Starting at the unimaginably hot, dense speck from which the universe originated, this text takes the reader on a journey in time, spanning the history of the Earth. The book travels through the enormity of time to the formation of the solar system and on to explore the Earth's past in detail. It describes the development of land, sea, atmosphere, climate and the origins of life, and features major events and landmarks in the Earth's turbulent development. Covering the process of early life on Earth, to the evolution of modern humans, until it reaches the planet at the end of the 20th century, supporting at least ten million living species

 

This book is part of a book series called The Earth .

This book is aimed at children in secondary school.

There are 72 pages in this book. This book was published 1999 by The Natural History Museum .

Katie Edwards has worked at the Natural History Museum for 12 years developing exhibitions. Her first book was From the Beginning, a geological history of the Earth in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name. Simon Mendez is a specialist natural history illustrator and is well known for his photo-real ceramic designs. This is his first book for Frances Lincoln.

This book has the following chapters: The big bang - birth of the universe; the solar system forms; the solar system - meteorites; early Earth, crust and water; life evolves; life shapes atmosphere; simple to complex cells; life explodes?; atmosphere shapes life; time in the rocks; dating the past; perfectly preserved; the lost ocean; life moves on to land; from fins to four legs; coal forests and carbon cycles; amphibians and reptiles; boom and bust; what causes mass extinctions?; soaring the skies; into bloom; sluggish oceans; dinosaur death; mammals diversify; rising mountains; on the move; freezing and melting; shell thermometer; what are the effects of ice ages?; humans evolve; humans shape the environment; Earth's future; Earth status globes.