Earth and Life

Name: Earth and Life
Price: 49.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9780691182230

A Four Billion Year Conversation

Andrew H. Knoll

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Princeton University Press
01 August 2026

Mathematics & Sciences; Popular science; Biology, life sciences; Evolution; Earth sciences; The Earth: natural history general

From the world-renowned geobiologist and bestselling author of A Brief History of Earth, the epic story of a planetary conversation four billion years in the making.

How did the world as we know it

from the soil beneath our feet to the air we breathe and the life that surrounds us

come to be? Geologists have proposed one set of answers while biologists have proposed another. Earth and Life is the first book to reveal why we need to listen to both voices

the physical and the biological

to understand how we and our planet became possible.

In this captivating book, Andrew Knoll traces how all life is sustained by Earth's geological and atmospheric dynamics, and how life itself shapes the physical environment. Taking readers on a thrilling journey across four billion years of Earth history, he shows how Earth and life interact to cycle the very elements of life from rocks, water, and air, and how these and related processes control our climate, regulate our atmosphere, and support the diversification of life-forms great and small. Along the way, Knoll explains how we can draw on this history as we navigate the challenges of the Anthropocene, and how it can aid our search for life elsewhere in the universe.

Blending cutting-edge science with illuminating insights from a leading expert, Earth and Life explains how this ongoing interplay holds vital lessons for us today as humanity becomes an increasingly major voice in the conversation.

By: Andrew H. Knoll
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9780691182230
ISBN 10: 069118223X
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 01 August 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Andrew H. Knoll is the Fisher Research Professor of Natural History and Earth and Planetary Sciences, Emeritus, at Harvard University. His books include A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters and Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth (Princeton). Recipient of the International Prize for Biology and the Crafoord Prize in Geosciences, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Reviews for Earth and Life: A Four Billion Year Conversation

""A stimulating primer on how interactions between the planet's physical environment and living beings have shaped the world throughout time. . . . Knoll does an impressive job of lucidly explaining both geological and biological processes, providing necessary background without being pedantic. Readers will be informed and entertained."" * Publishers Weekly * ""A welcome look at the Earth as a single system of countless moving parts."" * Kirkus Reviews *