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Written by 
- Format: Trade Paperback, 400 pages
- Publisher: Vintage
- On Sale: September 7, 1999
- Price: $17.00
- ISBN: 978-0-375-70261-7 (0-375-70261-X)
about this book
From its origins on the still-forming planet to the recent emergence of Homo Sapiens—Fortey's account of how and why life developed as it did is informed with a depth of knowledge and enthusiasm that not only educates but excites the imagination. Interlacing the tale of his own adventures in the field with vivid descriptions of creatures who emerged and disappeared in the long march of geologic time, he sheds light upon a vast array of evolutionary wonders, mysteries, and debates. Brimming with wit, literary style, and the joy of discovery, this is an indispensable invitation to an area of science for the general reader and student and a delight for the scientist and teacher.
Praise for Life:
"A marvelous museum of the past four billion years on earth—capacious, jammed with treasures, full of learning and wide-eyed wonder."—The Boston Globe
"A beautifully written and structured work...packed with lucid expositions of science."—Natural History
"An eclectic waltz among organisms at once extraordinary and extinct....No one can finish Life without having accrued considerable knowledge of evolutionary history and a sense of excitement of discovery that can be conveyed only by a professional scientist chipping away at the rock face of his discipline."—The New York Times Book Review
