What On Earth Evolved…in Brief

Title: What On Earth Evolved…in Brief

Author: Christopher Lloyd

Publisher: Bloomsbury 2010 (First published: 2009)

ISBN: 978-1-4088-0289-2

Pages: 445

This book is a must-read and must-possess for popular science enthusiasts. Brief descriptions of 100 of the world’s most influential life forms - animals and plants alike – are given in 3 to 4 pages each, succinctly tucking it down to clearly demarcated niches for easy retrieval. The author read history at Cambridge and later became a technology correspondent for the Sunday Times. In 1994, he won the Texaco award for the Science Journalist of the year. Another of his best-seller is the similarly titled What on Earth Happened? Being a successful journalist, the author knows the right mix of hard scientific jargon and easy readability which he has put to good use in compiling this excellent volume.

The book categorizes and lists the species who have impacted the world most. It is divided into two main sub-divisions, Before Humans and After Humans. The first part describes viruses such as Influenza, HIV/AIDS, Potyvirus and others, simple cells such as cyanobacteria, anthrax, symbiotic life forms like slime mould, water mould and algae, sea life like stony coral, roundworm, pioneers of land such as prototaxites, on biodiversity, on fish that came ashore and on the rise of reason. The second part narrates agricultural plants like wheat, sugarcane, drugs, life forms providing material wealth like horse, camel, etc. All the species are ranked on preset criteria and listed at the end of the book based on their overall rank.

The Earthworm comes first in the table of 100 species judged on its evolutionary impact, impact on human history, environmental impact, global reach and longevity. According to Charles Darwin, no living thing has had such a profound impact on history as the earthworm. These were first evolved during the Cambrian Explosion, c.530 million years ago whose descendants rapidly spread in all continents. Five mass extinctions have occurred over the last 500 million years, some of which devastated up to 96 per cent of all marine species and 70 per cent of all land species, but none of them ever touched these creatures (p.94). Earthworms till the ground, keeping them aerated and fit for further agriculture. Without these crawlers, the land becomes exhausted and some historians even suggest this to be the cause of the downfall of the Sumerian civilization.

The book is a real page turner providing so much infotainment and is irresistible to put down. The wealth of data which abounds in these pages is ming boggling. Some very interesting details and anecdotes also adds further flavour to the already delicious serving. Some form of algae is about to transform the world, as “Some algae, including Botryococcus, have the potential to help save the modern world from a global warming catastrophe by weaning us off our dependancy on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Algaculture, the practice of farming algae for oil production, has ancient natural origins. Kerogen is a mixture of organic compounds buried deep underground that is made up of decomposed marine algae, cyanobacteria and other protoctists. When it is heated to the right temperature in the Earth’s crusts, it releases crude oil or natural gas” (p.46). Also, elephants are among the strongest, most emotional and highly intelligent creatures on earth, with a brain larger than even humans with a typical weight of just over five kilograms. Such a large brain is also useful for the creature to make primitive wooden tools for food gathering. Elephants learn from experience and captive animals are known to remove their shackles and make their escape.

World’s largest cultivated crops – sugar, wheat, rice, maize and potato (in that order) all find place in this collection. Orange, one of the most widely grown fruit is particularly important to all mammals as they are a rich source of the much needed vitamin C, which is not produced automatically by mammals, unlike vitamin D, which is synthesized by the skin with nothing more than sunlight. Mammals, including humans lost the capability of making vitamin C somewhere in the evolutionary pathway.

Although the book is terribly appealing, some contentions of the author is a bit grating on the nerves. The conclusion that elephants mourn their dead from the fact that they have a large brain does not seem to be cause-and-effect. Another point is the rise in treatment of open wounds infected by anti-biotic resistant bacteria with maggots of fruit flies goes counter to established scientific wisdom. Readers are advised to treat such arguments with scepticism until proved right from other more reliable sources. On the some topics, it was felt that a little more attention should have been paid. However, the author may be pardoned on the basis that he had to squeeze all these in, in about 450 pages giving a maximum of 5 pages for each topic.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star