Publisher's Synopsis
Planet Earth describes the history of Earth from its very beginnings to the planet we know today. It travels an amazing journey through time, starting at the unimaginably hot dense speck from which the universe itself originated, eons before the Earth began. Hurtling through time to the formation of the solar system, the book explores the planet's past in detail, describing the development of land, sea, atmosphere, climate and life, until we reach the planet that we inhabit today. Tackling the most fundamental issues of our day, the book discusses the development of our understanding of the origin of the universe, of the solar system and the beginnings and evolution of life on Earth. This epic journey, as vast as time itself, covers all of the main events of the Earth's turbulent history, pausing fleetingly every million or so years to consider the Earth's progress. It explores some of the landmark events such as the formation of the Earth's crust and oceans, the beginnings of life, enormous changes to climate, rising and falling sea levels, moving continents and mass extinctions. Describing current scientific understanding in a highly accessible style, this book reveals the fascinating history of the Earth.
