Life: an Unauthorized Biography
Published on 6. April 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-00-638420-5 (ISBN)
Description
A magisterial exploration of the natural history of the first four thousand million years of life on and in the earth, by one of Britain's most dazzling science writers.
What do any of us know about the history of our planet before the arrival of man? Most of us have a dim impression of a swirling mass of dust solidifying to form a volcanic globe, briefly populated by dinosaurs, then by woolly mammoths and finally by our own hairy ancestors. This book, aimed at the curious and intelligent but perhaps mildly uninformed reader, brilliantly dispels such lingering notions forever. At the end of the book we understand the complexity of the history of life on earth, and the complexity of how it has come to be understood, as, perhaps, from no other single volume. The result is enthralling.
What do any of us know about the history of our planet before the arrival of man? Most of us have a dim impression of a swirling mass of dust solidifying to form a volcanic globe, briefly populated by dinosaurs, then by woolly mammoths and finally by our own hairy ancestors. This book, aimed at the curious and intelligent but perhaps mildly uninformed reader, brilliantly dispels such lingering notions forever. At the end of the book we understand the complexity of the history of life on earth, and the complexity of how it has come to be understood, as, perhaps, from no other single volume. The result is enthralling.
Reviews / Votes
'This is not a book for people who like science books. It is a book for people who love books, and life... [Fortey] has written a wonderful book.'Tim Radford, Guardian
'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
'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... In his last chapter Fortey quotes Goethe:
"Zum Erstaunen bin ich da - I am here to wonder."
Richard Fortey has the rare gift of making his readers share that wonder. Anyone who wants to understand how we came to be here on earth, 4,000,000,000 years after life began, should read this sparkling book.'
Maggie Gere, Daily Telegraph
'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 details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 202 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
352 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-638420-5 (9780006384205)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Richard Fortey
Life: an Unauthorized Biography (Text Only)
E-Book
10/2010
Flamingo
€10.59
Available for download
Person
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.