A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us--The Evolution of Life on Earth [Hardcover]

Sidney Liebes (Author), Elisabet Sahtouris (Author), Brian Swimme (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Fifteen Billion Years in the Life . . A breathtaking, vibrantly illustrated history of the universe. "A valuable new way to conceive of the immensity of geological time and of organic evolution that has occurred within it. It has broad appeal to the public and will be a useful guide for science educators as well."--E. O. Wilson. "My Walk Through Time was an unforgettable experience, awe-inspiring, and humbling...rich in scientific fact and unexpectedly, exquisite humor."--Jane Goodall. A Walk Through Time is a landmark book, gorgeously illustrating the remarkable drama of the history of the universe, from the furious blast of the Big Bang to the first pulse of life on Earth, and on through the rich pageant of life's evolution from primordial microbes to the rise of Homo sapiens. Spanning 15 billion years, the story of life's greatest mysteries emerges here through 130 beautiful four-color illustrations and an absorbing narrative. Combining the knowledge of three expert authors, the text covers the most up-to-date findings, including new understandings about how the universe coalesced into galaxies and planets; how microscopic animals can survive in such superheated environments as deep-sea vents and inside the Earth's core, and the possibility that water came to our planet from space in the form of millions of tiny comets. A Walk Through Time gives readers a new perspective on awe-inspiring processes that produced us and our place in the universe. The companion to a traveling exhibition developed by Hewlett Packard and the Foundation for Global Community. * Lavishly produced by the team that created The Illustrated Brief History of Time. Brian Swimme, Ph.D. (San Francisco, CA), is a cosmologist and the director of the Center for the Story of the Universe at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is the author of several books, including The Universe Story. Dr. Sid Liebes (Palo Alto, CA) is a senior scientist at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. (San Francisco, CA) is an evolutionary biologist and consultant to the United Nations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Every step you take in A Walk Through Time moves you millions of years forward in Earth's history. Inspired by the idea of a one-mile stroll through the evolution of life, Sidney Liebes recruited some terrific writers and artists to create a traveling museum exhibit; A Walk Through Time summarizes the experience in book form, with the help of fascinating photos and intelligent, enjoyable text. The most profound realization along this temporal journey is just how small a part human history plays in the big time line. In the museum exhibit, where one foot equals one million years, human presence takes up all of one-thousandth of an inch; in the book's time line, we merit barely a speck. Our tiniest living fellows--the bacteria and blue-green algae, the amazing arthropods, the merging microbes--are the real stars of the show. Readers are treated to intriguing views of bizarre organisms like tardigrades, velvet worms, and lichens ("Taking everything we know about algae and fungi, we still never would have predicted the outcome of their synergy"), along with the microbes that once ruled the earth. Only at the very end of the line, long after the development of sexual reproduction, after the great Cretaceous extinction, after the development of flight and fur, will you find humans. Taking this walk is a great lesson in perspective, a cautionary tale about hubris and longevity that every human should read. --Therese Littleton

From the Back Cover

Imagine a walk where every step forward transports you a few million years in time. Just such a mind-expanding premise inspired this landmark book, developed from the acclaimed "Walk Through Time" exhibit on tour around the world.

Here, in one lavish volume, is the remarkable drama of the history of the universe and life on Earth. Travel from the furious blast of the Big Bang to the first pulse of life, and on through the rich pageant of life's evolution from primordial microbes to the rise of Homo sapiens. Span 15 billion years to discover life's greatest mysteries emerging. Over 130 beautiful four-color illustrations and an absorbing narrative highlight significant events and themes in Earth's life story. The original exhibit itself is re-created as a timeline that runs throughout the book, pinpointing key stages in the evolutionary drama and where they fall in the vast sweep of time.

One result is a new appreciation of the rich complexity of the life processes of the planet aeons before the appearance of large-scale plants and animals. On the mile-long scale of the original "Walk," for example, microbial life appears 4,000 feet in the past and remains the sole life-form for most of the mile. Humans appear merely three feet ago. The last ice age concludes only one-tenth of an inch in the past, and the world's population currently doubles each half a thousandth of an inch.

By relating life's story according to the accurate timeline of evolution, A Walk Through Time highlights just what latecomers we humans are to Earth's family of life, and showcases the surprising ingenuity and stamina of the microbial life that preceded us and still supports the life all around us. The book also reveals the stunning effects the human species has wrought in so short a span of time, precipitating what may become the largest species extinction in 65 million years.

All along the way, we are informed of the most important recent discoveries. We explore the exuberant creativity of microbial life-forms and learn about their surprisingly cosmopolitan lives, interconnected in a teeming web of symbiotic relationships described as the first World Wide Web of information exchange. We learn about the many mysteries being unraveled as we probe the code of DNA; how the universe coalesced into galaxies and planets; and how microscopic animals can survive in such superheated environments as deep-sea vents and deep inside the Earth. Most importantly, we learn that we can no longer perceive Earth as an inert lump of rock with an assembly of different life-forms, but must understand that our planet comprises one comprehensive, intricately woven life system.

Those who take this walk through time will gain a new understanding of the wondrous history of how life developed, a feeling of awe and inspiration for the complexity and beauty of the processes that have made life possible over billions of years, and a greater appreciation for the growing impact the human species is having on the future of all the myriad forms of life, including our own.

