Peter Godfrey-Smith (UK, out now); , (US, 3 September))
IN 2016, Peter Godfrey-Smith landed an unexpected bestseller with Other Minds: The octopus and the evolution of intelligent life. It was widely acclaimed for its insight into the consciousness of a relatively alien life form, lent colour and character by Godfrey-Smith鈥檚 regular encounters with cephalopods off the beaches of his Sydney home 鈥� which explains why he is often billed as the 鈥渟cuba-diving philosopher鈥�.
In the 2020 follow-up, , the author expanded his scope to all animal sentience, setting out how beings as different as humans, insects and corals might experience life on our shared planet. Living On Earth concludes the trilogy and is even more ambitious, joining the dots between 鈥渓ife, consciousness and the making of the natural world鈥�, according to its subtitle.
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The story begins long before Homo sapiens, with cyanobacteria, the tiny, oxygen-producing microorganisms that, about 3 billion years ago, created the conditions for complex life. From here, Godfrey-Smith charts the evolution of plants and animals, showing how each break from the 鈥渢ree of life鈥� reflects the changing environment and eventually also shapes it.
His aim, he writes, is to tell the 鈥渉istory of how life has changed the Earth鈥�, unpicking the dynamic cause-and-effect relationship between plants and animals and their environment. It is a mammoth undertaking, but he approaches it like the proverb about how to eat an elephant: one bite at a time. To say he writes clearly sounds like faint praise, but on such an unwieldy subject, it is no mean feat.
In Living On Earth, Godfrey-Smith presents himself as a patient guide, leading you step by step through vastly different time periods and terrains. His clear signposting of how separate paths of history converge, and where certain expert views and the published science differ, further encourages confidence. Recognising the foolhardiness (if not futility) of trying to be an omnipotent expert, he is transparent not only about his sources but also where his own mind is not yet made up.
The effect is engaging, positioning the reader over Godfrey-Smith鈥檚 shoulder, watching him think. But you would be forgiven for needing the occasional time-out. Though sensibly structured into short sections, Living On Earth is unavoidably dense and occasionally abstract, as the author himself acknowledges.
Where Other Minds had a central character in the octopus, Living On Earth supplements the main thread of evolution with examples and vignettes. These breathe life into the narrative, giving readers a chance to take stock of the necessarily brisk tour through ancient history while also showing the results of the processes he describes.
Many of Godfrey-Smith鈥檚 case studies are drawn from his home country, Australia, which holds fossil evidence of the times many animal groups split from their forebears, as well as examples of their 鈥渓iving representatives鈥�. His observations of the birds, reptiles and other wildlife that visit his backyard serves to illustrate the role of certain animal behaviours and activities 鈥� for instance, birds鈥� songs and mating displays 鈥� and how they might have come to be.
These vignettes not only aid our understanding of Godfrey Smith鈥檚 grand tour but also show that the processes of adaptation and transformation he describes are ongoing. Plus, in today鈥檚 Anthropocene age, they are driven by human activity.
The final third of the book tackles farming, animal experiments and the threats posed by climate change and habitat loss, using a 鈥渒ind of ecological outlook鈥� so we can see the big picture and our place in it.
To a greater or lesser extent, Godfrey-Smith argues, all life on Earth is a product of 鈥減atterns of action鈥� such as building and other learned behaviours. In this clever, compassionate and often deeply moving book, he encourages us to consider not just how we got here, but where we choose to go next.
Elle Hunt is a writer based in聽Norfolk,聽UK
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