The Evolution of Life: Big Bang to Space Colonies

2023 NAUTILUS AWARD SILVER MEDAL WINNER - SCIENCE AND COSMOLOGY CATEGORYHow We Came to Be and Where Our Future May Take UsSome 13.8 billion years ago an extraordinary event occurred that we call the "Big Bang.” This primal release of energy formed the universe and everything in it, including us. Author Richard Anderson’s The Evolution of Life: Big Bang to Space Colonies offers a dramatic understanding of this event, the creation of matter, how life evolved on Earth, and the wondrous extraterrestrial future that awaits us as a species, as societies, and as communities.When you read The Evolution of Life, you will be led step-by-step along this magnificent journey to a new possible dawn for humanity. Although it often seems we live in a quagmire of non-ending dysfunction, we only need to review the histories of societies to realize that there has been progress. Forward-looking people may never inherit the Earth, but they will lead us into the future. They may likely create a permanent presence in space for themselves and their progeny. That event could be instrumental in saving our Earth.From the beginning of mankind, we have wondered about the world around us and our place in it. At first it must have been all a mystery. When empirical evidence eluded our distant ancestors, they invented myths, origin stories, and belief systems to explain phenomena beyond their grasp. Slowly, experience and inquiry led to greater knowledge and understanding. The greatest minds of our species have tried to answer the fundamental questions of our existence on earth.....With an approachable style and tone, supported by easy-to-follow graphics, Anderson’s mastery of the science and compassion for the human dimension bring the mystery and meaning of the universe into focus, allowing even those of us with a casual acquaintance with (or aversion to) science or sociology a deeper understanding of who we are, how we got here and where we may be going in the future. It’s “Big History” at its biggest. It’s quite a ride. —William Briggs, Ed.D., Dean Emeritus, College of Communications, California State University Fullerton, excerpt from the Foreword Read more