Major Transitions in Evolution
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Major Transitions in Evolution
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Narrated by:
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Anthony Martin
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John Hawks
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Written by:
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Anthony Martin
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John Hawks
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The Great Courses
About this listen
Imagine a world without bees, butterflies, and flowering plants. That was Earth 125 million years ago. Turn back the clock 400 million years, and there were no trees. At 450 million years in the past, even the earliest insects had not yet developed. And looking back 500 million years, the land was devoid of life, which at that time flourished in a profusion of strange forms in the oceans.
These and other major turning points are the amazing story of evolution. Given the broad scope of the subject, this course is taught by two professors: Anthony Martin, a paleontologist and geologist at Emory University, and John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each is an outstanding teacher in his field, adept at making the subject interesting and accessible no matter what your background in science.
In 24 lavishly illustrated lectures, you will learn about Earth’s major transitions, each of which brought forth new possibilities for life. You will study the conditions that led to the first complex cells, flying insects, flowering plants, mammals, modern humans, and many other breakthroughs. And in the process of studying the past, you will gain a powerful understanding of the present world.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2010 The Great Courses (P)2010 The Teaching Company, LLCWhat listeners say about Major Transitions in Evolution
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Langer MD
- 2024-07-09
Great Information. Disappointing Presentation.
This lecture series generated memories of sitting in darkened University Theatres furiously scribbling notes during my Undergrad studying Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology. The data is voluminous but familiar and organized logically.
Less fortunately, Professor Anthony Martin frequently references PowerPoint slides/maps/figures during his presentations without The Great Courses providing those visuals. The appended PDF is useful.. but inadequate for the purpose for lectures 1-17. Anthropologist John Hawks doesn't help the situation, either. His lecture-by-lecture summaries are more syllabus-quality - but he demonstrates anthropoid movements/displays fossils during his lectures that we can't see as audiobook consumers.. and talks us through Cladograms that the PDF doesn't include. His halting delivery gets to be annoying after a couple of hours, too - competing with Martin's groanworthy Dad Jokes for the title of which is cringier.
I very much appreciated the included timeline and a well-conceived Glossary in the accompanying PDF, but the product overall was subpar.
Altogether, this is one of the weaker 'Great Courses' programs that I have encountered. The quality of the material is commendable - but the inability to adjust for the straight audio format - in lecture style and accompanying materials - is baffling. I rate it a frustrating 5 stars out of 10. Feel free to keep browsing.
[Incidentally: How do you discuss Plesiosaurs and Gigantopithecus without mentioning the Loch Ness Monster & Bigfoot myths?]
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