A New History of Life

By: Stuart Sutherland, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Stuart Sutherland

Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The story of our world and the different living things that have populated it is an amazing epic with millions of species, exotic settings, planet-wide cataclysms, and surprising plot twists.

These 36 lectures tell the all-embracing story of life on Earth - its origins, extinctions, and evolutions - in a manner that assumes no background in science. At half an hour per lecture, you’ll cover the entire 4.54-billion-year history of Earth in 18 hours, averaging 70,000 years per second!

Professor Sutherland notes that if the story of Earth is compared to the height of the Washington Monument, then all of human history is the thickness of a sheet of paper balanced at the top. He devotes most of these lectures to the incredible happenings beneath that piece of paper, including stirring episodes such as Earth’s “snowball” phase, which should have been permanent according to some theories; the Cambrian explosion, after which life’s complexity soared in an explosion of genetic diversification; and the age of giant insects, where dragonflies had 30-inch wingspans and cockroaches reached 20 inches in length. By the time you reach the origin of humans in Lecture 35, you’ll appreciate our species in the widest possible context. Why does the Earth have continents? What causes periodic mass extinctions? How did animals move from water to land? What are the oldest fossils? Experience the thrill of scientists searching for answers to questions such as these.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2013 The Great Courses (P)2013 The Teaching Company, LLC

Good but flawed

This presenter is an excellent teacher. However, the recording was of a class heavy in visual aids which don’t come across so well Iwhen listening. Also he really wimps out on climate change at the end.

Too many references that we cannot see

Surely 1 can easily attach a PowerPoint presentation with all references included? I am thoroughly enjoying this listen, but find myself sold short because it lacks the illustrations that the narrator often refers to?

SUPER BORING BUT INFORMATIVE

I love the narrator/professor. He's adorably humorous. He refers to slides. Be sure to download it from their website.

A long, interesting story

Every chapter/lecture is a compelling story of its own. The systemic perspective is what makes it relevant up to this moment and for 4.8 billion years plus or minus into the future.

Get the video version

Like evolution itself, this course takes some time to build up steam but becomes pretty impressive when it does. My only caveat is that while I ordinarily prefer the audio versions of Great Courses so that I can listen to them anywhere, this really is a course where you need the visual accompaniment. The professor frequently shows examples of the creatures he is talking about and I felt like I was missing out with just his vague descriptions of them. He is, however, a good storyteller.

Pictures

I really enjoyed this course. Dr. Sutherland is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject and you can really tell he enjoys what he does, however, I wish I was able to see the pictures that he was presenting in the lecture through the PDF provided for the course. This is really the only gripe I have about this. Everything else was beautifully done, and thoroughly explained. Thank you Dr. Sutherland for teaching me about a subject I didn’t know I would be interested in it.

Slideshow without slides

This is a wonderful lecture. Well done! Sadly, I find myself continuously googling images as the author is commenting on slides that I don’t have.

Staggering in both Depth and Breadth

This is simply the best lecture series I've ever head- Professor Sutherland did an immense amount of preparation for every lecture, filling each and every minute with specific details about the evolution of organisms that simply doesn't exist in this form anywhere else, and with lots of new, recent information included with every lecture. There are specific details in this series on single cell evolution, plant evolution, arthropod evolution, geology, fossil dating, etc etc that I just haven't heard before at this level of detail, in such an accessible manner. Additionally, controversial topics (such as the extinction events and human evolution) are handled in the best way possible, receiving a careful, objective treatment that presents all the evidence and allows the listener to come to their own conclusion.

Warning: this lecture series is like the "War and Peace" of evolutionary history, you will be clobbered with lots of detailed information (of the highest quality) if you choose to listen to this series. Also, other reviewers are correct that the lack of video to accompany the lectures is a drawback, but regardless of this limitation it is still so, so good.

Outstanding

Best summary combining earth science with biology. Please do an update! And make it as long as needed. Thanks

Down to Earth Biography

Professor Sutherland does a masterful job taking the listener from primordial planet formation through billions of years, reading earth’s history in stone and ice. His easy to follow delivery and lucid interpretations of a myriad of data distill into a fascinating story. There is so much information to glean. I listened twice and may yet take a third tour of his presentation. The story may change here and there as new evidence becomes available. That is the nature of science. I highly recommend this audiobook!