Plants have profoundly moulded the Earth's climate and the evolutionary
trajectory of life. Far from being 'silent witnesses to the passage of
time', plants are dynamic components of our world, shaping the
environment throughout history as much as that environment has shaped
them.
In The Emerald Planet, David Beerling puts plants centre stage,
revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in
the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in
helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence
from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and
from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of
our planet and its biodiversity. This new approach reveals how
plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of
the leaf; how plants played a starring role in pushing oxygen levels
upwards, allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the
Carboniferous; and it strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil
evidence for an ancient hole in the ozone layer. Along the way, Beerling
introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times
onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and
the other puzzles.
This understanding of our planet's past sheds a sobering light on our
own climate-changing activities, and offers clues to what our climatic
and ecological futures might look like. There could be no more important
time to take a close look at plants, and to understand the history of
the world through the stories they tell.
Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science
writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we
think.
