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280 reviews for:
Breve historia de la tierra: Cuatro mil millones de años en ocho capítulos
Andrew H. Knoll
3.77 AVERAGE
280 reviews for:
Breve historia de la tierra: Cuatro mil millones de años en ocho capítulos
Andrew H. Knoll
3.77 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Smart and succinct, the narrator was clear. Read more like a lecture or textbook. I also think it ended a little too strongly on individualistic responsibility for climate change and less on corporations, which was disappointing. Overall informative and decently approachable
informative
slow-paced
informative
fast-paced
Five stars for the first 9 chapters. I learned a lot.
Chapter 10 is very different. It seems to be the emotional reason for having written this book, to warn us that we are exhausting the planet. I understand. But I see this again and again. Great scientific books, careful hypothesis, great evidence; and then suddenly "THE MESSAGE" appears. The problem is, the message is based on a conception of human, as the intelligent uber-species, for which there is no evidence whatsoever, nor does the book even try to explain how we came to be "so intelligent".
I will remember the book for the first 9 chapters and ignore the rest
Chapter 10 is very different. It seems to be the emotional reason for having written this book, to warn us that we are exhausting the planet. I understand. But I see this again and again. Great scientific books, careful hypothesis, great evidence; and then suddenly "THE MESSAGE" appears. The problem is, the message is based on a conception of human, as the intelligent uber-species, for which there is no evidence whatsoever, nor does the book even try to explain how we came to be "so intelligent".
I will remember the book for the first 9 chapters and ignore the rest
after chapter one, i questioned why knoll was telling me incredibly basic information. i assumed he would go more in-depth. at chapter three, i had an uncharacteristically lucid moment where i saw something from the perspective of another person - a layman, if you will; i use the term kindly and i do not mean to be demeaning.
let’s rewind a bit: i study science - i have loved science from age three, when i carted around dinosaur flashcards and learned how to read so i could read about dinosaurs in an encyclopedia i still own. i have grown up teaching myself everything i can about topics i love - deep time, paleontology, zoology, oceanography - and all that time gaining an awareness of the richness of earth; an appreciation for the sheer amount of time and change and life and death it’s taken for everything my eyes can and cannot see to come to fruition. to me, the words “ordovician period” and “australopithecenes” recall specific imagery and knowledge. millions and billions of years have meaning. but, i realized sometime during chapter three’s recap of organic compounds, this isn’t the case for everyone. this book isn’t, in fact, common knowledge - many people can learn something from it.
that being said, i recommend this to anyone who doesn’t interact with science more than once a month or who has never heard of deep time. while the words on these pages aren’t common knowledge, they should be - this history is almost indescribably important and knoll does an incredible job of distilling that rich, impossibly nuanced history to its most important pieces and writing in an accessible voice that feels more like a conversation than a lecture. i give it three stars, but someone who doesn’t possess the knowledge contained within might easily give it five. for folks like me, though, i think this is a skip - i did not learn anything new from this book. in fact, in my ideal world, nobody would. we would all know already the vastness of the planet we inhabit and the time taken to accumulate the so-called riches that we so greedily plunder and the feeling of being just a minuscule speck on some great timeline.
let’s rewind a bit: i study science - i have loved science from age three, when i carted around dinosaur flashcards and learned how to read so i could read about dinosaurs in an encyclopedia i still own. i have grown up teaching myself everything i can about topics i love - deep time, paleontology, zoology, oceanography - and all that time gaining an awareness of the richness of earth; an appreciation for the sheer amount of time and change and life and death it’s taken for everything my eyes can and cannot see to come to fruition. to me, the words “ordovician period” and “australopithecenes” recall specific imagery and knowledge. millions and billions of years have meaning. but, i realized sometime during chapter three’s recap of organic compounds, this isn’t the case for everyone. this book isn’t, in fact, common knowledge - many people can learn something from it.
that being said, i recommend this to anyone who doesn’t interact with science more than once a month or who has never heard of deep time. while the words on these pages aren’t common knowledge, they should be - this history is almost indescribably important and knoll does an incredible job of distilling that rich, impossibly nuanced history to its most important pieces and writing in an accessible voice that feels more like a conversation than a lecture. i give it three stars, but someone who doesn’t possess the knowledge contained within might easily give it five. for folks like me, though, i think this is a skip - i did not learn anything new from this book. in fact, in my ideal world, nobody would. we would all know already the vastness of the planet we inhabit and the time taken to accumulate the so-called riches that we so greedily plunder and the feeling of being just a minuscule speck on some great timeline.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
informative
fast-paced
4 Stars – A Fascinating Journey Through Earth's Epic Story
Andrew H. Knoll’s A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters is an engaging and surprisingly accessible deep dive into our planet’s dramatic history. From fiery beginnings in a sea of molten rock to ice ages, meteor strikes, and the rise and fall of entire ecosystems, Knoll masterfully distills billions of years into a compelling narrative that reads almost like a thriller.
What makes this book stand out is Knoll’s ability to balance scientific rigor with readability. He takes complex geological and biological processes—like plate tectonics, atmospheric shifts, and mass extinctions—and presents them in a way that feels both digestible and awe-inspiring. His expertise shines through, yet the writing remains engaging for both casual readers and those with a deeper scientific interest.
The book’s structure, breaking Earth’s vast history into key chapters, helps keep the information organized and easy to follow. And while much of the focus is on the past, Knoll effectively ties Earth’s history to the present, offering a sobering perspective on climate change and humanity’s role in shaping the planet’s future.
If there’s one drawback, it’s that some sections—particularly those heavy on geological terminology—can feel a bit dense, but overall, the book does a great job of making Earth’s history feel as dynamic and awe-inspiring as it truly is.
A Brief History of Earth is a must-read for anyone curious about the planet we call home, offering both a grand sense of scale and a timely reminder of our place within it. A solid 4-star read!
informative
inspiring
medium-paced