otherlands journeys in earth's extinct ecosystems thomas halliday

The otherworldly flora and fauna abound in proven strangeness. This quality is extended into Halliday's vivid writing style as he describes giant flightless birds with “can-opener hooks” on the end of their beaks and sediment left behind evaporating water that raises the water source itself “compacted sugar on a growing stack of pancakes.' Art meets Earth science in Halliday’s densely detailed portrayal of our ecosystem’s history, alluding to the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” Gaudi’s architecture and the sepia tones of silent-era films.

Merging human culture with the changing environments brings out an accessible human layer that contextualizes the scientific density. By beginning with the most recent period, the Miocene, and progressing backwards until the very earliest, the Ediacaran, Halliday brings deep time’s primordial soup to life. Structured between 16 geologic periods, Halliday's book takes readers back in time through the millions of years predating our present. Thousands of scientists over hundreds of years have contributed to Halliday’s reconstructions of the past based on the paleontological irony of death being the primary way of understanding life. Thomas Halliday ventures into the vastness of this predicament in his book “Otherlands: Journeys in Earth’s Extinct Ecosystems,” a compendium on Earth’s sprawling origins. If there is one uncertainty that has persisted since the beginning of time, it’s our planet’s impermanence.

“Otherlands: Journeys in Earth s Extinct Ecosystems,” by Thomas Halliday (Random House)

Otherlands journeys in earth's extinct ecosystems thomas halliday