1. How the present reveals the past
The diversity of life today
Life's relationship with the environment
Processes which change environments over time
Earth, a dynamic system in constant flux
Environments today as potential sites of fossilization
Our view of the geological past
2. Ice Age (0-1.8 million years ago)
The present as a warm interglacial
The discovery of the Ice Age
Evidence of life during the Ice Age
The environmental impact of the Ice Age
3. Life's third age (1.8-65 million years ago)
Discovering the ancient testimony of rocks
Our oldest human relatives
A world dominated by grasses, insects, and mammals
Opening and closing oceans
Building and destroying mountains
4. Life's Middle Age (65-205 million years ago)
The discovery of the sea dragons
The discovery of the dinosaurs
Life in the shadow of the dinosaurs
Windows on the past in China
5. Life's extinction events
The discovery of extinction events
Volcanism and the climate change
6. Life's Early Age (205-545 million years ago)
The discovery of deep time
Fossil fuels fire the Industrial Revolution
Climate change and shifting continents
The move from sea to land
Putting the backbone into life
7. Life's beginnings (545-4000 million years ago)
The discovery of the Precambrian
The search for the oldest fossils
Discovering the origin of life
8. Earth's beginnings (4000-4600 million years ago)
Discovering the age of the Earth
The rock record of Earth's origin
