History of Life [Paperback]

Richard Cowen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1405117567 | ISBN-13: 978-1405117562 | Publication Date: January 16, 1991 | Edition: 4

This text is aimed at students and anyone interested in the history of life on our planet. It explores the 'whys' of events that occurred, and in this newest edition, it takes a closer look at the evolution of the physical earth and the strong interactions between organisms and environment. The book’s coverage includes geography, climate, atmosphere, ocean, and land (a changing stage) while following interplay between organisms. Also new to this edition is a dedicated website which explores additional environmental factors and supplemental topics, and provides interactive exercises, a detailed glossary, key links and all art in downloadable form. The art is also available to instructors on CD-ROM in PowerPoint and Jpeg formats.

An Instructor manual CD-ROM for this title is available. Please contact our Higher Education team at [e-mail] for more information.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the New Edition:

"His material is accessible to even the uninitiated, but is still able to include fairly nuanced arguments. Mr. Cowen's gentle wit is much appreciated. This is a wonderful text, written in an engaging style by an author with both deep and broad knowledge of the history of life."
Emily Buchholtz, Wellesley College

"...the History of Life is a superb book which has no peer among published texts describing the macroevolution of life on Earth and the abiotic and biotic factors that have influenced the evolutionary history of living organisms."
Robert McMahon, U of Texas at Arlington

Praise for the Third Edition:

Anybody interested in the evolution of the Earth and its living organisms, especially animals, will find the content of this book useful and interesting. [...] I would recommend the book to those readers who would like to gain a basic knowledge on the Earth's evolution accompanied with detailed description of the evolution of animals.
L. Natr, Photosynthetica 40

'Should be compulsory for everyone who wants to call him/herself a palaeontologist.' J.W.F Reumer, PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, (2006)

Book Description

This book is aimed at anyone interested in the history of life on our planet. It explores the "whys" of events that occurred, and in this new edition, it takes a closer look at the evolution of the physical earth and the strong interactions between organisms and environment. The book's coverage includes geography, climate, atmosphere, ocean, and land (a changing stage) while following interplay between organisms. Also new to this edition is a devoted website-www.blackwellpublishing.com/cowen-that explores additional environmental factors and supplemental topics and provides key links and additional reader assistance.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 4 edition (January 16, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405117567
• ISBN-13: 978-1405117562
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.7 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Paleontology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly Written Book, Very Informative and Engaging to Read, September 8, 2010

By 

Catamaran'78 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: History of Life (Paperback)

The author knows his stuff, and is one of those often uncommon professors who not only knows his subject 110%, but can present it in a clear, interesting and concise fashion, with numerous diagrams and photographs to illuminate facts. All of the hundreds of illustrations are in B&W, and most are not too large, but they add a lot to the presentation and are carefully selected. No matter how much you have read on the history of life on earth, there will be facts and theories in this book you have not seen before. He covers life from the very beginning, before the Cambrian, and discusses the evolution of both plants and animals, climate zones and how the movement of continents change climate, and the full range of critters: therapsids, diapsids, multituberculates, dicynodonts, etc., along with extinctions, mentioning the possible development of a oxygen depleted Panthalassa ocean (the only ocean at that time as all the continents were fused), a theory of Isozaki (p 99) contributing to the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. I have read many books on evolution and paleontology written at the college level, and this is without a doubt the best overall presentation I have read.

1 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shipped Fast! Great Condition., September 13, 2009

By 

O. Yeend - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History of Life (Paperback)

This book shipped faster than I thought it would which was great. It was also in new condition as advertised. Thank you!