Life on a Young Planet

Posted on 20 August 2017 by Andrew H. Knoll

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. Download Life on a Young Planet – kino-fada.fr This is an appealing combination of a natural history of the first three billion years of life on Earth, which is roughly the author s professional specialty, along with a scientific memoir of his pertinent field work Knoll is a good writer, and despite the book s publication 15 years ago 2003 , you won t go seriously astray I read this book in parallel with Nick Lane s Mitochondria book which I found a much harder read They both cover some of the This is an appealing combination of a natural history of the first three billion years of life on Earth, which is roughly the author s professional specialty, along with a scientific memoir of his pertinent field work Knoll is a good writer, and despite the book s publication 15 years ago 2003 , you won t go seriously astray I read this book in parallel with Nick Lane s Mitochondria book which I found a much harder read They both cover some of the same ground, but the differing approaches of a field paleontologist and a laboratory biochemist make for some interesting compare contrast moments They re both good writers and ...Andrew H Knoll is a paleontologist who is particularly conversant with the integrative approaches of modern day evolutionary science Rooted in the rocks, he writes with skill about the geological and geophysical processes at work in early earth formation, and their implications for the evolution of life He explains the complex geochemistry that became, in time, a biochemistry He describes the so called evo devo I.e., evolutionary developmental biology revolution with verve both as an obser Andrew H Knoll is a paleontologist who is particularly conversant with the integrative approaches of modern day evolutionary science Rooted in the rocks, he writes with skill about the geological and geophysical processes at work in early earth formation, and their implications for the evolution of life He explains the complex geochemistry that became, in time, a biochemistry He describes the so called evo devo I.e., evolutionary developmental biology revolution with verve both as an observer, and a participant contributor He describes in some detail how the evolution of life is largely one of microbiologic changes through...Nicely written and well argued, especially in later chapters when the concept of snowball Earth reared its head.Thing to keep in mind The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth sounds fascinating, but nothing much bigger than a microbacteria actually evolved This book ends just as stuff starts growing legs and arms and wings and crawling out of the ocean and generally becoming interesting.This book should be named rocks with microscopic fossils, in places with funny scandanavian names But that s probably what you should expect when you get book recommendations from geologists.Joking as Thing to keep in mind The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth sounds fascinating, but nothing much bigger than a microbacteria actually evolved This book ends just as stuff starts growing legs and arms and wings and crawling out of the ocean and generally becoming interesting.This book should be named rocks with microscopic fossils, in places with funny scandanavian names But that s probably what you should expect when you get book recommendations from geologists.Joking aside, I definitely learned stuff I d suggest the book to anyone like me who only ever took two years of biology, and both years we...I very rarely give 5 5 reviews, and then only to classics, but this is too good to receive four stars It s an exceptional guide to the current state of thinking about the three billion years of the evolution of life leading up to the Cambrian Explosion Written by an expert in the field, with a whole professional life behind him, it s superbly, clearly and engagingly written I haven t read a natural history book as good as this for a while All phases of life are covered, from the very earlie I very rarely give 5 5 reviews, and then only to classics, but this is too good to receive four stars It s an exceptional guide to the current state of thinking about the three billion years of the evolution of life leading up to the Cambrian Explosion Written by an expert in the field, with a whole professional life behind him, it s superbly, clearly and engagingly written I haven t read a natural history book as g...Very well researched and presented Covers a time period with which most are not familiar The author presents the research as a good scientist, with a healthy dose of skepticism, while basing conclusions on well established research He points out areas whereresearch ...A little slow going at first, but a fascinating look at the study of ancient microfossils The majority of the time life was on planet Earth 3 billion years , it existed predominantly as single celled organisms We owe our habitable planet and its established biogeochemical cycles to the met...This book gives mehope for earths future I don t mean as far as humankind currently committing our own extinction is concerned I mean that after we kill ourselves off in a purple algae world the recovery time will be, A mere tick of the geological clock Let me explain It took around 3,000,000,000 years for the first chemicals to start joining together and forming microscopic life That life was living in a sulfide sulfate world We can t live in a sulfide sulfate world but purple al This book gives mehope for earths future I don t mean as far as humankind currently committing our own extinction is concerned I mean that after we kill ourselves off in a purple algae world the recovery time will be, A mere tick of the geological clock Let me explain It took around 3,000,000,000 years for the first chemicals to start joining together and forming microscopic life That life was living in a sulfide sulfate world We can t live in a sulfide sulfate world but purple algae can and did in huge, 100,000 of km across mats This book explo...A fascinating book about the first three billion years of life on Planet Earth It s a story well told and beautifully written, with lots of information, and some really entertaining anecdotes Knoll knows how to present the relatively uneventful evolution of unicellular life interesting and ...Pretty good stuff The author has obviously been a successful presence within a growing academic field over many decades, so he s got a lot to say It wasn t the most gripping read I ve ever had, but then it is ultimately heavily based around geology and ...

English
20 August 2017

Andrew H. Knoll