16 July 2019
Origins: How Earth's History Shaped Human History
A New York Times-bestselling author explains how the physical world shaped the history of our species
When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the south-east United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea. Everywhere is the deep imprint of the planetary on the human.
From the cultivation of the first crops to the founding of modern states, Origins reveals the breathtaking impact of the earth beneath our feet on the shape of our human civilizations.
| Title | : | Origins: How Earth's History Shaped Human History |
| ISBN | : | 9781541617902 |
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Nature gave this book a good writeup at https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158... -- but see Michael Cayley's review, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... : "It is very much a journalistic read, wi...
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An attempt to bring out the influences of geology, environment and physical geography on human history. It is very much a journalistic read, with some sweeping and sometimes simplistic generalisations...
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In Origins: How The Earth Made Us Lewis Dartnell explore what our environment has done to us. How has nature shaped the human story and influenced the development of civilizations.It ranges over a sta...
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There's a lot of interesting stuff in here but it needs more of a through line for the audience to track. Without it the audience is left without much sense of an argument being built or that they are...
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Well it was a very interesting read for someone like me who knows almost nothing about geology but is interested anyway. It's written clearly and the descriptive material really takes you to the land ...
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In the 19 70’s, James Burke presented a TV series called Connections, where technological change was linked to the scientific discoveries that enabled the change. I was reminded about that series wh...
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El libro relaciona fenómenos geológicos como la tectónica de placas con el surgimiento de los primeros homínidos y también analiza el papel de la geografía y del medio ambiente en la configuraci...
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3.5 on base. Would be a 4 as an introductory work for those new to geography and geology and its impact on the humanities-but I myself am far from new to the topic.Dartnell takes us on a resource or g...
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A sweep of history with the influence of geology, geography as a background to understand why and where we are today. Enjoyed the easy style of writing and simple explanations throughout each topic. L...
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I thought this was an excellent read. I'd put it alongside Sapiens as a must read and in many ways they complement each other without treading on toes.Some of the chapters require slow reading because...
