Living on Earth

Peter Godfrey-Smith is a distinguished professor of history and the philosophy of science at the University of Sydney. He is the author of five books, including the bestselling Other Minds, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Royal Society Science Book Prize and Natural Selection, which won the 2010 Lakatos Award for an outstanding work on the philosophy of science.

'Living on Earth is a hugely important book ... Sweeping, careful, and courageous ... Godfrey-Smith writes with grace, humility, and wisdom ... The picture he paints reaffirms our continuity with the natural world, and impresses on us the urgency of the choices we now face' Anil Seth, director of the Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex and author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness

'Only Peter Godfrey-Smith could write this book. It offers a vast, kaleidoscopic, and immensely thought-provoking overview of the development of life on Earth ... We are often told that human beings are part of the natural world, but rarely is the mutual influence between people and the rest of our shared ecosystem spelled out with such care' Sean Carroll, professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of Quanta and Fields

'In Living on Earth, Peter Godfrey-Smith combines vivid and compelling descriptions of the natural world, unexpectedly fascinating scientific results, and philosophical arguments that are exceptionally clear and accessible as well as deep and profound' Alison Gopnik, professor at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The Gardener and the Carpenter

'Strap in as Peter Godfrey-Smith takes us on a dazzling exploration of the planet's diverse tenants, all of whom sculpted the environment we'd later inherit and transform. An essential read for understanding the legacy of the spot we're standing in right now, and its future' David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and author of Incognito and Livewired

'Peter Godfrey-Smith not only reviews science, he probes it. In his hands this always yields rich new insights on the nature of life' Michael S. Gazzaniga, professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and author of The Consciousness Instinct