What on Earth Evolved?: 100 Species That Changed the World [Hardcover]

Christopher Lloyd (Author), Carol Baicker-McKee (Illustrator), Andy Forshaw (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2009

Published on the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, an erudite, original, and lavishly illustrated guide to the most important species in the history of the planet.

In our planet’s highly competitive history, a few species have been conspicuously successful. Humankind, for one, but also ants, potatoes, tulips, and sheep. Within the stories of these influential species lies the story of life on earth.

In this expansive, articulate, and insightful book, C hristopher Lloyd explores the two eras that have defined the planet—Before Man and After Man. T he former was a time of strange creatures and loose bits of genetic code, the latter a sprawling period of invention and cosmic transformation. With remarkable eloquence, Lloyd takes us through both eras, weaving in capsule biographies of the most successful species. All in all, it’s a kind of who’s who of biology, as well as an innovative picture of the planet’s history.

Not only a celebration of Darwin’s legacy but also a timely reexamination of the evolution of life, What on Earth Evolved? is a testament to the lasting influence of a few crucible moments in history—and a reminder that the legacy of humankind is still yet be determined.

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED? 'A gripping re-telling of the most extraordinary story ever told' INDEPENDENT 'An ambitious history of the planet from the Big Bang to the present day' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'BOOKS OF THE YEAR' 'Compelling ... remarkably far-reaching and even-handed' SUNDAY TIMES --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Christopher Lloyd is the technology correspondent for the Sunday Times of London. In 1994 he won the Texaco award for the Science Journalist of the Year. After leaving journalism, he ran a number of internet and educational publishing businesses. More information is available at www.whatonearthhappened.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596916540
• ISBN-13: 978-1596916548
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Evolution > Organic

More About the Author

CHRISTOPHER LLOYD has had a broad and comprehensive career both as a journalist, writer and as a general manager in the education business.

After graduating from Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1991 with two scholarships and a double first-class degree in History,

Christopher Lloyd then became a graduate trainee journalist on The Sunday Times newspaper and was trained at the City University where he gained a diploma in newspaper journalism (for more biographical details go to www.whatonearthevolved.com).

Christopher Lloyd now divides his time between writing books and delivering interactive lectures / workshops to schools, societies, literary festivals and other organisations.

The What on Earth? series of narrative reference books are designed to provide a holistic view of world history from a chronological, biological and non-living perspective.

1) What on Earth Happened? the Complete Story of Planet, Life and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day was published by Bloomsbury in October 2008. A fully-illustrated hardback book, it was serialised in The Independent newspaper under in the UK under the title The World, A Pocket History over 14 days between Saturday 7th to Friday 20th February 2009.

An abridged paperback edition called What on Earth Happened? In Brief was launched in the UK in June 2009. A Kindle edition is available in the USA.

What on Earth Happened? has 14 translations currently underway.

2) What on Earth Evolved? 100 Species that Changed the World, published in November 2009, is the second in the series of What on Earth? books.

3) What on Earth Mattered? 100 materials that Shaped the World, the third in the series, is due to be published in autumn 2011.

For more details go to www.whatonearthhappened.com or www.whatonearthevolved.com

You can email the author at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Surprising Errors!, November 22, 2010

By 

Sam Santhosh "Sam Santhosh" (Pleasanton, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: What on Earth Evolved?: 100 Species That Changed the World (Hardcover)

I was impressed with the theme and beautiful lay out of the book when I saw it at the book store. But on a quick review of a couple of chapters, I saw two errors which made me lose confidence in the book.

On Page 13, "Even more shocking was that of the 25,000 human genes at least 95 per cent turn out to have no apparent function at all." Ouch! I guess the author meant 95% of the DNA has no apparent function - but what an error!

On Page 170, "Elephants have no less an impact... most popularly by Indian chief Chandragupta Maurya. His 9000 elephants were according to Greek historian Plutarch, instrumental in deterring invasion by Greek adventurer Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC" Sounds well researched and impressive? But unfortunately it is wrong. Chandragupta Maurya was a teenager when Alexander invaded India. Alexander did beat King Poros and his elephant troops, but turned back before proceeding much further into India since his troops wanted to return. They might have been influenced by rumors of the strength of King Nanda of Magadha who would have been Alexander's next adversary if he had moved further into India. After Alexander left India, there was a power vacuum which Chandragupta Maurya took advantage of. But he had to fight many battles and it took many years for him to establish the Mauryan empire and its powerful army. Alexander was long dead by then!. However there is evidence of Chandragupta Maurya supplying elephants to one of Alexander's successors - Selecus, whose daughter Helen was given to Chandragupta in marriage - but that is another story.

