What on Earth Happened?

Lloyd, Christopher . 2008 What on Earth Happened?: The Complete Story of the Planet, Life, and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day. Bloomsbury USA, New York. ISBN-10: 1-59691-583-8. Hardcover, alkaline paper, 390 pages, brief bibliography, notes and an index.

What on Earth Happened: The Complete Story of the Planet, Life, and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day is a huge title, for a hugely ambitious book. Written by science writer Christopher Lloyd and charmingly illustrated by Andy Forshaw, What on Earth Happened is no less than a history of the world, beginning with the Big Bang and ending with the present day.

Broken into four parts and 42 whopping chapters, Lloyd's book is light-hearted, even as he discusses the catastrophes that have befallen the earth, all fortuitously leading to our survival. The four main parts are Mother Nature (13.7 billion-7 million BC); Homo Sapiens (7 million to 5000 BC); Settling In (5000 BC-570 AD); Going Global (570 AD-present day). Despite this enormous breadth, I found much of the text based on archaeological studies about as close to uptodate as you could get without being live.

Like it's successor, What on Earth Evolved, will find an ideal home in the hands and hearts of middle schoolers, but again, the text is perfectly geared to non-scientific thinking adults as well. If you ever wanted a way to bone up on the major events in human history without relying on the Internet, this is the way to do it.

Several simplified maps and cartoons illustrate this book, which should definitely find its way onto library shelves and in kid's homes everywhere.