Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS v
3. THE EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE
4. The Evolution of the Universe 3
5. The First Stars in the Universe 13
6. Exploring Our Universe and Others 24
7. Searching for Life in Our Solar System 32
8. The Fate of Life in the Universe 40
9. Life’s Rocky Start 51
10. Misconceptions about the Big Bang 61
11. The Evolution of the Earth 72
12. CELLULAR EVOLUTION
13. Uprooting the Tree of Life 87
14. The Birth of Complex Cells 99
15. Viral Quasispecies 114
16. How Cells Respond to Stress 126
17. Cell Communication: The Inside Story 140
18. Life, Death and the Immune System 150
19. Cybernetic Cells 163
20. DINOSAURS AND OTHER MONSTERS
21. Rulers of the Jurassic Seas 171
22. The Mammals That Conquered the Seas 182
23. Breathing Life into Tyrannosaurus rex 193
24. Madagascar’s Mesozoic Secrets 203
25. Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird? 213
26. The Terror Birds of South America 225
27. The Evolution of Life on the Earth 234
28. HUMAN EVOLUTION
29. An Ancestor to Call Our Own 251
30. Early Hominid Fossils from Africa 260
31. Planet of the Apes 269
32. Once We Were Not Alone 280
33. Out of Africa Again . . . and Again? 291
34. Who Were the Neandertals? 301
35. Food for Thought 310
36. Skin Deep 322
37. The Evolution of Human Birth 330
38. Once Were Cannibals 338
39. If Humans Were Built to Last 347
40. ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 355