{"product_id":"a-very-short-history-of-life-on-earth-4-6-billion-years-in-12-pithy-chapters-2","title":"A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Royal Society's Science Book of the Year\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[A]n exuberant romp through evolution, like a modern-day Willy Wonka of genetic space. Gee's grand tour enthusiastically details the narrative underlying life's erratic and often whimsical exploration of biological form and function.\" --Adrian Woolfson, \u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the tradition of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Dawkins, Bill Bryson, and Simon Winchester--An entertaining and uniquely informed narration of Life's life story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the beginning, Earth was an inhospitably alien place--in constant chemical flux, covered with churning seas, crafting its landscape through incessant volcanic eruptions. Amid all this tumult and disaster, life began. The earliest living things were no more than membranes stretched across microscopic gaps in rocks, where boiling hot jets of mineral-rich water gushed out from cracks in the ocean floor. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlthough these membranes were leaky, the environment within them became different from the raging maelstrom beyond. These havens of order slowly refined the generation of energy, using it to form membrane-bound bubbles that were mostly-faithful copies of their parents--a foamy lather of soap-bubble cells standing as tiny clenched fists, defiant against the lifeless world. Life on this planet has continued in much the same way for millennia, adapting to literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter and thriving, from these humblest beginnings to the thrilling and unlikely story of ourselves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA (Very) Short History of Life on Earth\u003c\/i\u003e, Henry Gee zips through the last 4.6 billion years with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual rigor. Drawing on the very latest scientific understanding and writing in a clear, accessible style, he tells an enlightening tale of survival and persistence that illuminates the delicate balance within which life has always existed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHENRY GEE is a senior editor at \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e and the author of several books, including \u003ci\u003eJacob's Ladder, In Search of Deep Time, The Science of Middle-earth, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Accidental Species. \u003c\/i\u003eHe has appeared on BBC television and radio and NPR's \u003ci\u003eAll Things Considered, \u003c\/i\u003eand has written for \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian, The Times, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBBC Science Focus. \u003c\/i\u003eHe lives in Cromer, Norfolk, England, with his family and numerous pets.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Griffin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50609355489554,"sku":"9781250876881","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d5c2eb8e-c546-4b80-a1cc-c8adf1f4a816.jpg?v=1732328692","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-very-short-history-of-life-on-earth-4-6-billion-years-in-12-pithy-chapters-2","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}