On any night in early June; if you stand on the right beaches of Americarsquo;s East Coast; you can travel back in time all the way to the Jurassic. For as you watch; thousands of horseshoe crabs will emerge from the foam and scuttle up the beach to their spawning grounds; as theyrsquo;ve done; nearly unchanged; for more than 440 million years.Horseshoe crabs are far from the only contemporary manifestation of Earthrsquo;s distant past; and in Relics; world-renowned zoologist and photographer Piotr Naskrecki leads readers on an unbelievable journey through those lingering traces of a lost world. With camera in hand; he travels the globe to create a words-and-pictures portrait of our planet like no other; a time-lapse tour that renders Earthrsquo;s colossal age comprehensible; visible in creatures and habitats that have persisted; nearly untouched; for hundreds of millions of years.Naskrecki begins by defining the concept of a relicmdash;a creature or habitat that; while acted upon by evolution; remains remarkably similar to its earliest manifestations in the fossil record. Then he pulls back the Cambrian curtain to reveal relic after eye-popping relic: katydids; ancient reptiles; horsetail ferns; majestic magnolias; and more; all depicted through stunning photographs and first-person accounts of Naskreckirsquo;s time studying them and watching their interactions in their natural habitats. Then he turns to the habitats themselves; traveling to such remote locations as the Atewa Plateau of Africa; the highlands of Papua New Guinea; and the lush forests of the Guyana Shield of South Americamdash;a group of relatively untrammeled ecosystems that are the current end point of staggeringly long; uninterrupted histories that have made them our best entryway to understanding what the prehuman world looked; felt; sounded; and even smelled like.The stories and images of Earthrsquo;s past assembled in Relics are beautiful; breathtaking; and unmooring; plunging the reader into the hitherto incomprehensible reaches of deep time. We emerge changed; astonished by the unbroken skein of life on Earth and attentive to the hidden heritage of our planetrsquo;s past that surrounds us.
#2099652 in eBooks 2003-01-21 2013-03-22File Name: B00DVHYCNA
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Youve never seen it; even if youve been thereBy M. CotoneCorelli is a well-known Italian professor of archaeologist and ancient art; but what makes him extraordinary is his knowledge of Roman topography; i.e.; the study of places and placements. I read his two-volume work on the Roman forum (il foro Romano) while I was living in Rome; became utterly taken with the archaeology and "arrangement" of the heart of the ancient city; and spent many Sundays thereafter walking the ground and exploring his conclusions. This guide can provoke the same sort of reaction in you; especially if you are able to visit Rome and the area around it; but even if you cant and are limited to pictures and maps. What appears to be piles of stones and broken down buildings suddenly emerge as the public buildings; monuments; and private homes of a people who were; in their way; just as intelligent; thoughtful; and reflective as we are (or tell ourselves we are). If you can have that experience while telling yourself that they werent at all like us; you will have what Coarelli sets out to provide; i.e.; a true out-of-the-box experience.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Rome: The Big Picture From Inside Out;By CustomerThis book met all my expectations and more. Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide has set me up with a vast cache of info in which to immerse myself in preparation for my first trip to the Holy City.If I could live my life over I would do it as an archaeologist!Back in the 70s I had the opportunity to "dig" in Acre in Israel under the direction of Moshe Dothan. My discovery of a coin in a "Roman" gutter dated the site. Emperor Vespasians visage leapt out at me as I gently wielded my brush.The photos and maps in Coarellis book have whet my appetite and furthered my knowledge about Rome in such a way that I almost cannot bear the wait until I catch my first glimpse of Rome and its Environs.10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Dig this BookBy Twark MainIf you are interested in the archeology of Rome with a very good (if necessarily brief) narrative of the major events and people associated with it; I would recommend this book. Given the inherent scale of historical comment that can be made on Rome; I think the book may satisfy readers ranging from those with a casual interest in Rome to those with an obsession! A succinct mapping of what; where; when; and who - back to pre-Republic - is something Ive long looked for in a book on Rome; and this book does it very well. Having said that; I dont think this book would suit those who wanted to know how Augustus spun his way to the tribunician power; for instance.The chapters are set out per geographical area. For example; the first chapter covers the city walls; the next chapter the Capitoline; then the Forum; then the Palatine; etc.. I think approaching the archeology of the city this way is a marvellous stylistic device that walks us through the front gate first; so to speak; and guides us further into the archeology and history as we go. Further; itineraries are set out; which gives a reader thinking about visiting Rome a good idea of how to go about touring the ancient parts.Each chapter has a clear and concise map of the archeological area and/or monuments being treated by the narrative. I have scanned some of these and printed them on A3 size paper (because Im obsessed...); so I can include my own notes about tribes; rituals; necropoli; shrines etc; with plenty of elbow room. The topographic map has been handy for that. The only thing I would add to the book would be a hydrographic map of early Rome; which would demonstrate how marshy and waterlogged a place it was until the wonderfully named Cloaca Maxima intervened. There is also an appendix which treats of the building methods and materials; and where the materials were sourced; which is a very interesting bonus.