Everybody makes errors, but there is no excuse for these type of errors in a book of this nature. After spending $45, I feel disappointed.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Untrustworthy: Errors, Poor Fact Checking, and Negligent Proof Reading, December 19, 2010

By 

Christopher C. Tew (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What on Earth Evolved?: 100 Species That Changed the World (Hardcover)

Sam Santhosh's review is a good warning, but he just scratches the surface about what went wrong in the production of "What on Earth Evolved?". Writing 400 pages on any topic is a gargantuan undertaking, but it is especially so when one has no obvious expertise in the subject at hand. Christopher Lloyd's lack of expertise becomes even more serious an issue because neither the book's fact checker nor proof reader has taken up the slack.
I have got to page 121 thus far. I have waded through "coral fish" which has been substituted for what apparently should be "coral polyps" on at least two occasions, frogs illustrated and captioned as "the pioneer class of semi-terrestrial fish - the amphibians" (all modern amphibians are relative late-comers to the amphibians), Cornell University being moved to Seattle, the story of European grape vines and the origin of their (modern) rootstock being made hash of twice - on pages 52-53 where it is got backwards, and again (following a reference) on pages 298-299 where the solution is straightened out but the problem is shifted to aphids without an accurate reminder of what the real problem was, Lystrosaurus being given the same thermo-regulating qualities as Dimetrodon even though the illustration shows Lystrosaurus (correctly) without Dimetrodon's sail and no other explanation being offered for its supposed thermo-regulatory powers, making a botch of the origins of pterosaurs, "as much ... than" and "here" passing for "as much ... as" and "hear" - well, you get the drift. When writing about extinct animals, Lloyd almost always goes far beyond the popular writings of paleontologists in extrapolating behavior from fossils, even though he specifically mentions the problem of doing so when discussing trace fossils (footprints).
I can get past "What on Earth Evolved?" having its specific chapters set in one of the ugliest Courier Bold-style type faces I've ever seen (the introductory chapters are rather nicely set), but I cannot get past virtually every chapter being laced with factual landmines, and the spelling and grammatical errors are inexcusable. Illustrator Andrew Forshaw has a nice enough style, tending toward a cloisonned effect, but some of his art is overly reduced so that details become muddied, and he is either a master of many styles, or the book contains oodles of art that he did not do and which are are not credited to the original artists.
Lloyd does provide several instances of new information that challenge what I have understood from older sources about the various living beings involved, and for the interest these instances generate I give one star, but I cannot trust anything he writes without checking every statement for myself, and I don't have that kind of time. If Lloyd insists on writing this sort of book, he must hire a staff that can compensate for his weaknesses and has the courage to inform the boss when he gets off-track.
I have "What on Earth Evolved?" in the smallest room of the house. Its short chapters suit that location, and I enjoy well enough playing "Got'cha" with it, but I suspect that I'm only finding about half the errors, and that is scary.
I feel regret for the people who have bought, read, and reviewed this book without realizing that it is so basically inaccurate. "What on Earth Evolved?" should NOT be used as evidence for evolution, it should NOT be given to children, and it is NOT appropriate even for any adult who does not have sufficient background in the various applicable areas of biology, paleontology, and geology to avoid being led down the garden path. This is a real shame, as a well-written book covering exactly the same topics would be a most useful source for all. Nevertheless, Mr Lloyd's writing is simply too untrustworthy to have any use except to generate interest for a competently written book to come.

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it with curious kids, October 29, 2011

By 

David Roth (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What on Earth Evolved?: 100 Species That Changed the World (Hardcover)

The book has wonderfully rich, 4 page, information-filled entries on each of the most important organisms on Earth. Smallpox. Earthworms. Corn. T Rex. Mosquitoes. These are wonderful ways to engage with very curious 9-12 year olds; it's 10 times as interesting and 10 times as dense in content as what they're getting in school. I'm educated but not a scientist so I cannot judge the book on its accuracy. But we love it.