A "New York Times Book Review" Editors' Choice "Extraordinary. . . . Anyone with the slightest interest in biology should read this book."--"The New York Times Book Review" "A marvelous museum of the past four billion years on earth--capacious, jammed with treasures, full of learning and wide-eyed wonder."--"The Boston Globe" From its origins on the still-forming planet to the recent emergence of Homo sapiens--one of the world's leading paleontologists offers an absorbing account of how and why life on earth developed as it did. Interlacing the tale of his own adventures in the field with vivid descriptions of creatures who emerged and disappeared in the long march of geologic time, Richard Fortey sheds light upon a fascinating array of evolutionary wonders, mysteries, and debates. Brimming with wit, literary style, and the joy of discovery, this is an indispensable book that will delight the general reader and the scientist alike. "A drama bolder and more sweeping than Gone with the Wind . . . a pleasure to read."--"Science" "A beautifully written and structured work . . . packed with lucid expositions of science."--"Natural History"

理查德•福提（Richard Fortey）

劍橋大學教授，英國皇傢學會會員，英國自然曆史博物館古生物學專傢。發錶學術論文250餘篇，其著作《隱藏的風景》獲得世界自然圖書奬。

曾擔任英國廣播公司（BBC）的嘉賓主持，拍攝多部紀錄片。由於這些在公眾科學上的傑齣貢獻，2013年，福提被授予劉易斯•托馬斯科學作傢奬，2006年，獲邁剋爾•法拉第科學貢獻奬。2016年，福提獲得英國古生物學會的終身成就奬。