A 2023 Nautilus Silver Award Winner, this ambitious text (apt that it is published by a press called Precocity) encapsulates the evolution of life from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago to the present, before postulating at length about the possibilities and pitfalls of colonizing space, the Moon, and, far less likely, Mars.

With Space X sending up another rocket as I write this review and Disclosure in the news cycle at an unprecedented, eye-opening level, coinciding with a UAP/drone mystery that held America enrapt through the holidays, the subject of colonizing space is certainly topical and worthy of our attention and consideration.

After earning an MA in microbiology, Richard M. Anderson went on to a distinguished career as a clinical laboratory bioanalyst, and he brings considerable knowledge to bear over the course of 326 pages. Armed with Anderson’s table of extinction and evolution events (which has a companion table, 12.1), numerous additional tables and figures, and a 10-page glossary, I was able to navigate the book fairly well, although it is heavy on scientific principles, processes, and terms. This is as it should be—the Universe, as well as human evolution, are inescapably complex.

Rather than take you through an encapsulation of 13.8 billion years of history (of which only 500,000 years include the story of Homo sapiens), this review will highlight what I found to be the most fascinating subjects within the pages of The Evolution of Life. I have chosen a broad-based set of examples to give you a good idea of the overall contents.

After providing a strong foundation in the early creation of the Universe, the essential natural of water, key elements (including an exploration of the Periodic Table of Elements), and early formation of cells and organisms (including fascinating theories regarding hydrothermal pools, entropy, and the nature of DNA), Richardson spends a fair amount of time on Darwinism. Given that Darwin has been in some ways misunderstood, in other ways purposely distorted, and that he did not get everything “right,” it is always interesting to read various authors’ interpretations of notions such as “survival of the fittest” and the rest of Darwin’s theories. A highlight of this section is the discussion of symbiotic relationships— especially three specific examples. First are the interlocking benefits between the clownfish, sea anemone, and various small invertebrates. The second is how the production of a hallucinogenic substance by a fungus affects the feeding and mating habits of cicadas. The third is the way a certain parasite, which only breeds in domestic cats, infects rats so that they become unafraid of the smell of cat urine. Because of this lack of fear, more rats interact with cats, cats eat more rats, and the parasites continue to have a plentiful amount of healthy hosts for their breeding.  

Read the full review on New Mystic Website