Here On Earth: A Natural History of the Planet

By Tim Flannery

The author of the internationally #1 bestselling The Weather Makers returns with a powerful new book about the fate of the planet. We stand at a crossroads, where comprehension of our place in nature—of our true abilities and of our history—is supremely important. We have formed a global civilization of unprecedented might, driven forward by the power of our minds—a civilization which is transforming our Earth. We are masters of technology, and of comprehension, but it’s what we believe that may, from now on, determine our fate.

Tim Flannery’s first major book since The Weather Makers charts the history of life on our planet. Here on Earth, which draws its points of departure from Darwin and Wallace, Lovelock and Dawkins, is an extraordinary exploration of evolution and sustainability. Our success as a species has had disastrous effects on many of the Earth’s ecosystems and could lead to our downfall. But equally, Flannery argues, we are now equipped as never before to explore our true relationship with the planet on which our biological, economic and cultural futures depend. Here on Earth is not just a dazzling account of life on our planet. It will change the way you live.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781443405638

Tim Flannery

Tim Flannery is a palaeontologist, explorer and conservationist. From the late 1980s, Tim’s focus shifted towards the living mammals of Melanesia and the Pacific Islands. In 1995 he published comprehensive works on the biologically rich regions of New Guinea and the Pacific. Tim maintains a role in Pacific Island conservation efforts today via relationships with organisations and communities in Melanesia.

Reviews for Here On Earth

[liscarey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Flannery gives us an overview of life on our planet and of our species, with an eye to making us see the importance of being a cooperative part of our planet's ecosystem (the Gaia hypothesis) rather than the rulers and exploiters of the ecosystem (the Medea hypothesis.) There's a useful and interesting review of the different paths and perspectives of the two creators of the theory of evolution--Charles Darwin and the less-remembered Alfred Russel Wallace. Darwin held off on publishing for years, in part because he was disturbed by some of the moral implications of his theory. Wallace, in contrast, saw in evolution the beginnings of something like the Gaia hypothesis--that Earth's ecosystem is ultimately an interdependent whole, and the picture of nature as "red in tooth and claw" is at best half the picture.

Over the intervening century and a half these competing visions have played out, with the harsher Medean viewpoint more often prevailing. Now, though, we have reached a point where we potentially endanger the survival of the ecosystem we depend on for our own survival. Flannery makes the case that we both must, and can, become in effect the brain and nervous system of a Gaia that will nurture us along with all the other diversity of life on Earth.

Along the way, he tells some fascinating and illuminating stories. I was enthralled by the account of how mammoths made the Russian steppes more productive and life-diverse by acting as an ecological "banker," controlling vegetation, returning nutrients to the soil, and making it possible for the steppes to be far more productive than they are today--and how their extinction, at least in part due to human over-hunting, ecologically impoverished the steppes. Even more fascinating is his account of how the Australian aborigines first eliminated much of the diversity they found on arriving in Australia, hunting to extinction most of the megafauna of the continent, and then, struggling to survive in the impoverished landscape, effectively took their place as "ecological bankers." Carefully controlled firestick farming took the place of the large grazers; strict cultural rules on when, where, and how to hunt, along with restriction of hunting rights to the clans resident in particular areas, allowed Australia to be preserve much of the productivity the elimination of the megafauna would otherwise have eliminated. European colonists, on their arrival, began pushing the aborigines off their lands and exploiting the land in ways based on their experiences in Europe, and once again severely damaged the productivity of the land. Now, Australians are once again attempting to modify their behavior to preserve their environment and unique fauna, and restore the productivity of the land.

All of this is in support of a discussion of how humans worldwide are now, on the one hand, exploiting the world in ways dangerous to our survival, and groping towards more sustainable practices. Some of the discussion is specifically about political systems: it's easier for democracies to start to lessen their environmental impact, because everyone has some degree of a say in what happens, and everyone has something to lose, making a "take the money and run" approach less attractive. Likewise, modern views of equality of rights and opportunity means that women, who bear most of the biological burden of reproduction, can and do choose to limit their child-bearing in favor of devoting more of their lives to professional, artistic, and volunteer activities. The spread of these rights and opportunities creates the possibility of escaping the Malthusian trap of outrunning our resources by limiting our reproduction to a sustainable level and even reducing the total human population a bit without resorting to China's harsh and oppressive measures.

Unfortunately, while I like the information and the viewpoint of the book, and learned some useful and interesting things from it, I do think that too much of it is preaching to the choir. In some of the chapters where I would most like him to be making a convincing case, Flannery is in fact offering arguments and examples that I fear will convince no one who does not already agree with him. And the final, summary chapter waivers between hope and gloom in a repetitive and uncompelling manner.

An interesting book, but I can't recommend it if you're not already sympathetic to the Gaia hypothesis.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[tedwitham · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eloquent and persuasive: Flannery has honed his arguments, and produces a good case for hope in our current crisis. The book covers a lot of ground. I was intrigued by the extent to which Flannery understands humanity to be a global superorganism, and the importance of this both literally and metaphorically in securing a sustainable future. Flannery is not one of the rabid atheists of recent years. In fact, his praise of Richard Dawkins is almost criticism. He is open to wonder at this amazing world, and he is sensitive to the good religious faith has done, especially in creating an atmosphere of love one for another and for 'Gaia'. On the other hand, he is trenchantly critical of the religioius faith when he perceives particular doctrines to be anti-environment.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a disappointing book in that it started out to provide science related to the history of the earth but then it switched over to a discussion of how the earth is not being cared for as it should. While this larger section of the book has good points and is well researched, this is not what the title of the book indicates. I was not looking for a discussion of air pollution, water pollution, carbon emissions, and methods to address these problems. I wanted a scientific discussion of the changes in the earth over astronomical and geological time.

[katong_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My ebook edition was marred by terrible formatting errors.

[jacoombs_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

When he sticks to the subject matter suggested by his subtitle he is quite good. A convincing and entertaining writer on our natural world but an agenda that leads him too far astray.

[katewa20 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Attempt to pull back and make sense of the world and humanity's place in it. Compares approaches of Darwin, and Wallace. Instead of Dawkin's concept of the selfish gene, he focuses more on the positive and intricate cooperation within ecosystems.

[susiebookworm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet is intended as a popular science book that explains how the natural history of humanity has impacted the environment. At its heart are two theories of, basically, how Earth works. One is the Medea hypothesis, in which species naturally cause their own self-destruction by exploiting resources to the point of collapse. The other is the Gaia hypothesis, where Earth regulates itself (like homeostasis). The central purpose of the book is to determine whether Earth (under the influence of humans) is following a Medean or a Gaian path and what can be done by humanity to prevent complete ecological collapse.Here on Earth is divided into six sections. They are (in an oversimplified version):1. Basic overviews of theories of evolution and of other theories of how life on Earth runs2. The beginnings of human life on Earth3. Humans since the advent of agriculture4. Human impact on the environment5. Sociology and the environment6. What the future holdsContrary to the subtitle "A Natural History of the Planet," Here on Earth is less of a concise history of Earth's origins and the evolution of humanity and more of a compendium of facts about these subjects. That said, however, it's still completely fascinating. For example, did you know that there actually is a (real) creature referred to as a unicorn? It's a type of rhino with one single, really long horn - and it lasted at least until the 10th century A.D. Besides being interesting, though, Flannery writes for the average person. He doesn't oversimplify things to the point of seeming like he's teaching down to readers, but at the same time most of what he writes is perfectly comprehensible to me (I've had only the basic required high school science classes, and the majority of the few places in the book that I didn't completely understand were based on politics and economics, which I don't usually understand anyway). Flannery backs up his information with sources (appropriately cited with notes in the back), and he keeps away from extremist, gloom-and-doom predictions. Even though the book carries a clear message for better ecological management and conservation, it's not "SAVE THE EARTH OR WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE"; it's "Our current (and past) practices are probably going to come back to bite us in the butt, so let's try to do something to remedy it now." Flannery isn't a Luddite, either - he encourages the use of technology in managing resources and as potential future ways of fixing environmental problems. My one complaint about Here on Earth, which was otherwise fascinating and eye-opening for me on the topics of human and natural history and environmental science, is that Flannery does little to explain how average people can change the current environmental state, instead detailing what governments and corporations, etc. should improve on. But hey, it's a relatively small book for its topic and there's only so much that can be fit into it.Concluding Thoughts: I foresee more science courses in my future, and my plans for my summer garden just skyrocketed.

[twitham_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eloquent and persuasive: Flannery has honed his arguments, and produces a good case for hope in our current crisis. The book covers a lot of ground. I was intrigued by the extent to which Flannery understands humanity to be a global superorganism, and the importance of this both literally and metaphorically in securing a sustainable future. Flannery is not one of the rabid atheists of recent years. In fact, his praise of Richard Dawkins is almost criticism. He is open to wonder at this amazing world, and he is sensitive to the good religious faith has done, especially in creating an atmosphere of love one for another and for 'Gaia'. On the other hand, he is trenchantly critical of the religioius faith when he perceives particular doctrines to be anti-environment.

[jewsbury · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Flannery describes this book as a biography of Earth and mankind. Actually it is a particular account of who we are, where we are headed, what choices we have, and what are our responsibilities. The ‘we’ being us as individuals and as members of societies, cultures, our species and our ecosystem. Of course philosophers have fruitlessly pummelled similar topics for millennia. In contrast Flannery gives these issues life from the perspective of the newer sciences of ecology, palaeontology etc.The book highlights the Earth’s great systems: atmosphere, climate, life, ionosphere, oceans and crust. Inevitably these systems are intricately eco-connected. Thus it is life that has created and now sustains an oxygenated blue sky, unpolluted waters and fertile soils. Just in time, thanks to satellites and microelectronics, we have the ability to monitor and manage these systems. Flannery weaves a story around two opposing themes: dare-devil recklessness and responsible long-term management. His message of hope is that the ‘smaller world’ is making it easier for everyone to join in widespread conversations and come to a common understanding. Thus we might muddle through despite the wrecking actions of those who wield political power. We need to see ourselves as our great-grandchildren will see us – stupid polluters. Unnecessary consumption is selfish. Only then shall we fully value the health of world systems as critical shared resources. And societies will penalize the pursuit of short-sighted destructive gains. The good news is that by nature we are cooperative within cultural groups. The beliefs of our cultural groups are more responsive to change than our genes. Thus shared cultural beliefs decide our futures. By good fortune we have opportunity, motive and suitable inclinations. Yet we are short of a spark to ignite concerted action. I found it an easy book to read. However, Flannery’s low-key rather Anglo-centric approach is unlikely to start the conflagration.