Praise for Here on Earth

“Suppose you want to be well informed, but you’re busy and don’t have the time to read lots of books. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were one delightfully written book that told you everything you’d like to know about humans, the Earth, sex, sperm counts, war, our future, and hundreds of other subjects? Here it is. You’ll discover why Tim Flannery’s books have made him the rock star of modern science.” —Jared Diamond, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Guns, Germs and Steel

“Here on Earth is confident, clarion—a tocsin, indeed—both intellectually bracing and lanky in reach, full of answer-and-call and polymath in its enthusiasms. It’s got a rush. I was mightily impressed.” —Edward Hoagland, author of Sex and the River Styx

“A lyrical, informed investigation into the human as ecological agent, and a provocation to act responsibly.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Earth could use a biography. Tim Flannery has delivered a provocative one in time for Earth Day . . .The spirited argument on behalf of man and planet contained in Here on Earth constitutes what should be called the Tim Flannery meme: informed optimism about our ability to save ourselves.” —Los Angeles Times

“Flannery’s storytelling style of narrative and his razor-sharp observations and expansive knowledge of the subject enliven the material.” —Library Journal

“It’s uplifting reading . . . the book ranges far and wide . . . an enjoyable book.” —Georgia Claire, Overland

“The planet can be stable and productive if the human inhabitants learn to live in harmony, not conflict. If ideas of cooperation, altruism and love of all things are revived, no one need despair.” —Stuart Rees, National Times

“In dangerous times—which every branch of the biological field sciences believes we’re living in—your prayer is for a modulated, informed voice, someone with a sense of compassion for the world and legitimate reasons to be hopeful. You get all this and more with Tim Flannery in Here on Earth. He takes the politics and rancor out of the discussion we must have about our fate.” —Barry Lopez, author of Arctic Dreams

“Answers to virtually everything—from the formation of our planet, to the evolutionary progress of human beings, to our complex interactions multi-dimensional relationships with every form of life imaginable (many now extinct)—is assessed in Tim Flannery’s fantastic new book, Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet. Flannery covers a lot of ground, touching on everything from the importance of geo-pheromones (note: important!) to a contemplation of super-organisms (hint: that’s us) to lonely giants, backward-walking cats and politically-minded monkeys. Not only is this book fascinating, but better still it’s optimistic, balancing man’s destructive capabilities against the often overlooked fact that humans are also enormously resourceful, cooperative and inventive. Flannery makes a case—with compassion, common sense and uncommon wisdom—that if any species is capable of saving the planet from destruction, it’s us.” —TORO Magazine

“Here On Earth is a large book with large ideas. But beyond its scientific prowess and clarity on our species’ evolutionary history, Tim Flannery has created a love story about the nature of life. He asks the crucial question at this moment in time, ‘What is our responsibility to our eroding future?’ His projection is not apocalyptic, but filled with the promise of our own fidelity to survival, not survival of the fittest, but the survival of communal concern. An emerging consciousness rooted in empathy can change the course we are on from destruction to transformation, creating a global movement toward restorative habitation. This is a deeply spiritual inquiry into the mind of evolution and what it means to be human in an increasingly inhuman world. Here On Earth allows us to believe we can move through this transitionary time with grace and a heightened intelligence toward Other.” —Terry Tempest Williams, author of Finding Beauty in a Broken World

“[Tim Flannery] has a rare gift for communicating complex environmental issues in a way that makes them immediately understandable and compelling for the general public. His broad vision of evolution and its relevance to today’s world has made him one of this generation’s most influential thinkers, writers and speakers on environmental topics ranging from wildlife conservation to climate change.” —Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Science president George Cephart, on awarding Flannery the prestegious Joseph Leidy Award

“Tim Flannery’s new book Here on Earth is a high watermark in popular science writing and an impressive feat of science salesmanship. It would take a hard, uncomprehending heart to come away from this book without enriched sympathy for the natural world.” —Sydney Morning Herald

“Here on Earth . . . is a history of the planet that asks: Are humans constituted by natural selection to be so selfish and greedy that we’re doomed to catastrophe? . . . Here a thoughtful and literate scientist is prompted by the climate crisis to cast his zoological eye on the history of our species and to speculate on its evolutionary trajectory.” —The Australian Literary Review

“Flannery is not merely a scientist, he is also an entertainer. . . . He deploys fantastic imagery and eye-popping factoids with aplomb, while condensing great volumes of hard science into his text . . . [bringing] to the most arcane topics an infectious enthusiasm coupled with a real talent for narrative and explanation.” —The Weekend Australian

“His most ambitious book so far . . . a twin biography, of humanity and the planet it inhabits, but that description is inadequate. Mr Flannery’s subject is the likely fate of humankind, and whether the powers granted to modern civilisation by science and technology will prove to be its downfall or its salvation . . . worth reading.” —The Economist

“[A] wonderful book . . . a letter from perhaps the world’s most thoughtful, and certainly most eloquent, environment scientist on how we as a species might survive as chief stewards of planet Earth . . . Here on Earth is a must for optimists and pessimists alike.” —The New Scientist (UK)

“Flannery’s writing never fails to please. His authorial voice is always engaging, and he has an eye for memorable details that help ordinary readers make models in their minds of how nature works.” —The Observer (UK)

“Flannery is a renaissance man—historical ecologist, palaeontologist, zoologist, explorer . . . In example after example, [he] shows how people all over the planet have failed to think ahead, and have carelessly and greedily used up plentiful natural resources until they are gone.” —The Guardian (UK)

“[W]e need a paradigm shift, away not from Darwin but from the crude extrapolation of his ideas. Flannery excellently and entertainingly explains the science that is needed to achieve this. Here on Earth deserves to be widely read, and it will be good for the world if it is.” —The Independent (UK)

“[Flannery] brings together planetary history, evolutionary biology, his own practical experience and some sinister as well as encouraging thoughts for the future. His book is a triumph of interdisciplinarity.” —The Financial Times (UK)