When proposing his theory of evolution, Darwin admitted that the lack of a fossil record before the Cambrian represented a potential flaw in evolution. In this book, Brasier provides a comprehensive answer to this problem. He tells the story of the earliest forms of life in the pre-Cambrian era (as well as some very early Cambrian animals). He also explains the background to the discoveries and why Victorian scientists of Darwin's era never found these fossils.
Brasier tells his story with a masterful flare and a wry British sense of humor. He humorously compares one fossil worm to a condom. Near the end of the book, he attempts to summarize the quality of microfauna fossils through an increase in dung (as more microscopic organisms were eaten, they were fossilized only in dung, whereas pre-Cambrian microorganisms appear in fine detail).
Brasier also incorporates a deep knowledge of the history of science and weaves it seamlessly into the book. Unlike some books in this genre, the personal narratives and science history do not overwhelm the actual discussion of the science. He does this by using the history and personal experiences to explain the nature of science and importance of theories. For example, he integrates Victorian fallacies (such as Lyell's Hunch predicting uniformity in the fossil record) with the scientific challenges of pre-Cambrian life.
Brasier is also very concerned with not presuming certain chains of causation. He cautions the reader not to accept claims regarding older fossils at face value, and delights in recalling cases when paleontologists claimed to have unique pre-Cambrian animal fossils, only to discover that they simply had bacterial mats. One of my favorite examples of Brasier's willingness to toy with causation is his explanation of the massive glaciations know as snowball earth. He proposes that snowball earth, rather than causing complex life, could have been caused BY complex life as eukaryotic cells captured more carbon when they become fossilized, and hence remove CO2. Any scientist writing a popular book and encourages his audience to maintain a sense of doubt, as Brasier does in his introduction, is worth paying attention to.
Finally, the book has several pages of colorful pictures and a variety of smaller drawings of pre-Cambrian animals (many drawn by the author himself). Because these animals are so different from anything with which we are familiar, these pictures help immeasurably in making the pre-Cambrian world come to life.
Note: This book is definitely not for beginners. I would recommend readers have taken at least a college-level biology course (or be familiar with terms such as foraminifera). It might also be a good idea to read an easier book about the Cambrian, such as Gould's "Wonderful Life," before plunging into this book. Nonetheless, if you are a lay reader (as I am), don't let this book scare you - there are too few other books exploring this fascinating chapter of life.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 11, 2009
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 28, 2015
Dr Brazier writes with a lively pen to chronicle his own far-flung and wonderful adventures through the years and decades
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 16, 2014Top reviews from other countries
Sir Barnabas
A Precambrian puzzle
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 23, 2010
Jon Pennycook
Entertaining travelogue rather than in-depth science
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 17, 2019Peter
A must for those interested in the Subject.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 18, 2014
