A Book Review – “First Life”
Designed to accompany the two-part television series, “The First Life of David Attenborough” covers the billions of years leading up to the development of advanced life forms on our planet. It is a chronological journal, divided into eleven chapters that tells the story of the “slow-burning fuse” that led to the explosion of life in the Cambrian, the development of the Phyla from organisms that are still with us today.
The text is informative, not overly technical, and is designed for the layman to follow. There are lots of splendid photographs and lots of information about the fossil locations, although it would have been interesting to read more about some of the UK’s fossil locations, such as Crail in Scotland, and there are perhaps too few scary creatures for children to enjoy. Although, it is amazing to see the weird and wonderful creatures known as the Ediacara fauna (strange soft-bodied organisms). By the late Precambrian, about six hundred million years ago, simple food chains with more than thirty different recognized genera had been established. This simple ecosystem is known as the Ediacara fauna after the Ediacara Hills, north of Adelaide, in South Australia, where a variety of late Precambrian fossils were discovered in the late 1940s.
The introduction, written by Sir David Attenborough, really brings out his passion for fossils and fossil collecting. The highlight of the book was reading about Sir David’s own connection to Charnwood Forest, the site in Leicestershire, the county of Sir David’s childhood, where the important Precambrian fossil Charnia (Charnia Masoni) it was discovered.
First Life – Appropriate and informative content
At over 285 pages long, this book strikes an appropriate balance between academic content and computer-generated wonder. One of the features of this book is the close-up photographs of important fossils. The vast majority of fossils from the Precambrian and Cambrian geologic period are extremely small, but the highly enlarged, full-color photographs really help bring the fossil evidence to life, so to speak. The reader is treated to some wonderful images, illustrations of the early seascapes, and some excellent prints and computer generated graphics of what the fauna and flora of the Burgess Shale site (British Columbia, Canada) might have looked like.
The First Book of David Attenborough’s Life in Brief
In short, a good book, an interesting read, perhaps not ideal for children, but a fitting tribute to the work of scientists and to Sir David himself.