The Wonder of Life on Earth

"A marvellously engaging writer."
The Times

Discover the story of life on our planet as you have never seen it before, from winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize, Henry Gee. The perfect gift for curious minds.

In 30 bite-size chapters, Nature editor and author of the award-winning A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth Henry Gee charts the incredible, unlikely story of life on our planet, with colour illustrations from artist Raxenne Maniquiz.

Life began billions of years ago, as tiny bubbles sheltering from toxic seawater began to spring up on the ocean floor. What follows is the ultimate survival story: faced with supervolcanoes, toxic air and asteroids – life adapted.

The Wonder of Life on Earth boils down billions of years of evolution into one exquisite 80-page book, giving a broad overview that focuses on some of the most pivotal moments in the story of life: including mass extinctions, the egg, the seed, the spine and the ear. Near misses for the existence of life, and evolutionary crossroads that paved the way for the world we know today.

Artwork from talented botanical illustrator and designer Raxenne Maniquiz brings to life a cavalcade of strange and marvellous creatures: travel back in time to look inside bacteria and the first cells, to the planet's first trees and plants, to the odd, soft-bodied rangeomorphs, and on to armoured fishes, dinosaurs, nimble mammals and endlessly adaptable apes and primates.

Henry's gripping account makes it easy to understand complex processes like the carbon cycle, natural selection, fossilisation and the galactic fluctuations that have shaped our planet and its inhabitants.

This astonishing and readable natural history is perfect for anyone looking for an accessible introduction to the biggest topic around: LIFE.