Synopses & Reviews
Global warming is contentious and difficult to measure, even among the majority of scientists who agree that it is taking place. Will temperatures rise by 2oC or 8oC over the next hundred years? Will sea levels rise by 2 or 30 feet? The only way that we can accurately answer questions like these is by looking into the distant past, for a comparison with the world long before the rise of mankind.
We may currently believe that atmospheric shifts, like global warming, result from our impact on the planet, but the earth's atmosphere has been dramatically shifting since its creation. This book reveals the crucial role that plants have played in determining atmospheric change - and hence the conditions on the planet we know today. Along the way a number of fascinating puzzles arise: Why did plants evolve leaves? When and how did forests once grow on Antarctica? How did prehistoric insects manage to grow so large? The answers show the extraordinary amount plants can tell us about the history of the planet -- something that has often been overlooked amongst the preoccuputations with dinosaur bones and animal fossils.
David Beerling's surprising conclusions are teased out from various lines of scientific enquiry, with evidence being brought to bear from fossil plants and animals, computer models of the atmosphere, and experimental studies. Intimately bound up with the narrative describing the dynamic evolution of climate and life through Earth's history, we find Victorian fossil hunters, intrepid polar explorers and pioneering chemists, alongside wallowing hippos, belching volcanoes, and restless landmasses.
Review
"The result is a book that is fascinating and exciting to read."--merican Scientist
Review
"It would be a useful addition to a biological library, or to one that serves researchers in atmospheric science."--E-STREAMS
"The Emerald Planet is beautifully written, fresh and provocative. Beerling is a good teacher, using imaginative analogies to explain complex material that might otherwise seem dry. His book will appeal to amateurs and professionals alike-everyone interested in how plants have changed and will continue to change out world."--Jennifer McElwain, American Scientist
"Throughout the book, Beerling uses evidence from the plant fossil record (mutant spores, tree stumps from the Artic and Antartic, growth rings) to reconstruct past climates and to help explain mass extinctions. Too often this evidence has been disregarded, but Beerling gives it its due, and then some."-- BioScience
"Summing up: Highly recommended."-- CHOICE
"Beerling introduces us to the scientists of the past and their contributions to today's hypotheses.His presentations successfully convey the incremental nature of science demonstrating that new hypotheses often emerge from the combination of observation and syntheses of pervious work."--BioScience
"The result is a book that is fascinating and exciting to read."--American Scientist
"This book reveals the crucial role that plants have played in determining atmospheric change - and hence the conditions on the planet we know today." -- American Meteorological Society
"An excellent reference for students, educators, and research students, this techincal book provides a summary of theories on the influence of plant life on earth and brings to attention the recent discoveries that lead to unraveling its mysteries." -- Current Books on Gardening and Botany
Review
"David Beerling is passionate about plants and their role in shaping the Earth, and this is clearly evident in his book The Emerald Planet. An interesting and enjoyable read."--The Astrobiology Society of Britain
"The result is a book that is fascinating and exciting to read."--merican Scientist
Review
and#8220;Armstrong has opened a door to the sprawling majesty of plant biology and evolution in a way that informs without drudgery, infuses knowledge with example without pedantry, and lightens the heart with a fine sense of humor. This book should be read by anyone who can sense that the world around us is predominantly green.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Practicing or apprenticing botanists, plant biologists, agronomists, and horticulturists need a detailed understanding of the evolution of plants for a correct perspective on the organisms they study and use, but the current general textbooks provide an inadequate watered-down history. In How the Earth Turned Green, through the knowledge, skill, and friendly writing of Armstrong and the wisdom of the University of Chicago Press, we finally have a book to fill this gap. Its eleven chaptersand#8212;the final two about the flowering plantsand#8212;tell the whole story, backed up by a detailed and illustrated appendix on fossil and living ancestors going back to the green algae and cyanobacteria. An essential book for plant students and professionals.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;Armstrong . . . aims his book squarely at plant-blind readers, who see plants as just a green background to life. . . . [He] deftly entertains his readers with a balanced discussion of plant life on Earth, from cyanobacteria and stromatolites to flowering plants. . . . How the Earth Turned Green will make many a reader aware of the importance of plants to the history of this planet.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;An intriguing compilation of developmental stages set in reverse order. This approach is vastly appealing, giving us subtle clues of how the Earth blossomed into such an incredible world that most of us simply take for granted. . . . With dozens of diagrams, illustrations and graphic constructs and charts, Armstrong gives us a glimpse of how it all evolved and how it all works together.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Armstrong has written an amazing and wonderful book. It is so well written that it reads more like an engaging novelandmdash;one that readers cannot put downandmdash;than like a science book. Yet the style is not reduced or simplified science; instead, the author explains all this factual material with prose that is precise, accurate, and concise.and#160;The topics range from cosmology to the flowering plants (angiosperms), but this vertical track is accomplished without deviating from the essential task of describing the evolutionary history of photosynthesizing organisms and their relations to planet Earth. Along the way, readers are treated to a synthesis of fundamental stages in the evolution of life itself. This includes an excellent discussion about the origin of life, an even better explanation of the origins of autotrophy in prokaryotes, and a very good description of the endosymbiotic theory. The text is followed by a 141-page appendix that describes all the major photosynthetic groups (including bacteria). This is an exceedingly useful resource for students, which, to this reviewerandrsquo;s knowledge, does not exist anywhere else in such a compact form. Essential.