Rating: 
Summary: Great Subject Matter, but overall a disappointing book
Review:
I purchased this book to read on a scuba diving trip in eastern Indonesia over Christmas and was very disappointed (I should have read the online reviews before I did). While the subject matter is fascinating, and a large part of the narrative engaging, much too much time is spent by the author digressing into his often unrelated personal experiences during his travels around the world, name dropping those in his profession, inserting strained literary references and generally telling the reader endless amounts of useless information. Admittedly, in Chapter 1 the Author tells the readers that "where my own experiences with people or places will serve to bring the process of investigation alive then I shall make diversions, the better to illuminate the way forward." This sounds great in theory and a valid alternative to dry, impersonal prose. The problem is that these many, many diversions provide no illumination at all on the subject matter (or the way forward), and they make much of the book read like a bad travelogue, with the author telling us he's in London or Oman or China or somewhere else and how fascinating or wonderful his trip is, such as a conference in Wales where we are told during a dinner he "sat next to a jolly professor of Celtic languages who explained the bardic tradition to me." How does this possibly illuminate anything remotely related to natural history? A few such diversions are tolerable or even folksy, but unfortunately they are never ending in this book. In addition, the work suffers from an appalling lack of tables, maps, charts, diagrams and similar visual information that would help the reader better understand the subject matter. Instead, the book contains pictures of such things as (and I'm not making this up) a row of slot machines in a Las Vegas casino and the tablecloth used during teatime by Lady Smith Woodward. If you want a good book on the natural history of the Earth, keep shopping.
Rating: 
Summary: So, here we are 4,000 million years later
Review: British paleontologist Richard Fortey has written a marvelously concise and erudite historical synopsis of terrestrial life from around 4,000 million years ago, when meteors seeded the planet with the elements, most importantly carbon, that allowed for the evolution of organic molecules, to around 25,000 years ago, when Cro-Magnon Homo sapiens founded interior decorating by painting animals on the walls of his cave living-rooms. Fortey's account necessarily leaves off with the beginning of recorded history. (Blessedly, the life forms "Benifer" and Michael Jackson fail to appear in the narrative even once.) The author hits the high points, including the evolution of single cells, the formation of bacterial colonies, the initiation of chlorophyll-based photosynthesis (that ultimately charged the atmosphere with oxygen), the specialization of cells into tissues, the population of the seas, the advance onto land, the greening of the earth, the separation of ancient Pangaea into today's separate continents, the Age of Dinosaurs, the advent of live-birth from wombs, the ascendancy of mammals, and finally the evolution of Man. For me, the most interesting chapter was on the apocalyptic cataclysm which ended the Age of Dinosaurs, i.e. the asteroid which apparently slammed into the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula creating the Chicxulub Crater. The volume also includes several photo sections that provide an adequate visual summary of the text. The time spans of Fortey's tale are almost beyond mental grasp. For instance, at one point the author states that tool making by hominids began about 2.5 million years ago. Yet the style of the tools, the "technology" if you will, then remained virtually unchanged for the next million years. After witnessing the dizzying pace of technological advancement just during the span of my own life, this stagnation for such an incomprehensible length of time is mind-boggling. I wish I had but a fraction of Fortey's knowledge of our world. LIFE should be required reading in every high school science program.
Rating: 
Summary: Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years....
