Delve into the mysteries of the ancient Earth with this highly visual, full-colour guide, written by renowned natural history author, Marianne Taylor. From the origins of life to the reign of the dinosaurs and the ice age, this fascinating book explores the diversity of life on Earth in the time before humans came to dominate the planet. Learn how species rose, fell, and evolved as they adapted to a changing climate and the varied ecosystems that arose. Discover the five mass extinction events and how life rose again despite the challenges. Explore the majesty of the dinosaurs and the fascinating ancestors of the many animals that we know and love today. The text is brought to life by superb full-colour photos, charts, maps and infographics to reveal the early history of the planet in all its splendour. A fascinating guide to the world which can be enjoyed by the whole family. ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus' Discovering... series brings together spectacular guides which explore the science behind our world, brought to life by eye-catching photography.

A reference book dealing with early animal life on earth from worms to dinosaurs and with man's evolution.

From it's beginnings as an accumulation of molten space debris over 4.6 billion years ago, the Earth has undergone astounding transformations, both geological and biological, to arrive at its familiar look today. The Discovery Channel's Atlas of the Prehistoric World is a dynamic portrait of the Earth and the interplay among the various forces that shaped both the planet and the life upon it. Atlas of the Prehistoric World is divided into three major sections, each of which offers a distinctive look at our planet's pre-history. In "The Changing Globe" computer -generated global maps track the Earth's shift in topography during eighteen different geological periods.... From the rise of mountain ranges to the creation of new oceans, the world takes on its different faces through the course of eons. "Life on Earth" chronicles the evolution of plant and animal life, from the first single-celled microbes to land-dwelling mammals. Each of the Earth's major geological eras is profiled in its own chapter, which depicts the life forms that developed as continents drifted, volcanoes erupted, and meteorites crashed to the surface. Specially commissioned panoramic illustrations take "snapshots" of life at a particular time and place....These...reflect the latest scientific thinking about how creatures from each period would have appeared, bringing to life animals and plantlife we can otherwise see only as fossils. "Earth Fact File," an indispensable gazetteer, explains important Earth science concepts and provides a useful tool for understanding prehistory. Accompanied by over 250 full-color photographs and illustrations and 68 maps, the Discovery Channel's Atlas of the PrehistoricWorld is a unique must-have resource for any family member.

This sourcebook for scientific discovery is stuffed full of incredible facts and compelling data, offering readers insights, observations, and spirited examinations of the natural world. Desert Dinosaurs is one of the few books to combine literary adventure with the possibility of hands-on discovery. Its focus is on a non-scientist’s discoveries about the dinosaurs that frequented Arizona and New Mexico’s prehistoric lands, and it offers readers the encouragement and provides them the opportunity to make their own discoveries at those sites where they can actively participate. This sourcebook for scientific discovery is stuffed full of incredible facts and compelling data. Desert Dinosaurs offers readers insights, observations, and spirited examinations of the natural world.

When one considers the sheer amount of rock and earth that the Victorians excavated as they criss-crossed Britain with railways and canals, it is hardly surprising that they became fascinated by the fossils, bones and man-made treasures that they happened upon.

Over the last 200 years our view of the world has been revolutionized.' Advances in geology and palaeontology, and in scientific techniques, over the past few centuries has led to a radical rethinking of our assumptions about our past.

It was huge, a ferocious carnivore capable of catching deer and elk with its long trunk and crushing them in its giant grinders. It lived right there in the Hudson River Valley. And no place else in the world had anything to match it. Such were the thoughts about the first complete mastodon skeleton excavated in 1801, before dinosaurs were discovered and the notion of geologic time acquired currency. Oregon- based natural historian Semonin traces the evangelical beliefs, Englightenment thought, and Indian myths about the extinct creatures from 1705 through US independence. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A compelling journey of discovery uncovering some of the mysteries of evolution.

From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods, a historical adventure story about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history. In the early 1800s the world was a safe and cozy place. But then a twelve-year-old farm boy in Massachusetts stumbled on a row of fossilized three-toed footprints the size of dinner plates—the first dinosaur tracks ever found. Soon, in England, Victorians unearthed enormous bones—bones that reached as high as a man’s head. No one had ever seen such things. Outside of myths and fairy tales, no one had even imagined that creatures like three-toed giants had once lumbered across the land. And if anyone had somehow conjured up such a scene, they would never have imagined that all those animals could have vanished, hundreds of millions years ago. The thought of sudden, arbitrary disappearance from life was unnerving and forced the Victorians to rethink everything they knew about the world. Now, in Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the first half of the 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; and moves to a brilliant, eccentric geologist named William Buckland, a kind of Doctor Doolittle on a mission to eat his way through the entire animal kingdom; and then on to Richard Owen, the most respected and the most despised scientist of his generation. Entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity’s understanding of the world and their place in it, and how a group of paleontologists worked to bring it back into focus again.