Today saw the  launch of Christopher Lloyd’s latest book in the What on Earth series, it is called What on Earth? Wallbook. You might recall my recent Blog post on one of his previous books.

The new book is an interesting concept because you can read it like a book or display it on a wall.  It contains 13.7 billion years of history in timeline which is just over 7 feet long and features over 1000 pictures.  Chris sees the timeline as a visual way of taking in the enormous, but compelling story of planet, life and people over the last 13.7 billion years.

TWELVE streams of colour provide the backdrops along a timeline on which all the major events of natural and human history unfold. Space, Earth, Sky, Sea, Land and Humanity account for the story of evolution while Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia convey the rise and fall of human civilisations.

At the top of the timeline is a series of globes. To begin with they track the movement of the world’s continental plates which collide into a single supercontinent, and then prise apart again, a geological cycle that repeats over millions of years.

Later on, these globes reflect a similar rhythm with the rise and fall of human civilisations. Empires, like the Earth’s crust, erupt, collide and crumple, but their converging and splitting happens on a far tighter scale where centimetres measure centuries not millions of years…

On the back is a 7,000 narrative guide that tells the story in words, cross referring the most seismic moments in global history with the timeline overleaf…

You can find out more about the book and the concept behind it on the newly launched dedicated web site.

In conjunction with the book launch Chris launched an appeal for people to help him compile a dossier of strategies that could and should be employed to engage our nation’s young minds with a thirst for learning:

Please send me your best and worst memories of education.

Perhaps you are being educated now or maybe you are an educator? If so, what engages you in learning? What do you find motivating and inspiring? What in your experience makes an effective learning environment – at home or school? How should the curriculum be organised? What is the right balance between learning and testing?

I am committed to collating and presenting these ideas, along with a copy of the What on Earth? Wallbook, to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, at the Conservative Party Conference in early October. I shall also post a copy here at www.whatonearthbooks.com for you to download.Tell your friends about it – involve anyone you know who has an interest in eradicating the cancer of boredom from our schools. Who knows? Perhaps officials at the Department of Education will then turn their heads to making sense of our blue-sky thinking and convert at least some of our creative ideas into practical policy.

Please email your ideas to chris@whatonearthbooks.com

Synopsis (from book cover):
Why have creatures evolved as they are? which species have had the biggest impact on the world we live in? Where does humanity fit in?

Christopher Lloyd leads us on an exhilarating journey, from the birth of life on the early Earth to the present day, as he seeks answers to these fundamental questions. Along the way he reveals the extraordinary stories of the fifty most successful species that have evolved in the wild – such as slime, sea scorpions, dragonflies and dung beetles – followed by fifty species that have thrived as a result of man’s interference – from dogs, cats and camels to yeast, coffee and bananas.

The 100, species are finally scored and ranked in order of their impact on the planet, life and people. Which species comes top? How do life forms adapt to a world dominated by nearly 7 billion humans? What on earth evolved? exposes the struggle between the forces of nature and the mind of mankind for control of life, and the earth itself.

Review:
What on Earth Evolved? is the follow on volume from What on Earth Happened?, you can see my review of the first book here.

The book takes a unique approach to science, history, geography and nature by looking at 50 species that evolved in the wild without intervention and 50 species that have thrived due to man’s intervention.  All types of species from large to small are included such as – algae, virus, fish, plants, animals and insects.

The book which is full of interesting and surprising facts is accessible and educational and will appeal to both the young and the old.  The aim is to give an enriched understanding of history through the eye of the natural world and I think it achieves this aim.  I found it very readable from cover to cover, but it is also a book you can just dip into or refer back to using the index and chapter headings.  Most  pages have colour illustrations which for me added to the enjoyment of the book.

The final part of the book where it lists the rank of impact of the 100 species chosen into a table of influence is designed to stimulate thought and debate.  I can imagine sitting up late into the night with my friends discussing some of the species included in the book.  One such topic may be the how the export of roses from the heart of Kenya has reduced a lakes’ water level  3 meters below minimum safety levels.  Water accounts for 90% of a cut flower and these roses are being exported from one of the driest places on the planet to the worlds wettest countries in Europe.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the fascinating lecture that launched the book, you can see my review of the launch here.

More information can be found on the book’s dedicated website, where you can also access the list of the 100 species ranked in order.

Note:  The review is based on the hardback version, an abridged paperback version has recently been published.

Photo from from VPRO Beagle on Flickr – click on picture for more photos.

The Clipper Stad Amsterdam set sail from Plymouth harbor today following the steps of Darwin’s famous voyage of discovery.  The people involved in the project hope to retrace the route of Darwin’s 5 year voyage on HMS Beagle in a single year.

During the voyage the participants are hoping to assess where the world stands today in light of Darwin’s theory of evolution.  The journey will form the basis of a 41 episode documentary that is being filmed for VPRO Dutch TV.

Journalist and historian Chris Lloyd, who wrote the book What on Earth Happened? will be joining the voyage for the first leg of the journey to Tenerife.  Other participants include, Sarah Darwin, great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, palaeontologist Peter Ward, anthropologist Michael Heckenberger, geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells and Daniel Dennett, one of today’s most prominent and influential American philosophers. They will be joined by fossil-hunters, DNA researchers, geologists and archaeologists.

From the Beagle website:

To celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birth year, and the 150th anniversary of his publication of “On the Origin of Species”, VPRO is preparing a 35-part series called Beagle: On the future of species. Life on earth is under continual change. Is there reason to worry about the future? Can science offer us sufficient answers to some of our most compelling questions? Are we leaving behind an inhabitable world for future generations?

Our VPRO-Beagle ship the Clipper Stad Amsterdam is an experiment in itself. This three mast sailing ship will be rigged with advanced scientific measurement equipment. Scientists from various disciplines and from all over the world will execute experiments on board this sailing science lab. The ship also has a built-in TV studio from which parts of the series will be produced and broadcast.

Beagle will take viewers on a journey across magnificent landscapes, vulnerable regions, endangered areas and adventurous locations, stretching from Patagonia to the South Pacific, and from Australia to St. Helena. En route one recurrent question will be asked: “Will the earth survive mankind?”

You can follow the journey on the interactive website, where Chris will be blogging daily during his part of the voyage.

Synopsys (from book cover):

These are just some of the questions answered in CHRISTOPHER LLOYD’s acclaimed 13.7-billion-year-history,  now in brief. In this thrill-ride across millennia and continents, the complete history of the planet unfolds: from the Earth’s fiery birth to life’s near-obliteration in the Triassic period, and from the first signs of humanity to the tentative future of a world with a burgeoning population and a global warming crisis. Covering a wide range of topics including astrophysics, zoology and sociology, and complete with maps and illustrations, WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED?…IN BRIEF is an endlessly entertaining story of the planet, life and people.

Review:
This book is an abridged version of What on Earth Happened, it was first serialised in The Independent newspaper in February this year. It quite literally takes  the reader through time from the big bang to the present day.

It covers life before man, human evolution and both ancient and modern history. In fact it covers just about everything you can think of in the history of the planet. Written in chronological order I gives a great perspective, showing how different events relate to each other and how they shaped the history of the planet. It helps bind separate bits of knowledge together and put them in context with everything else. The timespan is condensed to fit into a 24 hour clock making it easier to see when things took place.

It comes complete with colour plates, time lines and top 10 lists cover important events and species. Most importantly, it has an index.

Despite the nature of the subject, it is very easy to read and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.  I enjoyed it so much I have purchased the unabridged hardback copy and am looking forward to reading even more interesting snippets from planet earth.

If that has whetted your appetite you can find out more information from the book’s website.