A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters

Written by Andrew H. Knoll

Narrated by Tom Parks

How well do you know the ground beneath your feet? A primer for every Earth resident, by Harvard’s acclaimed geologist.

“A sublime chronicle of our planet."" –Booklist, STARRED review

Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roamed by fearsome monsters. Probably most or even all of the above. 

The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster, filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller. But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative. Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science, renowned geologist Andrew H. Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth, charting our home planet's epic 4.6 billion-year story. Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context, A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9780062853943

Andrew H. Knoll

Andrew H. Knoll is the Fisher Professor of Natural History at Harvard University. His honors include the International Prize for Biology, the Charles Doolittle Walcott and the Mary Clark Thompson Medals of the National Academy of Sciences, the Paleontological Society Medal, and the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London. For nearly two decades he served on the science team for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission. Knoll is also the author of Life on a Young Planet, for which he received the Phi Beta Kappa Book Award in Science.

[Jurriaan Knol · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A nice overview and excellent primer for the uninitiated, but nothing new really if you've already dabbled a bit in this subject. Could have done without the preachy bit at the end.

[Thorn Hill · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found it interesting and I liked that it was short and comprehensive.

[Ganesh Ramcharran · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great teachings. A very detailed conception of what you need to know about the earth.

[Gloriana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this! I appreciated the way the author presented the information.

[Robert Kerr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Short, to the point Easy voice to listen and understand

[jcvogan1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A brief but useful introduction to the history of the Earth. Well worth the time. Very respectful of the reader’s time

[Inge Wertwijn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fiver stars for the first 9 chapters. I learned a lot.
Chapter 10 is very different. It seems to be the emotional reason for having written this book, to warn us that we are exhausting the planet. I understand. But I see this again and again. Great scientific books, careful hypothesis, great evidence; and then suddenly "THE MESSAGE" appears. The problem is, the message is based on a conception of human, as the intelligent uber-species, for which there is no evidence whatsoever, nor does the book even try to explain how we came to be "so intelligent".
I will remember the book for the first 9 chapters and ignore the rest.

[ken munro · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't get past the obligatory global warming hype at the beginning of the book. Like too many academic authors, he couldn't avoid the urge to preach the warmest religion. Killed the vibe and all credibility for me.

[jjbooklvr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A slim volume to cover such a long time period and yet I still felt I learned a lot. Perfect for anyone interested in how the earth came to be and its evolution.

[eduscapes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Timely Take-Aways for Life-Long Learning

Several new works of nonfiction explore the long history of planet Earth including the relatively recent impact of humans and other animals. Each provides a unique perspective and context for investigation.
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A Brief History of Earth
Andrew H. Knoll, Apr 2021, Custom House, an imprint of Harper Collins
Themes: Natural history, Science, Earth science

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARTH takes readers on a 4.6 billion-year journey through the science of our planet with chapters exploring the chemical, physical, biological, oxygen, animal, green, catastrophic, and human Earth. Of particular note are the excellent illustrations, conversational writing style, and balance of anecdotes with facts.
Take-aways: Educators will find the connections to climate change useful within the larger context of earth history. This book would be a good choice for an AP content-area reading assignment.

[knightlight777 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting and well formatted book giving a very long perspective on our vast history in a condensed concise format. It is truly amazing to see how so many changes and convulsions led to where we are today. The mass extinctions are also presented and chilling. It makes one wonder are we to eventually be added to that list.

Aside from the science of the story the closing message of course is the great warning we hear everyday in the news. That message of course global warming and the consequence caused by our influences on our environment in a very negative way. Of course there is a counter argument that global changes are going to proceed regardless of our influence; such as being in-between ice ages. However our cumulative fossil fuel use coupled with our general pollution of the waterways cannot be denied as pushing us toward unknown yet catastrophize.