{"product_id":"the-story-of-life-9780198525905","title":"The Story of Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this attractively illustrated volume  eminent biologist Sir Richard Southwood offers a remarkable survey of life in all its forms  ranging from the earliest single-celled bacteria  to the evolution and extinction of animals such as the dinosaurs  to the variety of life today. The book follows the major geological periods--such as the Cambrian  Ordovician  Silurian  and Devonian--explaining how great planetary changes such as the movement of the continents  the rising and falling of sea level  and the periods of glaciation  affected the forms of life on Earth. Beginning with the earliest and simplest forms of life  Southwood discusses such amazing creatures as bacteria that live around geysers and thermal vents and can survive in boiling water. He explains how the development of skeletons triggered the Cambrian Explosion  when animals such as trilobites  sea scorpions  shellfish  cephalopods first spread around the earth. He also examines such landmarks of evolution as the appearance of eggs in shells and of insects in flight. We read about the great dinosaurs and the arrival of the mammals and the primates  and the great extinctions  including the Permian (the largest in fossil history  wiping out 95% of animals) and the Cretaceous\/Tertiary (K\/T) extinction (the one that wiped out the dinosaurs). Southwood concludes by examining the impact of humanity on Earth  considering if we ourselves might not unleash the next major extinction. Southwoods love for his subject  for the life he describes so vividly  shines through this carefully crafted story. Generously illustrated with line drawings showing the fauna and flora of the Earth  both past and present  The Story of Life will enthrall anyone interested in nature and natural history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45276516024373,"sku":"ByrdShop_0198525907","price":65.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780198525905.jpg?v=1780554261","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-story-of-life-9780198525905","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}