The same process which enables penguins to survive the Antarctic winter and allows bacteria to survive in space has given humans the intelligence to build rockets and reach the Moon. The story of evolution is the story of life on this planet, the slow, incredible, endless process which links us with the first primitive organisms that appeared in the sea 3.5 billion years ago. Following explorations of space, oceans and Planet Earth, the latest title in this series takes us deep into the hidden world of evolutionary marvels. Section 1 tells the story of a revolution: the astonishing way in which the jigsaw of evolution was pieced together in the 19th century by Charles Darwin and others. It examines the furore the theory caused, and the ways in which it changed forever the way people think about themselves. Section 2 investigates the mechanics of evolution, with state-of-the-art digital illustrations that take the reader into the miniscule world of DNA and genetics. Section 3 gives a rollercoaster ride through the history of the world, from the beginning of life to the aGE OF mammals. Section 4 looks at the fruits of evolution today - the endless variety and wonder of behavioural adaptations. Section 5 looks in detail At our own evolution: how a branch of primates evolved to dominate the world. Recreations of our ancestors' world complement photographs of the bone and tool fragments they left behind. In section 6, the book dares to peer into the future. How might life look a million years from now? What strange creatures will exist? What chance is there for humans, when 99.9% of species that have lived on Earth are already extinct?

 

There are 96 pages in this book. This book was published 2000 by Pan Macmillan .

This book has the following chapters: Part 1 The idea of evolution: the Ancient Greeks; the age of Christianity; the rise of science; revolutionary ideas; Darwin and "The Beagle"; "The Origin of Species"; the last 100 years. Part 2 Evolution explained: principles of heredity; variation; population; adaptation; the formation of new species; the evolution of sex; problems of evidence 1; problems of evidence 2. Part 3 The history of life: life begins; life in the sea; land invasion 1 - plants; land invasion 2 - vertebrates; dinosaurs; mammals; life in the air; the whole story. Part 4 Evolution of behaviour: cooperation; sex and parental care; hunting and feeding; aggression; migration; communication. Part 5 The evolution of people: on being human; apes to australopithicine; the first humans; the spread of "homo sapiens"; "homo sapiens" and neanderthals; brain and language. Part 6 The future of evolution: genomes and gene therapy; xenotransplantation and cloning; people and the world; evolution after humans; future evolution of man; alien evolution.