1493
How Europe's Discovery of the Americas Revolutionized Trade, Ecology and Life on Earth
1st Edition
Published on 15. September 2011
544 pages
978-1-84708-440-8 (ISBN)
Description
Two hundred million years ago the earth consisted of a single vast continent, Pangea, surrounded by a great planetary sea. Continental drift tore apart Pangaea, and for millennia the hemispheres were separate, evolving almost entirely different suites of plants and animals. Columbus's arrival in the Americas brought together these long-separate worlds. Many historians believe that this collision of ecosystems and cultures - the Columbian Exchange - was the most consequential event in human history since the Neolithic Revolution. And it was the most consequential event in biological history since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Beginning with the world of microbes and moving up the species ladder to mankind, Mann rivetingly describes the profound effect this exchanging of species had on the culture of both continents.
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Additional editions
Charles C. Mann
1493
How Europe's Discovery of the Americas Revolutionized Trade, Ecology and Life on Earth
Book
09/2012
Granta Books
€19.00
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Charles C. Mann
1493
How the Ecological Collision of Europe and the Americas Gave Rise to the Modern World
Book
09/2011
Granta Books
€51.00
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Person
Charles Mann is the co-author of four previous books, including The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics and Noah's Choice: The Future of Endangered Species. He is a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and Science magazines, and editorial coordinator for the internationally best-selling Material World books. He lives in Massachusetts.
