A Brief History of Earth

Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters

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.

Save our Planet!

Very easy to listen to, and quite fascinating! I probably took more information in about our Earth from this, more so than I ever did sitting in a classroom, ha! Recommended listen for those who dig history and science, I loved it!

Nice Brief history.

Hits on many things from life starting in the ocean, climate change, and evolution of humans.

Great book for the Earth’s internal workings

This book gives a great explanation of how the Earth works as a planet. He explains a multitude of things to a level where about anybody can understand it. I found it very interesting and a fun read. But I’m a Geek and a retired Engineer. It’s taken a long time for a lot of really smart guys to figure it out. I truly enjoy books like this and have read four or five in the last couple weeks but if you wanna just know how it works, and you don’t need to dig into the crazy stuff, here is your ride!

Great if you believe in Darwinism

Unfortunately, this book is based on facts without grasping the WHY how nature works. Troubled conclusions.

A very informative book

The author gave a very comprehendable short explanation of 4 + billion years of the Earth's history.