Publishers Weekly
07/15/2024
Godfrey-Smith (Metazoa), a philosophy of science professor at the University of Sydney, presents a cerebral meditation on “the history of how life has changed the Earth.” He explains how three billion years ago, microorganisms called cyanobacteria started photosynthesizing, pumping oxygen into the atmosphere and paving the way for complex organisms. Ancient algae “crept onto land sometime around 450 million years ago,” Godfrey-Smith writes, describing how the emergence of forests with large root systems some 40 million years later reshaped terrain by holding together riverbanks and redirecting currents. Arguing that animals are “causes rather than evolutionary products” of their environment, Godfrey-Smith describes how some octopuses dig tunnels 50 centimeters deep and how male bowerbirds build vertical nestlike structures to impress potential mates. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to follow the author’s train of thought in the latter half of the book, which is aimed at answering, “What are minds doing here?” To “guide action,” is the author’s answer, but the broadness of that response leads to meandering discussions on the materialist view of the mind, the origin of consciousness, the relationship between written language and time, and the ethics of farming livestock. There’s no question Godfrey-Smith is an erudite and profound thinker, but he’s not always successful in organizing his ideas in ways that readers will understand. This doesn’t quite fulfill its lofty ambitions. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, Wylie Agency. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"A thoughtful meditation on how the actions of organisms, even the most primitive (ticks, snails), have generated the world humans have inherited . . . [Full of] enlightening insights into the natural world and our often perilous relationship to it." —Kirkus Reviews
"Living on Earth is a hugely important book. The final installment in Peter Godfrey-Smith's essential trilogy, it give us a sweeping, careful, and courageous exploration of a natural world suffused with life, with minds, and perhaps with consciousness too. Godfrey-Smith writes with grace, humility, and wisdom about a dizzying array of topics, from the distant past to the far future, from the deep ocean to the frontiers of technology. The picture he paints reaffirms our continuity with the natural world, and impresses on us the urgency of the choices we now face.” —Anil Seth, director of the Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex and author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
"Only Peter Godfrey-Smith could write this book. It offers a vast, kaleidoscopic, and immensely thought-provoking overview of the development of life on Earth, with special attention to humanity's place in the bigger picture. We are often told that human beings are part of the natural world, but rarely is the mutual influence between people and the rest of our shared ecosystem spelled out with such care." —Sean Carroll, professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of Quanta and Fields
“In Living on Earth, Peter Godfrey-Smith once again combines vivid and compelling descriptions of the natural world, unexpectedly fascinating scientific results, and philosophical arguments that are exceptionally clear and accessible as well as deep and profound. This book offers lucid and thoughtful discussions of the urgent ethical questions about our relationships to other animals.” —Alison Gopnik, professor at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The Gardener and the Carpenter
"Strap in as Peter Godfrey-Smith takes us on a dazzling exploration of the planet's diverse tenants, all of whom sculpted the environment we'd later inherit and transform. An essential read for understanding the legacy of the spot we're standing in right now, and its future." —David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Incognito and Livewired
"Peter Godfrey-Smith not only reviews science, he probes it. In his hands this always yields rich new insights on the nature of life." —Michael S. Gazzaniga, professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and author of The Consciousness Instinct