Review: How can someone summarize the first four billion years of life on Earth in just fewer than four hundred pages? Through his personal expeditions, trials and tribulations, discovery and knowledge, Richard Fortey was able to convey the Earth's life history. The beginning of the book starts out with Fortey's experiences on a geological expedition in Spits Bergen and then on to Australia and England. He writes about his experiences and emotions as he uncovers parts of history that had never been discovered before. Through his discoveries, he goes through what it is to be a Geologist and the different steps you take. Though this is science, Forty believes that science is never free of human emotions and adds every human touch he can to make the book more interesting and relatable to the person. There is not a single paragraph that does not contain some form of a metaphor, relating the Earths history with an English book touch. With conflicting and supporting ideas throughout the book, Fortey never forgets to either give credit or confront an idea from a different scientist. This is a good book for someone who is not completely familiar with Geology and the course of the Earth's history to learn about the history of the Earth. It is written like an English navel, but contains all of the contents of a science and history book. I felt that the metaphors were just eluding the reader from the history and slowing the learning process. Though, I understand his metaphors and human accounts, such as relating dinosaurs to Fantasia the Disney movie to his wife sowing using modified characteristics as the early humans did. I liked how he compared and used examples that everyone could relate to, to convey the Earth and its inhabitant's history. But this book was well written and explaining the ideas, concepts and thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: Good and entertaining
Review: I believe Richard Fortey did a really good job with this book. It is educational and entertaining. The only problem, I believe is that the task of writing the natural history of the first four billion years of life on earth is huge. Richard Fortey is unquestionably an authority, but maybe a one author quest for such an issue is not just (though I insist that definitively he did a great job). There were some interesting things skipped through the history of life as it is told by Fortey and he relies mostly on Paleontology. I was tempted to give this book 5 stars, but this kept bothering me. Fortey shares some anecdotes as a student and some of his trips, that is something I particularly liked, this helped making the reading more bearable and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A great book but still the queries persist
Review: I came to this book after reading 'Trilobite' which I enjoyed immensely and learnt so much from (if not to actually love trilobites as Mr Fortey seems to). 'Life' is vast in its perspective - it is geological and astronomical as well as palaeontological. Perhaps it suffers from this - it is just too much of a mouthful, especially when Mr Fortey adds those delightful personal and literary allusions. I am all in favour of this humanising of science particularly in books that are not intended to be texts, but are nevetheless educational. There are parts of this book that I found slow and unconvincing, but this might be because our knowledge is deficient or confused in these areas - like when life first ventured onto dry land. But maybe this is exactly where Mr Fortey could have made the story more exciting, more questioning. Perhaps I missed it, but it seemed to me that there was little reference to the breakup of Pangaea/Gondwanaland - both of which are well described early in the book. Australians are aware of the impact of the creation of Bass Strait separating mainland Australia from Tasmania. After this happened (but well before European colonisation) there was second (at least second) wave of immigrants (presumably now immersed in the Aboriginal population, but it is possible they displaced the earlier immigrants) and these people brought with them dingoes - the first dogs on the continent. Because these new invaders did not reach Tasmania (or at least didn't take their dogs) the island state kept some of its native fauna - the Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) which didn't disappear until Europeans hunted it to extinction, and the Tasmanian devil which thrives today - but these are gone from the mainland because of the impact of the native dogs. So changes in geography certainly effect life. And yet this is not discussed much in the book. And then we come to the extinction of the dinosaurs. We all know too much about this. We all have prejudices and opinions. I loved the way Mr Fortey approached it from film impressions - 'Fantasia' and 'Jurassic Park' - comparing the way we view dinoaurs as time passes and scholarship improves. But here are some questions that no-one has ever considered for me. Perhaps one day a palaeontologist-writer will venture here? Perhaps you have your pet questions too? 1. It is stated that a world-wide iridium-rich ash is deposited as a result of the K-T boundary impact. But how much iridium would the object have to be carrying to do this? And why do meteors, asteroids etc have this iridium anyway? Could it be that the planet was impacted by a cloud of iridium that has left a covering on other solar objects? I have read some astronomical books that describe the formation of the elements in supernova, but nowhere has iridium been especially mentioned. Perhaps there is a clue to something here. 2. I understand that some animals/plants actually did survive the K-T boundary event; little furry mammals that were to evolve even into ourselves, but also larger reptiles such as crocodiles and turtles. If we forget the animals rendered extinct for a moment, perhaps a study of the survivors will give us some further insights. How did they get through the event when so many others - not individuals, but species - died. This is a very colourful, educative and entertaining read. I like Mr Fortey's style very much and recommend it wholeheartedly for all those who are not looking for a text book.
