Otherlands : Halliday, Thomas: desertcart.in: Books Review: New insights and discoveries on practically every page - This book is easily one of the finest I have ever read, as it combines paleontology with most of the Earth sciences. The prose even has a poetic feel and often reads as philosophical — confronting Deep Time rarely evokes these qualities in scientific books of any kind. Richard Fortey’s LIFE, and John McPhee’s ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD are two other such brilliant achievements. The author begins with the Pleistocene 22,000 years ago and work his way backwards all the way to the Ediacaran Period. Each period has its own chapter; some stress animals, or plants, insects, and microbial life. No matter the emphasis, the author limns each chapter with other flora or fauna. Surprises (at least for me) abound. One such was that the Cambrian Anomalocarids were thought to have died out at the end of that period but I was astounded that they show up in the Silurian after the Ordovician, the period between the Cambrian and the Silurian. One salient observation is that the author does not concentrate on ancient animals already made famous by dozens of other paleontology books: Tyrannosaurids; Gorgonopsids; Trilobites, the giant insects of the Carboniferous, etc. Instead we get such creatures like Wiwaxia and Opabinia in the Cambrian for example. I was astonished by an animal from the Carboniferous named the Tully Monster, which has baffled paleontologists for years — they just don’t know what it is, although it reminds them of the Cambrian Opabinia. The Ediacarans from the Precambrian are wonderfully treated in the penultimate chapter of the book. They emerge as distinct animals of considerable size (compared to the minuscule Archaeans). The Ediacardan Dickinsonia and Spriggina tell us that other as yet unknown smaller progenitors gave rise to them. Which leads to the author’s observation that fossils are only a tiny representation of life throughout time. The final chapter is a meditation on climate (and plate tectonics) change which has ruled from the formation of the Earth to the beginnings of life and will continue until the Earth’s core cools.. Climate change deniers won’t understand much of this last chapter but the author emphasizes that the current ecological crisis is in and of itself another engine of change no matter who or what causes it. The author does not preach — he just frames the current era as it is. Highly recommended. Review: A well written journey into our planet's past. - Many paleontologists have written books inviting laymen or amateurs to share in their passion for this fascinating evolutionary science. The late Bjorn Kurten professor at the University of Helsinki comes to mind as does Peter Ward from the University of Washington, both gave us well written and engaging books on the evolutionary history of our planet. However, at some point in their writing they both lost a part of their audience through the use of technical terms, broad descriptions of the fauna and flora in various epochs and confusing timelines. Thomas Halliday, takes his readers by the hand on a journey, focused in each chapter, into the life of a single species at a specific moment in time and then gradually broadens our horizon to encompass the changing patterns of evolution that brought us to visit this individual in their habitat. A simply brilliant approach that engages the reader on a personal level.
| Best Sellers Rank | #409,693 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,511 in History of Civilization & Culture #1,716 in Environment & Nature #1,906 in Earth Sciences Books |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 724 Reviews |
D**)
New insights and discoveries on practically every page
This book is easily one of the finest I have ever read, as it combines paleontology with most of the Earth sciences. The prose even has a poetic feel and often reads as philosophical — confronting Deep Time rarely evokes these qualities in scientific books of any kind. Richard Fortey’s LIFE, and John McPhee’s ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD are two other such brilliant achievements. The author begins with the Pleistocene 22,000 years ago and work his way backwards all the way to the Ediacaran Period. Each period has its own chapter; some stress animals, or plants, insects, and microbial life. No matter the emphasis, the author limns each chapter with other flora or fauna. Surprises (at least for me) abound. One such was that the Cambrian Anomalocarids were thought to have died out at the end of that period but I was astounded that they show up in the Silurian after the Ordovician, the period between the Cambrian and the Silurian. One salient observation is that the author does not concentrate on ancient animals already made famous by dozens of other paleontology books: Tyrannosaurids; Gorgonopsids; Trilobites, the giant insects of the Carboniferous, etc. Instead we get such creatures like Wiwaxia and Opabinia in the Cambrian for example. I was astonished by an animal from the Carboniferous named the Tully Monster, which has baffled paleontologists for years — they just don’t know what it is, although it reminds them of the Cambrian Opabinia. The Ediacarans from the Precambrian are wonderfully treated in the penultimate chapter of the book. They emerge as distinct animals of considerable size (compared to the minuscule Archaeans). The Ediacardan Dickinsonia and Spriggina tell us that other as yet unknown smaller progenitors gave rise to them. Which leads to the author’s observation that fossils are only a tiny representation of life throughout time. The final chapter is a meditation on climate (and plate tectonics) change which has ruled from the formation of the Earth to the beginnings of life and will continue until the Earth’s core cools.. Climate change deniers won’t understand much of this last chapter but the author emphasizes that the current ecological crisis is in and of itself another engine of change no matter who or what causes it. The author does not preach — he just frames the current era as it is. Highly recommended.
J**S
A well written journey into our planet's past.
Many paleontologists have written books inviting laymen or amateurs to share in their passion for this fascinating evolutionary science. The late Bjorn Kurten professor at the University of Helsinki comes to mind as does Peter Ward from the University of Washington, both gave us well written and engaging books on the evolutionary history of our planet. However, at some point in their writing they both lost a part of their audience through the use of technical terms, broad descriptions of the fauna and flora in various epochs and confusing timelines. Thomas Halliday, takes his readers by the hand on a journey, focused in each chapter, into the life of a single species at a specific moment in time and then gradually broadens our horizon to encompass the changing patterns of evolution that brought us to visit this individual in their habitat. A simply brilliant approach that engages the reader on a personal level.
P**A
excelente libro
una lectura muy accesible, con pasajes muy bellos
D**A
Good
Lack of illustrations.
A**O
Chegou danificado
Bom livro, entrega ruim. Chegou danificado
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