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Life on Our Planet
An unforgettable journey into our ancient past, containing powerful lessons to learn about our future.
Today there are 20 million species on our planet. Yet what we see is just a snapshot in time. 99% of earth's inhabitants are lost to our deep past. The story of what happened to these lineages—their rise and their fall—is truly remarkable.
Accompanying the ground-breaking Netflix series, Life on our Planet uses the latest technology to bring long-extinct creatures back to life. It tells the story of life's epic battle to conquer and survive on Earth, showing in a new light what's been lost to us, and how life's future is now being written by us. From ancient ocean worlds and plant life's first forays onto land, to the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and the devastation of the last Ice Age, this is a sweeping view of evolution, through five extinctions and, with the arrival of humans on earth, the beginning of the sixth...
With over 200 photos and images from the series created by the team behind the original Planet Earth series, including remarkable CGI reconstructions, this is an unforgettable journey into our ancient past, containing powerful lessons to learn about our future.
Today there are 20 million species on our planet. Yet what we see is just a snapshot in time. 99% of earth's inhabitants are lost to our deep past. The story of what happened to these lineages—their rise and their fall—is truly remarkable.
Accompanying the ground-breaking Netflix series, Life on our Planet uses the latest technology to bring long-extinct creatures back to life. It tells the story of life's epic battle to conquer and survive on Earth, showing in a new light what's been lost to us, and how life's future is now being written by us. From ancient ocean worlds and plant life's first forays onto land, to the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and the devastation of the last Ice Age, this is a sweeping view of evolution, through five extinctions and, with the arrival of humans on earth, the beginning of the sixth...
With over 200 photos and images from the series created by the team behind the original Planet Earth series, including remarkable CGI reconstructions, this is an unforgettable journey into our ancient past, containing powerful lessons to learn about our future.
312 pages, Hardcover
Published October 19, 2023
32 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Tom Fletcher
1 bookLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Tom Fletcher PhD is a vertebrate palaeontologist and wildlife expert, specialising in sharks and fossil fishes. He completed his masters at the University of Bristol, and his PhD at the University of Leeds, where he developed a love for teaching. As an academic he has published a variety of scientific papers, and continues to collaborate internationally as an Honorary Research Fellow of Palaeobiology at the University of Leicester. Tom now works at Silverback Films as a scientific adviser for a number of big-budget natural history series. He lives in the world-renowned 'Green Hollywood' of Bristol, UK with his partner and pets, amongst a jungle of plants, fossils, and books.
Tom Fletcher PhD is a vertebrate palaeontologist and wildlife expert, specialising in sharks and fossil fishes. He completed his masters at the University of Bristol, and his PhD at the University of Leeds, where he developed a love for teaching. As an academic he has published a variety of scientific papers, and continues to collaborate internationally as an Honorary Research Fellow of Palaeobiology at the University of Leicester. Tom now works at Silverback Films as a scientific adviser for a number of big-budget natural history series. He lives in the world-renowned 'Green Hollywood' of Bristol, UK with his partner and pets, amongst a jungle of plants, fossils, and books.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 16, 2025
Ce grand livre accompagne la série Netflix du même nom.
Il nous relate, de manière plutôt chronologique, l'apparition et l'évolution de la vie sur Terre ; Terre qui est au centre de cette vie multiple, car c'est grâce à ses changements, variations et périodes stables que la vie a pu apparaître et se développer. C'est aussi à cause de la Terre et de sa tectonique, ses volcans, ses déséquilibres qu'ont eu lieu plusieurs extinctions de masse (et aussi un peu à cause d'un astéroïde).
Des premières cellules à l'humain en passant par les anémones de mer, les fougères, les dinosaures et les mammifères (entre autres), nous suivons donc cette aventure passionnante, et ce, grâce aux fossiles et autres traces, preuves et gènes laissé(e)s par des millions d'années de vies et de morts, mais aussi grâce aux scientifiques en tous genres qui interprètent ces traces, font des déductions et analysent les branches des arbres généalogiques de toutes les espèces passées et présentes.
Le texte est accompagné d'images de la série : des paysages, des animaux actuels, mais aussi des reconstitutions des animaux des diverses époques traversées. La conclusion, à propos de la future 6e extinction, fait froid dans le dos, quand on voit tout ce que la vie a déjà traversé !
Un dernier chapitre est consacré à la série elle-même : l'envers du décor et toutes les recherches effectuées pour la réaliser.
C'est bizarre, car je me suis attachée à certains animaux aujourd'hui disparus, comme on peut s'attacher à des personnages de roman.
Il nous relate, de manière plutôt chronologique, l'apparition et l'évolution de la vie sur Terre ; Terre qui est au centre de cette vie multiple, car c'est grâce à ses changements, variations et périodes stables que la vie a pu apparaître et se développer. C'est aussi à cause de la Terre et de sa tectonique, ses volcans, ses déséquilibres qu'ont eu lieu plusieurs extinctions de masse (et aussi un peu à cause d'un astéroïde).
Des premières cellules à l'humain en passant par les anémones de mer, les fougères, les dinosaures et les mammifères (entre autres), nous suivons donc cette aventure passionnante, et ce, grâce aux fossiles et autres traces, preuves et gènes laissé(e)s par des millions d'années de vies et de morts, mais aussi grâce aux scientifiques en tous genres qui interprètent ces traces, font des déductions et analysent les branches des arbres généalogiques de toutes les espèces passées et présentes.
Le texte est accompagné d'images de la série : des paysages, des animaux actuels, mais aussi des reconstitutions des animaux des diverses époques traversées. La conclusion, à propos de la future 6e extinction, fait froid dans le dos, quand on voit tout ce que la vie a déjà traversé !
Un dernier chapitre est consacré à la série elle-même : l'envers du décor et toutes les recherches effectuées pour la réaliser.
C'est bizarre, car je me suis attachée à certains animaux aujourd'hui disparus, comme on peut s'attacher à des personnages de roman.
June 4, 2024
This TV series had really impressive animations of prehistoric life, and the hour long episodes seldom felt too long. It was also narrated by Morgan Freeman a.k.a. the Voice of God (which he actually played in a movie, or two), therefore making it all the more watchable. I happened upon the book, and was delighted to find it even more enjoyable, even if it wasn't very similar to the film. Somehow absorbing the information in text form was easier for memory retention of the names of all those life forms that came and went throughout our planet's 4.567 billion year history.
This is undoubtedly a very up to date account of the history of life, and would have been almost perfect except that the final couple of chapters on the Cenozoic felt rushed and not as polished. While the preceding sections on dinosaurs and Permian organisms were instructive and well put together, the discussion of mammal diversification was cursory, to me at least, as I am more knowledgeable about it. Screenshots from the amazing film production added to the quality of this book.
This is undoubtedly a very up to date account of the history of life, and would have been almost perfect except that the final couple of chapters on the Cenozoic felt rushed and not as polished. While the preceding sections on dinosaurs and Permian organisms were instructive and well put together, the discussion of mammal diversification was cursory, to me at least, as I am more knowledgeable about it. Screenshots from the amazing film production added to the quality of this book.
December 2, 2024
This book is a perfect companion piece for the Netflix series. It just briefly covers the narration of the show and delves far deeper into all the revelations of the geological and biological history of our planet.
September 8, 2024
3/5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews