Strata

A lyrical journey through four moments in Earth’s past and their lessons for our future.

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The epic stories of our planet’s 4.54-billion-year history are written in strata—ages-old remnants of ancient seafloors, desert dunes, and riverbeds striping canyon walls and cliffsides all around us. These layers of rock help geologists piece together how our planet became the place we know and gather context for modern change. In Strata, Laura Poppick travels with leading Earth historians across the globe to show us how to decipher these primeval plotlines—tales of connection and evolutionary invention, of turmoil and balance restored.

Digging into four moments of global transformation that shaped Earth and made our lives possible—from the first accumulations of oxygen in the atmosphere to the deep freeze of “Snowball Earth,” the rise of mud on land, and the dinosaurs’ reign on a hothouse planet—we see how, even amidst environmental upheaval, the arc of geologic time bends toward stability. Beautifully grounding and laced with awe, Strata unveils the wisdom and hope for our times these rocks can hold.