Rating: 
Summary: Excellent writing but .... no pictures
Review: This book is about the theory that, over 600 million years ago, the earth underwent periods when it was completely covered with ice, hence, Snowball Earth. Although many scientists have contributed to this theory over the past few decades, the book focuses mainly on the efforts of Dr. Paul Hoffman, the main scientist responsible for developing and promoting the theory, thus raising its status to level that it has today. This is a very well-written book. It vividly describes the way in which science works, as well as the fact that scientists are all too human. It also contains well-written discussions on the science involved. Such a book should contain diagrams, figures, charts, photos, maps, etc., to better illustrate the locations, ideas and facts presented in the text. Unfortunately, the book contains none of the above - no picture whatsoever; if it did, I would have easily given it 5 stars. Despite this shortcoming, the book is definitely worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Earth's History and How Science Is Trying to Read It
Review: This book offers a fascinating look at a possible explanation of how life went from single cell organisms to multicellular organisms. Also shows how different scientists can view and interpret the same data in different ways to support their different views. I have a lot of respect for Ms. Walker. Not only does she interview the main scientists that are involved in this debate, she has gone to some pretty remote areas of the world to see the very rocks that these scientists are basing their views on. That is alot more than most people would expect from someone just relating a story.If you are interested in early life on Earth, you should read this book. If you are interested in how science tries to determine what has gone before, you should read this book. In short, if you are curious about life/science/the earth , "read this book."
Rating:
Summary: Earth's History and How Science Is Trying to Read It
Review: This book offers a fascinating look at a possible explanation of how life went from single cell organisms to multicellular organisms. Also shows how different scientists can view and interpret the same data in different ways to support their different views. I have a lot of respect for Ms. Walker. Not only does she interview the main scientists that are involved in this debate, she has gone to some pretty remote areas of the world to see the very rocks that these scientists are basing their views on. That is alot more than most people would expect from someone just relating a story. If you are interested in early life on Earth, you should read this book. If you are interested in how science tries to determine what has gone before, you should read this book. In short, if you are curious about life/science/the earth , "read this book."
Rating:
Summary: Up close and personal. Theories and Controversy.
Review: This book provides wonderful insight into both an interesting and controversial theory, and the personal and professional struggles of those who debate it. The author pulls no punches in describing the egos, strenghts and foibles of the various protagonists. They are sometimes seen as heroic, other times as petulant. The author comes down a little too strongly in favor of the Snowball Earth theory, but so well exposes the controversy that her particular opinions are not given undue weight. The reader is left juggling many of the same balls that the scientific community is currently dealing with. A quick but delightful read. Certainly worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: Up close and personal. Theories and Controversy.
Review: This book provides wonderful insight into both an interesting and controversial theory, and the personal and professional struggles of those who debate it. The author pulls no punches in describing the egos, strenghts and foibles of the various protagonists. They are sometimes seen as heroic, other times as petulant. The author comes down a little too strongly in favor of the Snowball Earth theory, but so well exposes the controversy that her particular opinions are not given undue weight. The reader is left juggling many of the same balls that the scientific community is currently dealing with. A quick but delightful read. Certainly worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: A great overview of a current controversy
Review: This is an excellent read, for scientists and non-scientists alike. How often do we get snapshots of scientific controversies as they evolve? I can't think of any. And it is an accessible and fascinating controversy for the literate public. Ms. Walker has bent over backwards to keep the geojargon out, and I applaud this. She has done a great job of presenting the scientific problem and the psychological drama implicit in resolving this within the scientific community. Her vignettes of the personalities are great and she pulls no punches. All are presented as humans, with incisive assessments of strengths and weaknesses. She does a great job presenting how they interact, and this for me was the best part of the book. The footnotes are unusually useful and entertaining; would that all footnotes were as readable. I like the way that she uses footnotes to steer the interested reader to other papers and books. The decision not to have photos or maps is strange, this was a mistake that I hope she does not repeat in her future efforts. We may be witnessing the beginnings of a great career in writing science here.
Rating:
Summary: A great overview of a current controversy
Review: This is an excellent read, for scientists and non-scientists alike. How often do we get snapshots of scientific controversies as they evolve? I can't think of any. And it is an accessible controversy. Ms. Walker has bent over backwards to keep the geojargon out, and I applaud this. Her vignettes of the personalities are great and she pulls nopunches. It would be great to hear what some of the principals have to say about their portraits in this book. The footnotes are unusually useful and entertaining, would that all footnotes were as interesting and valuable. The decision not to have photos or maps is strange, and I suspect the author and publisher already regret this oversight. We may be witnessing the beginnings of a great career in writing science here.
Rating:
Summary: Does not talk down to the reader
Review: This is in the finest tradition of English science writing. The author assumes that the readers, even if not educated in geology, will be able to understand the details of the scentific debate. The geologists who commented no doubt are appalled by the low density of rock names per page and there is no mistaking this book for a dense 5-page journal paper. And typically I would agree that writing about scientists' personalities is a mistake, if for no other reason than that most scientists don't have personalities. In this case, however, Walker is a good enough writer to pull it off and the geologists interact for many weeks together in the field so their personalities do become relevant.
It might have been nice to have maps and diagrams as some other reviewers have suggested. On the other hand Walker does a good New Yorker magazine-style job of describing places and structures. If you're a little bit familiar with Australian and southern African geography I don't think you'll miss the maps.
Interesting enough to hold one's attention on an airplane flight.
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