Rating:
Summary: Making the past accessible
Review: I have to admit that I bought this book at least in part out of a sense of duty. After all, one should have some idea about the history of life on Earth. But now I am getting to work late because I wanted to read just one more chapter in the morning after I got up. "Life" is extremely well written, and rather than just being a list of geological periods with fact sheets, it actually tells a story with many aspects, from the way geology influenced biology, to the constancy of eco-systems, even as the players were being replaced, to finally the way the geological past still influences us today in the form of fossil fuels and feuds among fossilists, among other things. I think it is the later aspect that makes the book so unique. Fortey is very skillful in making the past relevant for us today. He vividly describes the things we would see at a beach of the Silurian, but he also talks about the places where we can find today the traces and fossils left by those plants and animals from hundreds of million years ago. Aside from all that, he also shows the scientists involved in finding out about these things, and all their petty fights and mistakes, as well as their enthusiasm, their sense of wonder, and their insights. If there is one drawback, it's the weakness of the book when it comes to biochemistry and molecular biology. For example, Fortey doesn't cover the new results about the developmental biology of insect wings that also throw light at their evolution, and his description of the evolution of photosynthesis jumps straight from zero to Chlorobium, without much inbetween. Same with the Archea - there is a lot more weirdness going on there than Fortey lets on. But this obviously this is nit-picking in the extreme - most people wouldn't notice that the author is cutting some corners, and these minor details certainly aren't necessary if you want to squeeze some 4 billion years into 400 pages. All in all it is a wonderful book that captivates the reader's attention, and it certainly makes you understand why Fortey stuck to the field even after being trapped on a 2 month trip to Spitzbergen in a tent with a disgruntled graduate student. I would rate it among the top 3 science books I read this year.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Frustrating
Review: It didn't take me very long to figure out that the author had left out of this otherwise engaging and enlightening book the one thing that would prove most helpful to its readers struggling to put this vast amount of information in context- a chart showing the names of the various eras and periods. (The copy I read came from the library, and I took the liberty of creating a chart of the chronology in Excel, cribbed from "What Evolution Is" by Ernst Mayr, and leaving a copy of it on page 1 for the next reader.) Compounding this difficulty is Mr. Fortey's relatively haphazard organization of the material and sparse leavening of information that helps place it in context. For example, at one point in the book, he references dates of 2.5 billion years, and suddenly the book jumps to the Cambrian era of roughly 850 million years ago, with no real attempt to impress that scale upon the reader. The author almost deliberately seems to have wanted to avoid the burden of actually `educating' his audience, preferring instead to plop down next to him or her at some far-off pub and tell stories, leading a meandering tour of the best spots here and there. The tour is in chronological order, but never is the necessity of actually knowing the relative chronology foisted onto the reader. It almost feels as though to Dr. Fortey, `education' is a dirty word - too much the dull, plodding stuff of daily life and not much fun. But I disagree with this approach - though this book was written for a non-professional audience, it is still, I presume, an audience that would like to feel they have learned something. Not being able to place most of the insights in this book into a context or framework undercut this goal and he compounded this error through a circumambulatory writing style, replete with cryptic-sounding creatures whose place in life's strata is fleshed out only sparsely. Additionally, though there are three sections of black and white photographs, there were a number of places where a simple diagram or some other graphic would have done wonders for my comprehension. Nevertheless, through my frustration at this book's failings, I was able to glean some worthwhile insight from this book. And while no one would accuse Dr. Fortey of crafting clear, readable and professional prose, his words do allow his natural enthusiasm (and a bit of hubris) to show through. I was delighted at some of the windows which Dr. Fortey opens onto the methods and history of paleontology, and fascinated by his discussion of recent thinking on which creature first struck out onto the land after billions of years in the water. All in all, one could do worse, but as I am beginning to read "Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth" by Andrew Knoll, it is already clear to me that one could also do a good deal better.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Overview of the History of Life on Earth
Review: Richard Fortey has almost done the impossible, describing in vivid,
elegant prose, the history of life on Earth in a mere 322 pages. Yet I
fear he gives too cursory a treatment; one which have benefited
immensely from including additional drawings, diagrams, and perhaps,
photographs, offering readers more visual insights on Planet Earth's
rich biological history. Among his finest achievements are his
excellent descriptions of cladistics as an important methodological
tool for classifying animal species and higher taxa (The best I've
read in popular science literature so far.), the role of plate
tectonics in influencing the history of life, dinosaurs, and the
terminal Cretaceous mass extinction which killed off non-avian
dinosaurs. Although his professional specialty is invertebrate
paleobiology, Fortey does an admirable job describing the conquest of
the land by plants and arthropods and the terrestrial reptilian and
mammalian faunas which follow. I also commend his frequent insights
on the history of paleontology, offering interesting vignettes which
give readers an inside look on paleontology as a profession. He opens
with an introductory chapter about his graduate education that ought
to appeal to anyone thinking of pursuing paleontology as a
vocation. It's cast in vivid, exciting prose that could be drawn from
the pages of a bestselling thriller. Yet there are some major
omissions. Fortey dismisses or ignores the important contributions of
University of Chicago paleontologists David Raup and the late Jack
Sepkoski in transforming paleontology into a more rigorous,
statistically oriented science. And he ignores major contributions
from other important American paleontologists such as Niles
Eldredge (However, he does cite Eldredge in his
bibliography.)", George Gaylord Simpson, and Steven M. Stanley, to
name but a few, in favor of those from Great Britain. Judging from
Fortey's comments, you might think that Stephen Jay Gould was the most
important 20th Century American paleontologist. So anyone who thinks
that this is simultaneously an excellent history of paleontology and
an elegant history of life will be sadly mistaken. Despite its
numerous flaws, I do recommend Fortey's book, as the most succinct
overview of the history of life on Earth yet published.
