Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds

This book is easily one of the finest I have ever read, as it combines paleontology with most of the Earth sciences. The prose even has a poetic feel and often reads as philosophical — confronting Deep Time rarely evokes these qualities in scientific books of any kind. Richard Fortey’s LIFE, and John McPhee’s ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD are two other such brilliant achievements. The author begins with the Pleistocene 22,000 years ago and work his way backwards all the way to the Ediacaran Period. Each period has its own chapter; some stress animals, or plants, insects, and microbial life. No matter the emphasis, the author limns each chapter with other flora or fauna. Surprises (at least for me) abound. One such was that the Cambrian Anomalocarids were thought to have died out at the end of that period but I was astounded that they show up in the Silurian after the Ordovician, the period between the Cambrian and the Silurian. One salient observation is that the author does not concentrate on ancient animals already made famous by dozens of other paleontology books: Tyrannosaurids; Gorgonopsids; Trilobites, the giant insects of the Carboniferous, etc. Instead we get such creatures like Wiwaxia and Opabinia in the Cambrian for example. I was astonished by an animal from the Carboniferous named the Tully Monster, which has baffled paleontologists for years — they just don’t know what it is, although it reminds them of the Cambrian Opabinia. The Ediacarans from the Precambrian are wonderfully treated in the penultimate chapter of the book. They emerge as distinct animals of considerable size (compared to the minuscule Archaeans). The Ediacardan Dickinsonia and Spriggina tell us that other as yet unknown smaller progenitors gave rise to them. Which leads to the author’s observation that fossils are only a tiny representation of life throughout time. The final chapter is a meditation on climate (and plate tectonics) change which has ruled from the formation of the Earth to the beginnings of life and will continue until the Earth’s core cools.. Climate change deniers won’t understand much of this last chapter but the author emphasizes that the current ecological crisis is in and of itself another engine of change no matter who or what causes it. The author does not preach — he just frames the current era as it is. Highly recommended.

This text is a lovely and lovingly written overview exploring the major eras of Deep Time from a holistic ecosystem wide perspective. It is readable, evocative, and informative as can be expected from a survey that crams the better part of 600 million years of history into 300 pages. The text is possibly the best such overview on the topic I've yet encountered, and I've read quite a few books on the subject. Unfortunately, for a book that is clearly aimed at introducing the wonders of paleontology to a newcomer, the book suffers from a crippling lack of artistic depictions. Art is limited to images of the arrangement of continents at the relevant geologic eras and a single line drawing of one organism per chapter. However, the chapters regularly mention upwards of a dozen organisms or whole groups of organisms with only a modicum of description as to what these animals (and occasionally plants) might have looked like. Myself, having read extensively on paleontology, I was familiar with the relevant names and understood immediately what the focus was, but I cannot help but think someone less versed in the topic would have simply encountered a blur of strange names and organisms they struggled to imagine. A version of this text with comprehensive paleoart would be profound, but the current lack keeps it from true greatness.

The author takes you progressively backwards thru time, starting from the Ice Age and trekking backwards to more than 500 million years ago. As a traveler, you'll spend some time at one particular place during one particular time, and then your off to someplace new. There is lots of content in this book, and the author conveys it scientifically at times, but also poetically too. Lots of species are discussed, but I should emphasize that the author spends just as much time discussing the geology, geography and climate of these places as he does the animal life. He paints a rich description that forces you to concentrate. At times I almost wish there was a 3-D animation to accompany these descriptions so that I can be sure I'm visualizing it properly. Your reminded again and again of how dynamic our planet is. (One interesting fact to impart from the book - Did you know that Mammoths were still walking around on this planet while the Pyramids in Egypt were being built? I bet many don't know this!) A very worthwhile and quality book, and I hope the author will write another sometime down the road.

The author has spun a great series of visions into a few points in our worlds past. I have enjoyed peering through a window to see a world very different from mine but in reality, the same world. The thorough description of each vestige focused on a few species and how they fit within their environment was artful and descriptive. I researched a few as I read through each and found supportive documentation from other sources. I am not an expert but have confidence in the author’s work in this book. I cannot imagine how much work went into the stories here, believe this was a large undertaking. In the last chapter, the author discusses the future of our world and how the present dominate species is influencing that future. I think his call to a balanced approach with emphasis on comparing past events with current affairs is cause to consider what we do now. I highly recommend reading this book, I think anyone who is interested in Earth history and species development in environmental science will enjoy the writer’s perspective.

A work of Incredible scope and depth, the history of life presented in set periods and ecologies that give the fullest measure of life’s adaptability and genius for new solutions

Many paleontologists have written books inviting laymen or amateurs to share in their passion for this fascinating evolutionary science. The late Bjorn Kurten professor at the University of Helsinki comes to mind as does Peter Ward from the University of Washington, both gave us well written and engaging books on the evolutionary history of our planet. However, at some point in their writing they both lost a part of their audience through the use of technical terms, broad descriptions of the fauna and flora in various epochs and confusing timelines. Thomas Halliday, takes his readers by the hand on a journey, focused in each chapter, into the life of a single species at a specific moment in time and then gradually broadens our horizon to encompass the changing patterns of evolution that brought us to visit this individual in their habitat. A simply brilliant approach that engages the reader on a personal level.

una lectura muy accesible, con pasajes muy bellos

Lack of illustrations.

Bom livro, entrega ruim. Chegou danificado

Good summary of life's development on Earth!