A (Very Brief) History of Life on Earth

Winner of the 2022 Royal Society Science Book Award

“The book moves at dizzying speed across billions of years... Gee is a wonderfully captivating writer, blending humor, subtlety, polemics, and poetry to enrich his incredibly interwoven narrative... [bringing] lucid meaning to the immensely complex narratives.” - The Times

Henry G makes the diversely changing canvas of life understandable and exciting. Who will enjoy reading this book? Everyone! —Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

For billions of years, Earth was a strange, inhospitable place—covered by turbulent seas, its landscape slowly shaped by ceaseless volcanic eruptions, and an atmosphere in a constant state of chemical flux. Yet, despite facing every setback living things could muster, life withered and rose again to evolve. Life learned, adapted, and persisted over the billions of years that followed. It withstood fire and ice. It gave birth to sponges, which, over billions of years of complex evolution and adaptation, braved the unknown on harsh shores and sought their existence beyond the seas. From that first foray to the spread of the early hominins who later became Homo sapiens, life has persisted unabated. “A Very Short History of Life” is an enlightening story of survival and perseverance, illuminating the delicate balance in which life has always existed, and continues to exist today. It is our planet as you have never seen it before. Henry Gee's words teem with life—massive supercontinents drifting, colliding, and merging, shaping the face of the planet as we know it today. Creatures are engagingly rendered, from the "communal" bacteria that inhabit the seas, to the squabbling dinosaurs of the Triassic period, to the magnificent mammals that hold the (newly evolved) future in their hands. These early, long-extinct, almost alien life forms are brought to life in thrilling detail. The stages of life's evolution—from the development of the digestive system to the awe of the creatures that soar in the sky—are conveyed with captivating familiarity and relatability.