Europe: A Natural History

Posted on 26 April 2018 by Tim Flannery

From internationally bestselling author and celebrated scientist Tim Flannery, a history of Europe unlike any before an ecological account of the land itself and the forces shaping life on it In Europe A Natural History, world renowned scientist, explorer, and conservationist Tim Flannery applies the eloquent interdisciplinary approach he used in his ecological histories of Australia and North America to the story of Europe He begins 100 million years ago, when the continents of Asia, North America, and Africa interacted to create an island archipelago that would later become the Europe we know today It was on these ancient tropical lands that the first distinctly European organisms evolved Flannery teaches us about Europe s midwife toad, which has endured since the continent s beginning, while elephants, crocodiles, and giant sharks have come and gone He explores the monumental changes wrought by the devastating comet strike and shows how rapid atmospheric shifts transformed the European archipelago into a single landmass during the Eocene.As the story moves through millions of years of evolutionary history, Flannery eventually turns to our own species, describing the immense impact humans had on the continent s flora and fauna within 30,000 years of our arrival in Europe, the woolly rhino, the cave bear, and the giant elk, among others, would disappear completely The story continues right up to the present, as Flannery describes Europe s leading role in wildlife restoration, and then looks ahead to ponder the continent s future with advancements in gene editing technology, European scientists are working to recreate some of the continent s lost creatures, such as the great ox of Europe s primeval forests and even the woolly mammoth.Written with Flannery s characteristic combination of elegant prose and scientific expertise, Europe A Natural History narrates the dramatic natural history and dynamic evolution of one of the most influential places on Earth. New Download Books Europe: A Natural History By Tim Flannery – kino-fada.fr Europe A Natural History is a non fiction book by Australian scientist, explorer and conservationist, Tim Flannery In his introduction he says he aims to answer three great questions How was Europe formed How was its extraordinary history discovered And why did Europe come to be so important in the world To achieve this, Flannery needs to give the reader a LOT of information It is quickly apparent that he is an expert in this field, so distilling the wealth of his knowledge into a manag Europe A Natural ...I felt some connection with this fascinating treatise into what made and makes Europe from a natural history, geographic, fauna and impact of man perspective I read this book while in the Flinders Ranges where some of the rocks are 500 million years old so matched the timespan included in Flannery s latest work The author makes what could have been a very dry subject into an enjoyable romp full of unusual characters who put together the various pieces of the puzzles that deciphered what grew a I felt some connection with this fascinating treatise into what made and makes Europe from a natural history, geographic, fauna and impact of man perspective I read this book while in the Flinders Ranges where some of the rocks are 5...What a fun book We emerge from a time machine to see islands where today there is a massive continent Some parts of the land host dinosaurs, made smaller by islandisation, and leather winged avians grown bigger for the same reason, like the moa other parts are mountains composed of sea snail shells We re looking at Albania and Romania, of the far past The animals found here, including crocodiles and large turtles, went on to live in Australia and nearby islands for thousandsyears, unti What a fun book We emerge from a time machine to see islands where today there is a massive continent Some parts of the land host dinosaurs, made smaller by islandisation, and leather winged avians grown bigger for the same reason, like the moa other parts are mountains composed of sea snail shells We re looking at Albania and Romania, of the far past The animals found here, including crocodiles and large turtles, went on to live in Australia and nearby islands for thousandsyears, until people arrived on first one shore and then another where they left behind massive deposits of turtle bones This is a clear sign that the lands were once joined and sheltered a common ancestor of each creature As well as such unusual sights, we ...I received an e book copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion Thank you Tim Flannery s Europe describes the natural story of the European continent in its many senses There is the geological history, the history of biological life of both flora and fauna over the millennia, even a brief history of the humankind s ventures into Europe over the course of human evolution The final chapters describe the latest events in Europe s natural history, na I received an e book copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion Thank you Tim Flannery s Europe describes the natural story of the European continent in its many senses There is the geological history, the history of biological life of both flora and fauna over the millennia, even a brief history of the humankind s ventures into Europe over the course of human evolution The final chapters describe the latest events in Europe s natural history, namely, the extinctions of subsequent animal species living in Europe The subject matter is very interesting, and there are many separate fragments of the ...42nd book for 2019.A remarkably ambitious environmental history of Europe covering a period of time when miniature dinosaurs lived on islands in Transylvania till the present day A very enjoyable and well written book.5 stars.Fascinating Very well researched with some very current findings Amazing amounts of changesAs a broad overview of the natural history of a continent, this book is excellent I read a lot of books similar to this or books that touch on some aspect of the geology of Europe or palaeontological discoveries in Europe but I have learned only bits and pieces along the way.My favorite parts are the early beginnings of Europe as an archipelago of islands that were off and on connected with each other or off and on connected with various bits of other land masses that later became continents D As a broad overview of the natural history of a continent, this book is excellent I read a lot of books similar to this or books that touch on some aspect of the geology of Europe or palaeontological discoveries in Europe but I have learned only bits and pieces along the way.My favorite parts are the early beginnings of Europe as an archipelago of islands that were off and on connected with each other or off and on connected with various bits of other land masses that later became continents Did you know there were small sized, island living versions of many common dinosaurs I did not know this and these discoveries were made many years ago.I also liked Flannery s discussion of current efforts to re wild parts of Europe and b...From fossils to the futureStarting roughly 100 million years ago, Flannery sets out to tell the story of Europe how it formed, the species that have lived, survived or become extinct in it, the rise of humanity, and the possible future impacts of our current galloping climate change Along the way, he tells us of the many men and women who have contributed to uncovering this history or who have in some way affected it.There s so much in this fascinating book that it s hard to know how to su From fossils to the futureStarting roughly 100 million years ago, Flannery sets out to tell the story of Europe how it formed, the species that have lived, survived or become extinct in it, the ri...Flannery occasionally gets side tracked by the topic of Those Wacky Paleontologists and the Wacky Things They Do , but this is a comprehensive and highly readable survey of 100 million years of Europe s natural history It s a full meal of geology, paleontology, and ecology, with some late dinner anthropology on the side Flannery succeeds in a way I haven t seen since Carl Sagan was writing in drawing out the sheer scale of 100 million years of history Europe was literally a different w Flannery occasionally gets side tracked by the topic of Those Wacky Paleontologists and the Wacky Things They Do , but this is a comprehensive and highly readable survey of 100 million years of Europe s natural history It s a full meal of geology, paleontology, and ecology, with some late dinner anthropology on the side Flannery succeeds in a way I haven t seen since Carl Sagan was writing in drawing out the sheer scale of 100 million years of history Europe was literally a different world then you could steal the map and the descriptions of creatures and drop it into a science fiction or fantasy story, and it would so...I think this is the first time I ve ever given a book 5 stars, but this one is worth it It crams 100 million years of evolution and geological change into a few hundred pages, but still makes you feel that it s been quite a journey I didn t realise that Europe was a fragmented collection of islands and archipelagos until a few tens of millions of years ago, that sea levels dropped...

English
26 April 2018

Tim Flannery