woodys-uk
Price: �35.88
In stock

11 used & new from �2.02

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Search inside another edition of this book

Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils (Hardcover)

by J.William Schopf (Author) "Over the last three decades, the evolutionary Tree of Life has been extended sevenfold ..." (more)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

3 new from �4.55 8 used from �2.02

Other Editions:	RRP:	Our Price:	Other Offers:
Paperback (illustrated edition)	�18.95	�18.00	17 used & new from �10.34
Library Binding (Reprint)			5 used & new from �37.47

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

(What is this?)

Fossils from 50p Next Day opens new browser window

www.ukge.co.uk - Free Authentication Certificate 100's of kids fossils - In stock

High-End Fossils Retailer opens new browser window

www.stonesbones.com - Prehistoric Fossils Great Inventory, Prices, & Service

Leading Crystal Wholesale opens new browser window

www.britishfossils.co.uk - Gemstones, fossils and jewellery Highest quality. Online ordering.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

by Stephen Jay Gould

4.0 out of 5 stars (8) �7.12

The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals

by Simon Conway Morris

4.0 out of 5 stars (8) �16.19

Life's Origin: The Beginnings of Biological Evolution

by JW Schopf

�20.85

Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters

by Donald R. Prothero

4.8 out of 5 stars (12) �19.48

Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth

by Richard Fortey

4.2 out of 5 stars (12) �7.58

› Explore similar items

Product details

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press; illustrated edition edition (22 April 1999)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0691002304
ISBN-13: 978-0691002309
Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.4 x 3.3 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,249,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Review

An extraordinary account of a monumentally complex subject presented in simple and understandable terms, and in an eminently readable style.

Product Description

One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 500 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized micro-organisms three and a half billion years old. This find opened up a vast period of time - some 85 per cent of Earth's history - to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells the story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence
Over the last three decades, the evolutionary Tree of Life has been extended sevenfold. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

4 stars

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Resolving Darwin's Dilemma, 3 Aug 2005

By	Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils (Paperback)

Schopf escorts us into the realm of deep time, introducing us to our earliest microbe ancestors found locked away in ancient rocks. The path is often vague and indistinct, but Schopf is a sure and eloquent guide. Not only has he traversed the route before, but he's helped select and clear the track. This fine book reflects Schop's lighthearted "trailside" manner. He fully enjoys scrutinising the rocks for early lifeforms, and the enjoyment is infectious. It's a pleasure to accompany him on this journey.

Of all the ideas of the origins of life, none proved more exciting than the experiments of Harold Urey and Stanley Miller. Their zapping of elemental chemicals to produce amino acids seemed the final answer to how it all began. Years of criticism of their work and assumptions led to the acclaim fading, but Schopf here attempts to resurrect its primacy. His argument relies on his findings of evidence of wide-ranging shallow seas - Darwin's famous "warm, shallow pond" as the place of life's origins. Schopf argues these seas were present at the same time simple life-forms emerged. In Darwin's time, the techniques for analysing the early rocks were limited. Today, as Schopf demonstrates, looking in the right place with the proper tools brings rich paleontological rewards.

After tracing the histories of several researchers in Pre-Cambrian fossils, Schopf goes on to illustrate the most recent finds and their significance. Some of the finds are beyond the realm of the rocks alone. His description of the process of polymer formation illustrates the beginning of complex chemistry leading from non-life to life. The distinction, as he notes, has become vague as research from many disciplines has been applied to evolutionary studies. As life progressed, it developed such talents as use of light energy, self-perpetuating activities, and the emergence of metabolism. He explains these processes in quite readable prose, but also depicts them with fine illustrations. It's a rare combination of multi-level presentation.

Schopf's tour takes us not only into deep time, but deep space. At the end of the book he examines the issues surrounding the "Martian meteorite" which was suspected to contain remnants of life on that planet. Schopf was the lone dissenter in NASA's presentation of the likely presence of micro-organism fossils. His disappointment in the presentation and the hype surrounding the proposal is keenly expressed. One of his proposals in this book is the universality of life's roots. Lifeforms of some level are almost inevitable on other worlds, given the necessary conditions. He argues the components are available throughout the cosmos, needing only the proper environment to start evolving. It would be exciting to detect evidence of past life on Mars, but meteorite ALH80001 didn't provide it. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written, informative but vague on evolutionary steps, 15 May 2001

By	Dr. A. C. Latham (Scotland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils (Paperback)

This is a very good read for anyone interested in the first forms of life on this planet. Schopf is not just an expert but a real enthusiast who loves his subject. He gives a clear picture of the exciting discoveries of microbial fossils going back to 3.5 billion years ago - tracing these forward as far as the eukaryotic cells that precede the multicellular organisms of the 'Cambrian explosion'. He is a very convinced neo-Darwinist who therefore glosses over, I feel, many of the real problems that this new knowledge brings to the story of life. There is very poor understanding of how the earliest chains of nucleotides could have become self-replicating RNA and his hopeful explanation of the formation of the first cell walls from soap molecules is highly unconvincing. The fact that the most complex prokaryotes (cyanobacteria) are present in the very earliest fossils goes against the very gradualist evolution scenario that he elsewhere proclaims. The change from asexual mitosis to sexual meiotic division is also assumed to have happened by chance - but is such a complex process that this also did not convince me. The fact that cynanobacteria are still with us and are completely unchanged from those 3.5 billion years old, as well as being highly successful - goes entirely against the idea that higher forms of life evolved because of the need to succeed. The formation in the Cambrian explosion, suddenly, of highly complex multi-celled animals of all the main phyla is not dealt with adequately - even if he is only a micro-palaeontologist. There are too many problems, and despite careful reading of this book I remain convinced that there is good evidence for design in nature. But,as a clearly written text on the latest knowledge the book is invaluable despite these reservations.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 2 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }