A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us: The Evolution of Life on Earth

by Elisabet Sahtouris and Sidney Liebes

An introduction to the history of the universe, from the big bang to the origin of life on Earth, to the evolution of human beings. This text promotes the Gaia view of life, describing recent findings... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471317004
• ISBN13: 9780471317005
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.8" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

An exciting dance through time.

I never had the opportunity to see the "Walk Through Time" exhibition, initiated by Sidney Liebes and supported by Hewlett-Packard, but it must have been a marvelous experience. What rivets my attention in this book, however, even more than the beautiful pictures of the exhibit, is the text written by Elisabet Sahtouris, who expresses her own "cosmovision" with an incomparable eloquence and vitality. While her words are grounded solidly in the most advanced theoretical and empirical evolutionary science, she takes the reader not on a walk but an exciting dance through time. If I were asked to recommend just one book that best told the story of how the universe conspired to bring us into being this would be it. It's a real "roots" story but the roots are not merely those of a particular individual or family or species but of all life, reaching back to the point where time itself loses meaning.Keith Chandler, author of Beyond Civilization

most interesting book i've read in years!

this is the most interesting book i've read in years; prof. liebes presents the history of evolution from stardust to us, at the end of the book one relizes that all of us humans are actually single cells of a larger life form, the planet earth. In an informative and easy to read way, "a walk through time" presents a holistic theory of evolution that emphasises symbiotic co-evolution of geo-bio-matter admidst the theme that while life starts out in a state of competition, all life forms even on a cellular level learn to cooperate, develop symbiotic relationships that enable life to first develop and then evolve billions of years to present day. the glory of the sheer will of all life,(particularly at the cellular level) reminds me very much of shoupenhauer,nieztche,spinoza, henri bergson and hegal. i would recomend this book to all people,especially those who enjoy philosophy and those theologians seeking a more meaning cosmology.

A Wonderful Way to View Life's History

Keith Cowing, Editor of the Astrobiology Web: I grew up in Meriden Connecticut in the 1960's, and like most boys, was fascinated by dinosaurs. Lucky for me, we lived an easy half hour drive from the Peabody Museum at Yale University. One of the most prominent features at the museum for half a century is a large mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger high above the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. This mural was often used in a number of Time-Life books (which I devoured) to depict the march of time and evolution of life. As such, this mural - and its linear format -long ago became fixed as the mental template with which I view and interpret the history of life on Earth. In the Summer of 1997 I had the opportunity to attend a Gordon Conference on the origin of life. One of the poster sessions featured a rather unusual presentation: a series of images describing the origin and evolution of life on Earth - from inorganic chemistry to humans. The pictures were arrayed in a linear fashion in the hallway outside the meeting room. This was a small version of Sid Liebes' wonderful 'Walk Through Time ... from stardust to us; A Five Billion Year Walk' exhibit. When implemented in its full-blown configuration (one mile long) one can spend a leisurly hour or so walking through time. Now Sid and his co-authors have managed to capture this exhibit in a book. 'A Walk Through Time' captures that exhibit in a portable format - with a text deftly designed to both teach the novice as well as entertain the seasoned biologist. Topics range from the formation of the very elements that compose our star, our planet, and ourselves through the formation of our solar system - and Earth. As the book continues, it describes the deposition of the ingredients for life on Earth, life's appearance, diversification, and expansion across this planet - all in a sequential fashion. A chronological timeline on the bottom of each page helps callibrate your movement across time. When you put the book down, you're left with a clearer appreciation for how fast life appeared (as soon as it could), how long it remained in a relatively simple state, how fast evolutionary explosions could transform Earth's biota, and how infinitesimally small our own tenure on Earth truly is. Moreover, using this book to look at the world now and then back at our heritage, it also becomes clear that this planet is still overwelmingly populated by simple organisms similar to those which ruled the Earth for billions of years. Life is both innovative and conservative at the same time. If there was ever a book designed for an Astrobiology (or Biology) course for non-majors dealing with the origin, evolution, and distribution of life on this planet, this is it. Highly recommended.

The latest in evolution science made beautiful.

"A Walk Through Time" is a stunning tale of the history of the universe from the very beginnings to the present. Accompanied by photos and graphs on every page, I was able to see my own evolution and interconnections with all elements of the universe as never before. Particularly fascinating were explorations of how distinctions between animate and inanimate are blurring, and of how every aspect of Earth - soil, rock, water, and air are permeated and altered by living creatures. We are kin to all. With disturbing evidence, the book describes how humans are now precipitating what could become the greatest extinction of species in the last 65 million years and these effects threaten the diversity and stability of life for 10's of millions of years into the future. With detail and clarity, the book describes what science has recently discovered and where our understandings are incomplete. Like the planet itself, our story will continue to evolve. And the story told has the power to unite humanity in our commitment to the future.

A Walk Through Time is a Treasure

I find the book,A Walk Through Time to be a treasure. The beautiful illustrations depicting the evolution of life are compelling and instructional. We live in an age where story telling is now recognized as being vital to understanding. This book, in text and pictures, tells the most important story of all...our story. My first response after reading A Walk Through Time was that it must be shared with the school children. It will help teach the understanding of connectedness, something that has long been missing in many science classes. I suggest that anyone orderering a copy, order an extra one to donate to your local school. Jane Stavoe Mt Prospect, Illinois