Synopses & Reviews
The living world today contains all kinds of creatures that do unexpected things-- we have come to expect that there were complex and unusual ways of life in the past, and that evolution took some unexpected turns at times. Entertainingly written for students,
History of Life 4th Editiontakes you to the edge of current knowledge.
This text is aimed at students and anyone interested in the history of life on our planet. It explores the "whys" of events that occurred and, in this newest edition, it takes a closer look at the evolution of the physical earth and the strong interactions between organisms and environment. The book’s coverage includes geography, climate, atmosphere, ocean, and land (a changing stage) while following the interplay between organisms. Also new to this edition is a dedicated websitewhich explores additional environmental factors and supplemental topics, and provides interactive exercises, a detailed glossary, key links and all art in downloadable form. The art is also available to instructors on CD-ROM in PowerPoint and Jpeg formats.
Review
Praise for the New Edition:
"His material is accessible to even the uninitiated, but is still able to include fairly nuanced arguments. Mr. Cowen's gentle wit is much appreciated. This is a wonderful text, written in an engaging style by an author with both deep and broad knowledge of the history of life."
Emily Buchholtz, Wellesley College
"...the History of Life is a superb book which has no peer among published texts describing the macroevolution of life on Earth and the abiotic and biotic factors that have influenced the evolutionary history of living organisms."
Robert McMahon, U of Texas at Arlington
Praise for the Third Edition:
Anybody interested in the evolution of the Earth and its living organisms, especially animals, will find the content of this book useful and interesting. [...] I would recommend the book to those readers who would like to gain a basic knowledge on the Earth's evolution accompanied with detailed description of the evolution of animals.
L. Natr, Photosynthetica 40
'Should be compulsory for everyone who wants to call him/herself a palaeontologist.' J.W.F Reumer, PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, (2006)
Review
Praise for previous editions:"Cowens book is refreshing and radically different from most other textbook of this genre as it presents to the non-scientist the study of paleontology and the history of lifew as a dynamic and exciting science." (Journal of the Society for Sedimentary Geology)
Synopsis
This text is aimed at students and anyone interested in the history of life on our planet. It explores the 'whys' of events that occurred, and in this newest edition, it takes a closer look at the evolution of the physical earth and the strong interactions between organisms and environment. The book’s coverage includes geography, climate, atmosphere, ocean, and land (a changing stage) while following interplay between organisms. Also new to this edition is a dedicated websitewhich explores additional environmental factors and supplemental topics, and provides interactive exercises, a detailed glossary, key links and all art in downloadable form. The art is also available to instructors on CD-ROM in PowerPoint and Jpeg formats.
Synopsis
History of Life is not just for students, but for everyone interested in the history of life on our planet. Paleontology, the study of ancient life, requires some knowledge of biology, ecology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. However, the average person can have access to it without deep scientific training.
This book serves three audiences: it is an introduction to palaeontology; a general education course that introduces nonspecialists to science and scientific thought; and an introduction to the history of life for biologists who know a lot about the present and little about the past.
The author's aim is ambitious: to take you to the edges of our knowledge in palaeontology; to show you how life has evolved on Earth,;and to explain how we have constructed the history of that evolution from the record of rocks and fossils.
- Web page tied to use of book boxes.
- Case studies.
- End chapter questions.
- End chapter references.
Table of Contents
Preface.
1 The Origin of Life.
2 Earth's Earliest Life.
3 Sex and Nuclei: Eukaryotes.
4 The Evolution of Animals.
5 Life in a Changing World.
6 Extinction.
7 The Early Vertebrates.
8 Leaving the Water.
9 Amphibians and Reptiles.
10 Reptiles and Thermoregulation.
11 The Triassic Takeover.
12 Dinosaurs.
13 Were Dinosaurs Warm-Blooded?.
14 The Evolution of Flight.
15 The Origin of Mammals.
16 Marine Reptiles.
17 Why flowers are Beautiful.
18 The End of the Dinosaurs.
19 Cenozoic Mammals: Origins, Guilds and Trends.
20 Geography and Evolution.
21 Primates.
22 Evolving Toward Humans.
23 The Ice Age.
24 Humans and the Ice Age.
Glossary.
Index