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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
A fascinating and unusual book. Came across this on a trip to the UK at one of their Foyles. A few of the ecology books I've read makes references to times past that have similar climates and I wanted to know what kind of life survives or even thrives in a climate much warmer than ours, and then I came upon this.
Each chapter is devoted to an epoch and a place on Earth, imagining a day during that time -- the flora and fauna, the weather, the environment. Reminded me of the documentary Prehistoric Planet. I love this stuff.
The book is chock full of information and it was a bit hard to follow. I wanted more visual aids and a glossary/appendix. It was very slow reading because I was searching up terms pretty much every sentence. I learnt quite a lot of various facts about ecology, paleontology, botany, etc.
Halliday's overarching message is to look at the times past to draw parallels and hopefully understand the future that we're hurtling towards with the warming climate and mass human-induced changes.
He sums it up quite well here: "To look into the paleontological past of the Earth is to see a range of possible outcomes, a truly long-term perspective. ... Life recovers, and extinction is followed by diversification. That is, in its way, a comfort, but it is not the whole story. Recovery brings radical change, and often startlingly different worlds into being, while also taking, at minimum, tens of thousands of years. Recovery cannot replace what has been lost."
Each chapter is devoted to an epoch and a place on Earth, imagining a day during that time -- the flora and fauna, the weather, the environment. Reminded me of the documentary Prehistoric Planet. I love this stuff.
The book is chock full of information and it was a bit hard to follow. I wanted more visual aids and a glossary/appendix. It was very slow reading because I was searching up terms pretty much every sentence. I learnt quite a lot of various facts about ecology, paleontology, botany, etc.
Halliday's overarching message is to look at the times past to draw parallels and hopefully understand the future that we're hurtling towards with the warming climate and mass human-induced changes.
He sums it up quite well here: "To look into the paleontological past of the Earth is to see a range of possible outcomes, a truly long-term perspective. ... Life recovers, and extinction is followed by diversification. That is, in its way, a comfort, but it is not the whole story. Recovery brings radical change, and often startlingly different worlds into being, while also taking, at minimum, tens of thousands of years. Recovery cannot replace what has been lost."
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
like reading a nature documentary tv show about prehistoric ecosystems. some very interesting facts, but also plenty of times I fell asleep
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I first encountered this author in one of those "experts react to movies" videos on YouTube and was intrigued by his (at the time) forthcoming publication. Now I've finally gotten around to this hold in my never-ending Libby queue. While I did find the information interesting, the combination of the subject matter and the soothing narrator turned me into the "smoooooooth brain" meme, just letting the sound wash over me. For that reason, it rates as pretty average for me personally, but if you're a history/dinosaur/nature nerd, I'd recommend this one for you.
hopeful
informative
hopeful
informative
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
Like watching a series of planet earth but your eyes are closed the whole time and the animals mean nothing because they’ve been dead for millions of years
informative