Richard Fortey guides us from the barren globe spinning in space, through the very earliest signs of life in
the sulphurous hot springs and volcanic vents of the young planet, the appearance of cells, the slow creation of
an atmosphere and the evolution of myriad forms of plants and animals that could then be sustained, including the
magnificent era of the dinosaurs, and on to the last moment before the debut of Homo sapiens. Fortey weaves this
history out of the most delicate traceries left in rock, stone and earth. He also explains how, on each aspect
of nature and life, scientists have reached the understanding we have today, who made the key discoveries, who
their opponents were and why certain ideas won.