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Australopithecines, dinosaurs, trilobites--such fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the incredible Cambrian explosion, presenting a compelling new explanation for the emergence of biological novelty.
The very latest discoveries in paleontology--many of them made by the author and his students--are integrated with emerging insights from molecular biology and earth system science to forge a broad understanding of how the biological diversity that surrounds us came to be. Moving from Siberia to Namibia to the Bahamas, Knoll shows how life and environment have evolved together through Earth's history. Innovations in biology have helped shape our air and oceans, and, just as surely, environmental change has influenced the course of evolution, repeatedly closing off opportunities for some species while opening avenues for others.
Readers go into the field to confront fossils, enter the lab to discern the inner workings of cells, and alight on Mars to ask how our terrestrial experience can guide exploration for life beyond our planet. Along the way, Knoll brings us up-to-date on some of science's hottest questions, from the oldest fossils and claims of life beyond the Earth to the hypothesis of global glaciation and Knoll's own unifying concept of ''permissive ecology.''
In laying bare Earth's deepest biological roots, Life on a Young Planet helps us understand our own place in the universe--and our responsibility as stewards of a world four billion years in the making.
Australopithecines, dinosaurs, trilobites--such fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the incredible Cambrian explosion, presenting a compelling new explanation for the emergence of biological novelty.
The very latest discoveries in paleontology--many of them made by the author and his students--are integrated with emerging insights from molecular biology and earth system science to forge a broad understanding of how the biological diversity that surrounds us came to be. Moving from Siberia to Namibia to the Bahamas, Knoll shows how life and environment have evolved together through Earth's history. Innovations in biology have helped shape our air and oceans, and, just as surely, environmental change has influenced the course of evolution, repeatedly closing off opportunities for some species while opening avenues for others.
Readers go into the field to confront fossils, enter the lab to discern the inner workings of cells, and alight on Mars to ask how our terrestrial experience can guide exploration for life beyond our planet. Along the way, Knoll brings us up-to-date on some of science's hottest questions, from the oldest fossils and claims of life beyond the Earth to the hypothesis of global glaciation and Knoll's own unifying concept of ''permissive ecology.''
In laying bare Earth's deepest biological roots, Life on a Young Planet helps us understand our own place in the universe--and our responsibility as stewards of a world four billion years in the making.
Andrew H. Knoll is Fisher Professor of Natural History at Harvard University and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. A paleontologist by training, he has spent more than two decades working to integrate geological and biological perspectives on early life.
"Winner of the 2003 Book Award in Science, Phi Beta Kappa"
"In a book so well written that nonspecialists and specialists
alike will find much to savor, [Knoll] captures both the excitement
of scientific discovery and the intricacies of scientific
interpretation. . . . Readers interested in substance will
certainly not be disappointed."
*Publishers Weekly*
"Knoll is well placed to tell this amazing story, and he does so
with verve."---Douglas Palmer, New Scientist
"Andrew Knoll is an ideal guide through this early phase of life's
history on the Earth. . . . [O]ne of the strengths of Knoll's book
is that it presents science as the open-ended endeavor that it
is.... Life on a Young Planet . .. expresses better than most the
bumptious vitality and sheer fun of open-minded research."---Stefan
Bengtson, Nature
"A fascinating book. . . . The catastrophic surface narrative of
this impressive and intriguing book would surely have pleased
Stephen Jay Gould; but I think its deterministic subtext would have
pleased Charles Darwin still more."---Matt Cartmill, Times Literary
Supplement
"Life on a Young Planet stands apart from it predecessors in two
fundamental respects. First, Knoll is perhaps the most qualified
person to write such an epic: a renaissance man whose text is
filled with insightful quotes from authors ranging from Darwin to
Dickins to Dyson. . . . Second . . . this book describes the
coevolution of life on Earth as an integrated biochemical system
that has profoundly and irrevocably changed over time."---Guy M.
Narbonne, Science
"A balanced, excellent account of current theories and discussions
of the origin and early evolution of life. . . . Knoll is able to
convey difficult scientific issues with a minimum of jargon, using
a brisk and witty prose. . . He is a gifted storyteller with a
knack for choosing the right anecdote. . . . A browse through
Knoll's book will enlighten both the cognoscenti and those
unfamiliar with the complexities of reading a fossil record. . . .
Knoll manages to present a multidisciplinary field in an
interdisciplinary volume."---Antonio Lazcano, American
Scientist
"The author weaves a beautifully written, fascinating story of
life's origin and development based on his extensive field studies
and research in the most remote corners of the globe. . . . This
volume . . . is a most valuable asset that should be read by
scientists active in the field, by teachers and students who are
interested in the most recent thoughts on the subject, and, in
fact, by anyone who is interested in how life might have originated
and evolved on this planet or on other similar planets in our
Universe."---Nathan Dubowsky, Science Books & Films
"This is not a textbook but rather a story, giving one person's
view of how the jigsaw pieces fit together. It is written in
flowing prose with many asides, personal anecdotes and explanations
of what evidence there is and how it is used. . . . [F]or
ecologists the book has much to offer in putting the early
evolution of life into perspective."
*Bulletin of the British Ecological Society*
"[Knoll's] words have a poetic flavor and his deep interest in the
study of life on earth flows out of them, carrying readers along
whole maintaining a rigorous discourse. Knoll's book will appeal to
anyone interested in the evolution of life on Earth."
*Choice*
"In this wonderful book . . . Knoll's extensive field experience
and eagerness to share data and ideas with colleagues enable him to
reconstruct responsibly the broad evolutionary scenario yet to
remain close to the evidence."---Lynn Margulis, Times Higher
Education Supplement
"A detective story to match the best crime fiction. It is told
with
verve."---Paul Nettleton, The Guardian
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