The first of series of 5 books, this book tells the history of life on Earth from the planet's formation 4,550 million years ago until the end of the Paleozoic Era 252 million years ago. In this beautiful full-color illustrated book, you will learn about: How life began in the seas as simple single-celled organisms How single-celled organisms grew more complex and changed the planet The sudden appearance of many multicellular life forms during the Cambrian explosion How life colonized the land The evolution of the first tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) from fish How tetrapods diversified to produce reptiles and our ancestors, the synapsid mammal-like reptiles The greatest mass extinction in history that brought the Paleozoic Era to a close And much more Table of Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: How the Earth was Formed The Formation of the Solar System The Formation of the Planets Including Earth. Chapter 2: The Hadean Eon Conditions in the Hadean Eon Chapter 3: The Archean Eon Conditions in the Archean Eon Prokaryota - The First Life Chapter 4: Proterozoic Eon The Great Oxygenation Event and the Huronian Glaciation More Complex Life - Eukaryota The Cryogenian Period The Ediacaran Period - The First Multicellular Life Chapter 5: The Phanerozoic Eon and the Paleozoic Era Eras of the Phanerozoic Eon Periods of the Paleozoic Era Chapter 6: The Cambrian Period Paleogeography of the Cambrian Period The Cambrian Explosion Animals of the Cambrian Period Plants of the Cambrian Period Mass Extinctions of the Cambrian Period Chapter 7: The Ordovician Period Paleogeography of the Ordovician Period Climate of Ordovician Period The Ordovician Radiation Animals of the Ordovician Period Mass Extinctions of the Ordovician Period Chapter 8: The Silurian Period Paleogeography of the Silurian Period Climate of Silurian Period Animals of the Silurian Period Life on Land Chapter 9: The Devonian Period Paleogeography of the Devonian Period Marine Life in the Devonian Period The First Tetrapods The Devonian Explosion Mass Extinctions of the Devonian Period Chapter 10: The Carboniferous Period (including Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Subperiods) Paleogeography of the Carboniferous Period Climate of Carboniferous Period Forests and Coal Deposits Marine Life in the Carboniferous Period Amphibians of the Carboniferous Period The First Amniotes Terrestrial Arthropods of the Carboniferous The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse The Diversification of Amniotes - Parareptiles, Synapsids and Diapsids Chapter 11: The Permian Period Paleogeography of the Permian Period Climate of the Permian Period Plants of the Permian Period Amphibians of the Permian Period Parareptiles of the Permian Period Diapsids of the Permian Period Synapsids of the Permian Period Insects of the Permian Period Mass Extinctions of the Permian Period Chapter 12: The Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras The Mesozoic Era The Cenozoic Era