1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910959969503321

Autore

Tattersall Ian

Titolo

Paleontology : a brief history of life / / Ian Tattersall

Pubbl/distr/stampa

West Conshohocken, Pa., : Templeton Press, c2010

ISBN

9786613260604

9781283260602

1283260603

9781599473680

1599473682

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (238 p.)

Collana

Templeton science and religion series

Disciplina

560

Soggetti

Paleontology

Human evolution

Life - Origin

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Rocks, time, and fossils -- Evolutionary processes -- The tree of life -- In the beginning -- The Paleozoic : "ancient life" -- The age of dinosaurs -- The age of mammals -- Of whales and primates -- Walkers and toolmakers -- A cognitive revolution.

Sommario/riassunto

"Endlessly absorbing and informative. It would be hard to imagine a better introduction to this most important and fascinating field."-Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything   Paleontology: A Brief History of Life is the fifth title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, Ian Tattersall, a highly esteemed figure in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology, leads a fascinating tour of the history of life and the evolution of human beings. Starting at the very beginning, Tattersall examines patterns of change in the biosphere over time, and the correlations of biological events with physical changes in the Earth's environment. He introduces the complex of evolutionary processes, situates human beings in the luxuriant diversity of Life (demonstrating that however



remarkable we may legitimately find ourselves to be, we are the product of the same basic forces and processes that have driven the evolutionary histories of all other creatures), and he places the origin of our extraordinary spiritual sensibilities in the context of the exaptational and emergent acquisition of symbolic cognition and thought. Concise and yet comprehensive, historically penetrating and yet up-to-date, responsibly factual and yet engaging, Paleontology serves as the perfect entrée to science's greatest story.