The Story of Earth & Life - A Southern African Perspective on a 4.6-Billion-Year Journey (Paperback)

The story of earth and life provides an insight into this remarkable history – how southern Africa's mineral deposits were formed, how its life evolved and how its landscape was shaped. Along the way readers will be enthralled by accounts of the Big Bang that marked the beginning of time and matter, by drifting and colliding continents, folding and fracturing rocks, meteors colliding with the Earth, volcanic eruptions, and the start of life. Other topics include why South Africa is so rich in minerals, how glacial deposits came to be found in the Karoo, why dinosaurs became extinct, how mammals developed from reptiles, and how closely humans are related to the apes.

The answers to many such questions can be found in this title. Anyone interested in the landscape and ecosystems in which we live will be intrigued by this title.

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Tue, 5 Jan 2010 | Review by: Eugene Griessel

A stunning tour de force, lucidly and succinctly describing the geological,paleontological and archaeological history of the Southern African continent as seen in the light of current scientific thought. Beautifully illustrated and written in a style that would not daunt the complete neophyte in the difficult concepts being explored. A book that deserves a place on any and every South African bookshelf - perhaps any bookshelf in the world, for the microcosm it describes is largely applicable to the entire planet. If you want to know where and how the land under our feet came from - and even where it's likely to be going, this book is for you.

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