作品简介
在漫长的进化历程中，生命之树上的每个物种都表现出独一无二的个性：小小的病毒，是介于生命和非生命之间的实体；鹦鹉螺经历了五次灾难性的大灭绝，其形态和生活方式却几乎没有变化；长颈鹿是一种动物，也可能是八种动物……
本书的每一章都以一个或一组有代表性的物种为起点，介绍生命故事中的一个特定元素，从而揭示地球生命在时空中的进化过程，以及人类在其中扮演的愈发重要的角色。在脉络清晰且不失幽默感的叙述中，玛丽安·泰勒巧妙地引入生物学领域的经典概念和新近数据，通过生态保护、人工生命等具有启发性的话题，为我们（还有外星访客）绘制出一幅动荡不安又生机盎然的行星画面。
玛丽安·泰勒（Marianne Taylor），英国科普作家、插画家、野生动物摄影师。她热爱动物和博物学，著有30多本自然科普图书，书中的插图多由她亲自拍摄和绘制。她为英国皇家鸟类保护协会撰写多部观鸟指南，并为英国广播公司及《观鸟》等报刊撰写文章。
译者：王西敏，上海辰山植物园科普部部长，正高级工程师，全国自然教育论坛（网络）的发起人和理事。译有《林间最后的小孩》《生命的进化》，著有《雨林飞羽：中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园鸟类》《神奇的植物王国》。
Introduction of works
In the long course of evolution, each species on the tree of life has shown a unique personality: a small virus, an entity between living and non-living; The nautilus has survived five catastrophic mass extinctions with little change in its form or way of life; The giraffe is one animal, or maybe eight...
Each chapter of the book begins with a representative species or group of species and introduces a particular element of the story of life, revealing the evolution of life on Earth through time and space, and the growing role that humans have played in it. In a lucid and humorous narrative, Marianne Taylor cleverly draws on classic concepts and recent data from biology to paint us (and our alien visitors) a picture of a turbulent and vibrant planet through illuminating topics such as conservation and artificial life.
Marianne Taylor is a British science writer, illustrator, and wildlife photographer. She loves animals and natural history and is the author of more than 30 popular science books on nature, most of which are photographed and illustrated by her. She has written several birding guides for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and articles for the BBC and Birdwatching.
Wang Ximin, Director of Science Popularization Department of Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, senior engineer, initiator and director of National Nature Education Forum (Network). He has translated "The Last Child in the Forest", "The Evolution of Life", and authored "Flying Feathers in the Rain Forest: Birds of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences" and "The Magical Kingdom of Plants".
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