This is an introduction to the panorama of life on Earth, from its earliest beginnings more than 3000 million years ago to the arrival of Homo sapiens and the introduction of settled farming, 5000 years ago. The text is accompanied by a sequence of over 160 specially commissioned illustrations, showing the conditions on Earth in its early days and the strange animal life that once roamed its surface or moved in its seas. Beginning with an account of the various theories that seek to explain the birth of the solar system and its planets, the book continues with a detailed explanation of the evolution of living things, from the first signs of single-celled life to the arrival of marine vertebrates, from the appearance of dinosaurs to the emergence of the ape-like ancestors of modern man. Time charts show the sequence of geological eras and the points at which various forms of life first appeared.