Non Fiction – It's All About the Book

Publisher Description

The past is past, but it does leave clues, and Thomas Halliday has used cutting-edge science to decipher them more completely than ever before. In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life on the page.

This book is an exploration of the Earth as it used to exist, the changes that have occurred during its history, and the ways that life has found to adapt―or not. It takes us from the savannahs of Pliocene Kenya to watch a python chase a group of australopithecines into an acacia tree; to a cliff overlooking the salt pans of the empty basin of what will be the Mediterranean Sea just as water from the Miocene Atlantic Ocean spills in; into the tropical forests of Eocene Antarctica; and under the shallow pools of Ediacaran Australia, where we glimpse the first microbial life.

Otherlands also offers us a vast perspective on the current state of the planet. The thought that something as vast as the Great Barrier Reef, for example, with all its vibrant diversity, might one day soon be gone sounds improbable. But the fossil record shows us that this sort of wholesale change is not only possible but has repeatedly happened throughout Earth history.

Even as he operates on this broad canvas, Halliday brings us up close to the intricate relationships that defined these lost worlds. In novelistic prose that belies the breadth of his research, he illustrates how ecosystems are formed; how species die out and are replaced; and how species migrate, adapt, and collaborate. It is a breathtaking achievement: a surprisingly emotional narrative about the persistence of life, the fragility of seemingly permanent ecosystems, and the scope of deep time, all of which have something to tell us about our current crisis.

My Thoughts

Goodreads “Want To Read” #1

I am not what one would term a “science nerd” but I am fascinated by the intersection of science and history and thought this book sounded fascinating.

I was not disappointed.

The author has provided a very accessible, readable explanation of the fossil record and periods of extinction and done so using storytelling at its finest. There is a good amount of information that will require greater knowledge or significant research to fully appreciate and understand, but on the whole, this is a book that will teach some new things and possibly change your understanding and perspective about the history of our planet.

As a kid who grew up on National Geographic, Otherlands delivered serious research in a similar but more complex way that kept my attention and made me want to read more. It’s a book that requires some attention and commitment, but it’s worth the effort.

Publication Date: February 14, 2023
Published By: Penguin Random House
Thanks to the Greece Public Library for the book

Publisher Description

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.

Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers–slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers–who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia.

Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.

My Thoughts

This is a bit of a departure in my typical reading, but I picked this up after an enthusiastic recommendation from Stephanie Cole Adams, someone whose opinion I greatly respect. I found an accessible, thought-provoking, and sometimes irritating look at ancient urban development and why it failed at four specific sites.

The format of the book – essentially four long sections each devoted to one city – makes this a comfortable read and easy to start and stop. However, I often found it hard to stop reading.

Netwitz explores each city in person and through scientific experts, which lends a familiarity to the narrative. For the non-scientific reader, it feels like an enthusiastic friend touring you through a new city sharing interesting bits of information. I understand that for the scientific reader this is an irritating approach, but for me it was just right.

A number of reviews mention the author’s interjection of their personal belief system and exposition of conjecture as fact as a major issue here. I suppose that’s true, but that’s how connections are made for many readers. I found their personal reactions and use of imagination entertaining and thought-provoking, and something that I believe is often missing in the cold, hard facts of scientific research. I *want* to imagine the daily life of the inhabitants of these cities, and Newitz does a good job of humanizing the people who lived, farmed, labored, and died in each location.

I found the section on Pompeii especially interesting as I had the most knowledge about this city prior to reading the book, but I learned something new about each city. Pompeii, though, seemed like the Las Vegas of Ancient Rome, something I didn’t really understand before reading this book.

I’d recommend this for the casual non-fiction reader with an interest in urban development and ancient history.

Publication Date: February 2021
Published By: W.W. Norton & Company
Thanks to the Monroe County Library System for the book