title The Accidental Species was a superbly readable and fascinating description of the evolutionary process leading to Homo sapiens。 It seemed hard to beat - but he has succeeded with what is inevitably going to be described as a tour-de-force。As is promised on the cover， we are taken through nearly 4。6 billion years of life on Earth （actually rather more， as I'll cover below）。 It's a mark of Gee's skill that what could have e In writing this book， Henry Gee had a lot to live up to。 His earlier title The Accidental Species was a superbly readable and fascinating description of the evolutionary process leading to Homo sapiens。 It seemed hard to beat - but he has succeeded with what is inevitably going to be described as a tour-de-force。As is promised on the cover， we are taken through nearly 4。6 billion years of life on Earth （actually rather more， as I'll cover below）。 It's a mark of Gee's skill that what could have ended up feeling like an interminable list of different organisms comes across instead as something of a pager turner。 This is helped by the structuring - within those promised twelve chapters everything is divided up into handy bite-sized chunks。 And although there certainly are very many species mentioned as we pass through the years， rather than feeling overwhelming， Gee's friendly prose and careful timing made the approach come across as natural and organic。 There was a whole lot of information here that was new to me， as we follow the development of life in manifold ways， both in the different ways this happened but also in the way that everything fits together。 This is one of the best things about the book。 Like， I suspect， most people， I had a distinctly vague conception of the relative timing of many bits of the development and evolution of life - Gee gives us the big picture without ever overwhelming the reader or becoming too summary。Another masterful aspect of the structure is the way that the first eight chapters build in a kind of crescendo， then the whole thing widens out with first the development of apes， then hominins， then humans and finally looks forward to the future。 I use a musical term intentionally - this feels like a well-crafted piece of music， pushing us on to the big finish。My favourite chapter of all， even though it's inevitably speculative， was the one titled The Past of the Future， where Gee takes us through what is likely to happen to life on a future Earth， including its our and its eventual extinction - this has a slightly wistful， but inevitable feel to it and is quite remarkable。 This takes us around a billion years ahead from now - so the whole span of the book is more like 5。5 billion years。 Along the way there are plenty of examples of delightful writing。 I loved， for example， the line 'As many bacteria could fit on the head of a pin as there were revellers who went to Woodstock， and with room to spare。' Or the beautiful description of the land-dwelling amphibian Eryops 'which looked like a bullfrog imagining itself as an alligator。 Had it had wheels， it would have been an armoured personnel carrier。 With teeth。'A couple of small negatives。 Some of the science that is decidedly speculative is stated as if it were fact （for example， the Theia hypothesis for the formation of the Earth/Moon system）。 It's probably necessary to keep up the momentum， but I would have liked a proviso in the introduction。 Gee's descriptions are good， but I really missed having illustrations （for example， he refers to the 'strikingly beautiful' Dickinsonia - I wanted to see a drawing of one）。 Okay， I could look it up online， as I did with several examples， but it would have been good to have had them there and then。 If we're going to be fussy， the first timeline seems to suggest the birth of the universe was 11。2 billion years ago， rather than 13。8。 And I'm a little doubtful of the assertion 'Within the next few thousand years Homo sapiens will have vanished。'The argument for our disappearance is based on， amongst other things， a combination of falling birthrate and declining carbon dioxide levels。 This is one of the delights of the chapter that peers in to the future - although all our focus at the moment is on keeping carbon dioxide levels down （and that is essential for now）， long term it is likely to be reducing carbon dioxide rates that does for much of life on Earth。 My doubt here is that there is no mention of anything outside of biology。 Humans have thrived of late because their technology enables them not just to respond to the environment， as is normal in biology， but to modify the environment and add non-biological abilities （such as flying）。 It's entirely possible that humanity will wipe itself out， but I would surprised that if we do survive it won't possible to hold off environmental changes for more than those 'few thousand years'。 To be fair， Gee tempers that later， referring to our future as a 'few thousand to tens of thousands of years' and then a little later still as 'sooner or later'。 Like Neils Bohr and others， I believe that prediction is difficult， especially about the future， and I prefer the less definitive figure。 This one is easy to sum up。 Brilliant book。 Buy it。 。。。more
Dawn A Denton
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When it comes to science and natural history， I need it simple。 This book breaks 4。6 billion years down to the very core of life。 Every page has at least one 'Wow' gem。 You can't read this book without learning loads about our planet and how she has evolved。 When it comes to science and natural history， I need it simple。 This book breaks 4。6 billion years down to the very core of life。 Every page has at least one 'Wow' gem。 You can't read this book without learning loads about our planet and how she has evolved。 。。。more
Virat Sharma
，
Since the author is a writer and editor at science journal Nature， I had a high expectation with this one。 Even though there is a lot to be learnt about how the life started and various geological periods that were there， I felt that the book was a bit dry and could have been a bit more engaging。
Xavier Bonilla
，
This is a fantastic book。 If you ever wanted to hand someone a short book about the history of our planet， this is the book！ Gee masterfully synthesizes information from each of the earth’s periods。 He describes the natural history of the climate， animals， and various pivotal points。 Excellent book！
Angela McCollister
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Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley:I really enjoyed this book。 With the terminology and names it might be a bit of a challenge for some who don't know much about prehistoric creatures。 Fortunately， I've watched a lot of science documentaries so I could picture the creatures when he spoke of them。 Definitely don't miss the footnotes because they are often quite funny and charming。 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley:I really enjoyed this book。 With the terminology and names it might be a bit of a challenge for some who don't know much about prehistoric creatures。 Fortunately， I've watched a lot of science documentaries so I could picture the creatures when he spoke of them。 Definitely don't miss the footnotes because they are often quite funny and charming。 。。。more
Tomas Bella
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