Rating:
Summary: Fitting title for a rewarding read
Review: Successfully melding personal adventure with good science and skilled narrative techniques,
Fortey's book compels attention. "An Unauthorized Biography" is a telling catch phrase
conveying the idea that paleontology is a dynamic science. New ideas emerge almost with
every fossil discovery and dogmatic thoughts have no place in the science. As a professional
paleontologist [ i almost said "practicing", but his approach is far to serious for that!]. he has
all the qualifications to relate this story. With the growing number of general level books on
the development of life being released recently, it's difficult to choose among them. This book
certainly ranks among the top choices. Quite simply, this book is what it claims to be: a history of 3 500 million years of earth's plant
and animal inhabitants. Fortey achieves masterful balance between presenting general
themes with illustrative details. In one example, he shows the value of mites in soil
development and what their loss would mean to global environment. The unspoken message
about the use of pesticides is a silent outcry for us to recognize such details. Merged with the scientific work of many researchers are Fortey's accounts of his personal
experiences as a paleontologist. His scenario of the scientific conference makes compelling
reading for anyone wishing to grasp the underlying themes of scientific conflicts. Reaching
beyond his own work, he introduces us to many noteworthy colleagues. Few are criticized
for the value of their work, but their personal habits are subjected to pointed comments.
None of these are out of place; Fortey clearly mourns the loss of colleagues who would have
continued producing welcome results had they not been lost. On the other hand, some
contemporaries are given short shrift: although Graham Cairns Smith's proposal of clay
crystals providing the template for replicating molecules is well described, his name appears
neither in the text nor the brief bibliography. Fortey's chapter on mammalian evolution among the finest in print. His awareness is global,
not limited to a few well-known sites. He ranges over both time and place with skilled ease,
giving the reader vivid pictures of scenarios in life's past. He's comfortable with geology,
biology and genetics. In particular, the Australian conditions over time are well drawn, an
exception to many of the books of this genre. Australia, of course, brings up the issue of
marsupials contrasted with placentals. The adaptive strengths of marsupials should have
given them a competitive edge with placental species, but remained mostly isolated on the
island continent.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read
Review: There really is alot to like about Richard Fortey's book about the first 4 billion years of life on Earth. His style is very readable. I liked his uses of metaphors and similies when describing what an ancient animal looked like or did. While not a textbook and definately a bit thin for the amount of time he covered, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in our ancient past.
And while I do recommend the book, there are a few minor problems here. The first one was the fact that there is no table to know what time period he is referring to. I had to find one online, which is not that hard to do. Also, near the end of the book, Mr. Fortey seemed to be more interested in the conflicts between the scientists than the history of life at times. I understand that our knowledge of fossils and the new ways of dating and analyzing fossils causes us to re-examine older finds, but he basically didn't outline any development of the dinosaurs throughout the Mesozoic. Instead, he focussed more on the experts' fights with one another. I thought he did that too with the mammals during the Cenozoic, although not as much.
But those are minor problems that should not cause anyone to shy away from this book. It is a good, well written book that any non-expert can read and understand.
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