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;An impressive work that is clearly a labor of love. . . . Armstrong provides a big-picture overview of life on Earth through green-colored glasses, yielding a work that is accessible, scientifically rigorous, and philosophically piquant. Whether used as recreational reading or as a framework for an advanced undergrad or early graduate study course, How the Earth Turned Green is well worth reading for anyone attracted to the andlsquo;green backgroundandrsquo; through which we move.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A salient summary of the important concepts that should guide even a college professor teaching introductory biology. . . . How the Earth Turned Green should be required reading for all pre-service biology teachers and on the bookshelf of all K-16 science instructors. . . . Armstrong presents us with a unique approach to the plant kingdom. His refreshing wit and straightforward commentary lead the reader through an evolutionary explanation of why a predominant color of earth is green. His goal is to foster deeper understanding of key concepts, and he raises, and answers, many obvious questions that are almost never asked. As a doctor of botany, I enthusiastically prescribe this book to treat the widespread symptoms of andlsquo;Plant Blindness.andrsquo;andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Spoiler alert! This book could seriously change your view of what a textbook can be(!). . . . Whilst How the Earth Turned Green is quite technical in places, that should be viewed neither as a negative nor a surprise. . . . But its very informal style (which was most unexpected inandmdash;although refreshingly different forandmdash;a scholarly text) makes for a highly readable, educational account.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Global warming is contentious and difficult to measure, even among the majority of scientists who agree that it is taking place. Will temperatures rise by 2ºC or 8ºC over the next hundred years? Will sea levels rise by 2 or 30 feet? The only way that we can accurately answer questions like these is by looking into the distant past, for a comparison with the world long before the rise of mankind. We may currently believe that atmospheric shifts, like global warming, result from our impact on the planet, but the earth's atmosphere has been dramatically shifting since its creation. Drawing on evidence from fossil plants and animals, computer models of the atmosphere, and experimental studies, David Beerling reveals the crucial role that plants have played in determining atmospheric change--and hence the conditions on the planet we know today-- something that has often been overlooked amidst the preoccuputations with dinosaur bones and animal fossils. "Beerling uses evidence from the plant fossil record (mutant spores, tree stumps from the Artic and Antarctic, growth rings) to reconstruct past climates and to help explain mass extinctions. Too often this evidence has been disregarded, but Beerling gives it its due, and then some."--BioScience
Synopsis
Long before more infamous creatures such as T. Rex walked the earth, green organisms were the dominant life forms. Evidence suggests that chlorophyll, responsible for coloring these organisms, has been in existence for some 85% of the Earthandrsquo;s long history. Ancient predecessors of todayandrsquo;s plants and the communities they formed are quite different from much of life today, but at the same time some incredible similarities have been retained.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; How the Earth Turned Green traces the history of this taxon--those that are colored by chlorophyll and what many would call plants--from their ancient beginnings to the diversity of green organisms that inhabit the earth today. Using an evolutionary framework, the manuscript addresses questions such as should all green organisms be considered plants? Why do these organisms look the way they do? How are they related to one another and other living organisms? How do they reproduce? How have they changed and diversified over time? And how has the presence of green organisms changed the Earth and its environment?
Synopsis
On this blue planet, long before pterodactyls took to the skies and tyrannosaurs prowled the continents, tiny green organisms populated the ancient oceans. Fossil and phylogenetic evidence suggests that chlorophyll, the green pigment responsible for coloring these organisms, has been in existence for some 85% of Earthand#8217;s long historyand#151;that is, for roughly 3.5 billion years. In
How the Earth Turned Green, Joseph E. Armstrong traces the history of these verdant organisms, which many would call plants, from their ancient beginnings to the diversity of green life that inhabits the Earth today.
Using an evolutionary framework, How the Earth Turned Green addresses questions such as: Should all green organisms be considered plants? Why do these organisms look the way they do? How are they related to one another and to other chlorophyll-free organisms? How do they reproduce? How have they changed and diversified over time? And how has the presence of green organisms changed the Earthand#8217;s ecosystems? More engaging than a traditional textbook and displaying an astonishing breadth, How the Earth Turned Green will both delight and enlighten embryonic botanists and any student interested in the evolutionary history of plants.
About the Author
David Beerling is Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences University of Sheffield. Before this he held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, where his work on the evolution of life and the physical environment was recognized by the award of a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize in earth sciences (2001). He has published over 100 papers in international scientific journals and is co-author of Vegetation and the Global Carbon Cycle: Modelling the first 400 million years (CUP, 2001).
Table of Contents
Preface: A Botanist at Large
1: A Green World
2: Small Green Beginnings
3: Cellular Collaborations
4: A Big Blue Marble
5: Down by the Sea (-weeds)
6: The Great Invasion
7: The Pioneer Spirit
8: Back to the Devonian
9: Seeds to Success
10: A Cretaceous Takeover
11: All Flesh Is Grass
Postscript
Appendix
Brown Algae and Tribophyceans
Clubmosses and Fossil Stem Groups
Conifers and Ginkgoes
Coniferophytes: Cordaitales and Voltziales
Cycads
Ferns
Gnetophytes
Green Algae
Green Bacteria
Hornworts
Horsetails
Liverworts
Mosses
Phytoplankton
Red Algae
Rhyniophytes and Trimerophytes
Seed Ferns
Whisk Ferns
Notes
Glossary
References
Index