Imagine taking a walk where every step transports you a few million years through time! A Walk Through Time takes you on just such a journey. In addition to the informative main text, which tells the lively story of the evolution of life, the book contains the original text and illustrations of the acclaimed "Walk Through Time" exhibition on tour around the world. This innovative exhibition tells the story of life's evolution in a mile-long walk highlighting the major developments.

In the book, the text of the exhibition runs along the bottom of the pages, along with a timeline to show how many millions of years have passed. Beautifully written and lavishly illustrated, A Walk Through Time allows you to both savor the astonishing story of life's evolution through the engaging narrative of the main text and to enjoy the exhibition in the comfort of your own home.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471317004
• ISBN-13: 978-0471317005
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The interconnected web of existence, January 18, 2000

By 

Dave Kinnear "Executive Leader Coach" (Lake Forest, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us--The Evolution of Life on Earth (Hardcover)

A Walk Through Time - From Stardust to Us - The evolution of Life on Earth.

A Walk Through Time (AWTT) is an incredibly well done book, from all aspects. The artwork and printing make it suitable for display and the content challenges us to re-think our position in the world and the decisions we are making.

The explanation of evolution is both plausible and understandable to the lay person. Yet the mystery of life is not diminished or hidden, so there is more than enough room for those who understand our existence through their love of God.

Beginning more than 5,000 MYA (5,000 Million Years Ago, or 5 Billion Years Ago) we are told, the "universe did indeed begin in an explosion of energy powerful enough to send all matter flying apart for billions of years into the future." From that starting point, AWTT traces with considerable detail the evolution of our living earth of which we are a part. And everywhere the mystery of "the life force" is to be found.

One can read the prose or follow the exhibition text along the bottom of the pages, or take in both to re-enforce what is being explained. Sidney Liebes managed to convince HP of the merits of creating a 1mile "walk through time." That project is staffed by volunteers and has been presented in a dozen venues in three countries. The "exhibition text" mentioned above is from that project.

The final paragraph of the book summarizes the challenge for our existence in this totally interconnected web of life. "Is it possible that a sense of awe, wonder and humility, of origins, place, possibilities, and recovery of a belief in the sacredness of nature, can, and perhaps must, become operational imperatives in guiding humanity into the future? Rather than pondering the illusive purpose of life, can we not accept and appreciate the gift, live the life we are given, respect all life, and preserve options for the future. Though none of us has the power to control the future, each of us is free to determine how we will contribute to the circumstance out of which the future will evolve."

Perhaps the purpose of life is simply to ensure that life continues. Then there is much in this book to set us on the right path.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Way to View Life's History, March 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us--The Evolution of Life on Earth (Hardcover)

Keith Cowing, Editor of the Astrobiology Web: I grew up in Meriden Connecticut in the 1960's, and like most boys, was fascinated by dinosaurs. Lucky for me, we lived an easy half hour drive from the Peabody Museum at Yale University. One of the most prominent features at the museum for half a century is a large mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger high above the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. This mural was often used in a number of Time-Life books (which I devoured) to depict the march of time and evolution of life. As such, this mural - and its linear format -long ago became fixed as the mental template with which I view and interpret the history of life on Earth. In the Summer of 1997 I had the opportunity to attend a Gordon Conference on the origin of life. One of the poster sessions featured a rather unusual presentation: a series of images describing the origin and evolution of life on Earth - from inorganic chemistry to humans. The pictures were arrayed in a linear fashion in the hallway outside the meeting room. This was a small version of Sid Liebes' wonderful 'Walk Through Time ... from stardust to us; A Five Billion Year Walk' exhibit. When implemented in its full-blown configuration (one mile long) one can spend a leisurly hour or so walking through time. Now Sid and his co-authors have managed to capture this exhibit in a book. 'A Walk Through Time' captures that exhibit in a portable format - with a text deftly designed to both teach the novice as well as entertain the seasoned biologist. Topics range from the formation of the very elements that compose our star, our planet, and ourselves through the formation of our solar system - and Earth. As the book continues, it describes the deposition of the ingredients for life on Earth, life's appearance, diversification, and expansion across this planet - all in a sequential fashion. A chronological timeline on the bottom of each page helps callibrate your movement across time. When you put the book down, you're left with a clearer appreciation for how fast life appeared (as soon as it could), how long it remained in a relatively simple state, how fast evolutionary explosions could transform Earth's biota, and how infinitesimally small our own tenure on Earth truly is. Moreover, using this book to look at the world now and then back at our heritage, it also becomes clear that this planet is still overwelmingly populated by simple organisms similar to those which ruled the Earth for billions of years. Life is both innovative and conservative at the same time. If there was ever a book designed for an Astrobiology (or Biology) course for non-majors dealing with the origin, evolution, and distribution of life on this planet, this is it. Highly recommended.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The latest in evolution science made beautiful., March 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us--The Evolution of Life on Earth (Hardcover)

"A Walk Through Time" is a stunning tale of the history of the universe from the very beginnings to the present. Accompanied by photos and graphs on every page, I was able to see my own evolution and interconnections with all elements of the universe as never before. Particularly fascinating were explorations of how distinctions between animate and inanimate are blurring, and of how every aspect of Earth - soil, rock, water, and air are permeated and altered by living creatures. We are kin to all. With disturbing evidence, the book describes how humans are now precipitating what could become the greatest extinction of species in the last 65 million years and these effects threaten the diversity and stability of life for 10's of millions of years into the future. With detail and clarity, the book describes what science has recently discovered and where our understandings are incomplete. Like the planet itself, our story will continue to evolve. And the story told has the power to unite humanity in our commitment to the future.