Beasts Of Eden

Mammals first evolved at about the same time as dinosaurs, and their story is perhaps the more fascinating of the two—in part because it is also our own story. In this literate and entertaining book, eminent naturalist David Rains Wallace brings the saga of ancient mammals to a general audience for the first time. Using artist Rudolph Zallinger's majestic The Age of Mammals mural at the Peabody Museum as a frame for his narrative, Wallace deftly moves over varied terrain—drawing from history, science, evolutionary theory, and art history—to present a lively account of fossil discoveries and an overview of what those discoveries have revealed about early mammals and their evolution. In these pages we encounter towering mammoths, tiny horses, giant-clawed ground sloths, whales with legs, uintatheres, zhelestids, and other exotic extinct creatures as well as the scientists who discovered and wondered about their remains. We meet such memorable figures as Georges Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and learn of their heated disputes, from Cuvier's and Owen's fights with early evolutionists to present controversies over the Late Cretaceous mass extinction. Wallace's own lifelong interest in evolution is reflected in the book's evocative and engaging style and in the personal experiences he expertly weaves into the tale, providing an altogether expansive perspective on what Darwin described as the "grandeur" of evolution.

Publisher Description

Annotation A general interest exploration of mammal evolution and the scientific history of major fossil discoveries, their discoverers, and changing ideas about these extinct "beasts."It's both a grand mystery and a Cinderella story: mammal origins were one of 19th-century science's major enigmas, and mammals outlasted the more abundant dinosaurs to give birth to us.

In this new collection, Beadle lures us into a realm of fact and fantasy, of history and myth, where we are all-at once-both "native and stranger, neighbor and trespasser" . . . . nothing escapes the fresh wit and seasoned wisdom of this big-hearted poet.

Totally compatible with all d20 System materials, the Liber Bestiarius provides a horde of new creatures for any campaign. From the massive to the minute, from the motivated to the mindless, the monsters stalk your setting with terrifying relentlessness! The Book of Beasts features a full range of creatures from demons and golems to small furry mammals and new PC races, new feats, new spells, and new special abilities! Each creature entry contains: A complete description of each monster, fit for use in any setting. Adventure hooks providing advice on inserting the monster into your campaign. PC suitability entries offering suggestions for adding the beast as a member of the party! A comprehensive listing of d20 System stats. Combat strategies and inclinations, including many new special abilities.

“A history of the human brain from the big bang, fifteen billion years ago, to the day before yesterday . . . It's a delight.”—The New York Times Dr. Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offering his vivid and startling insight into the brain of man and beast, the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most haunting legends—and their amazing links to recent discoveries. “How can I persuade every intelligent person to read this important and elegant book? . . . He talks about all kinds of things: the why of the pain of human childbirth . . . the reason for sleeping and dreaming . . . chimpanzees taught to communicate in deaf and dumb language . . . the definition of death . . . cloning . . . computers . . . intelligent life on other planets. . . . Fascinating . . . delightful.”—The Boston Globe “In some lost Eden where dragons ruled, the foundations of our intelligence were laid. . . . Carl Sagan takes us on a guided tour of that lost land. . . . Fascinating . . . entertaining . . . masterful.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

There is a huge time gap between the very first two versus of Genesis in the bible. In this fiction novel, the author combines creative imagination and revelation from scripture in an attempt to explain that gap and to fill all the voids in-between. The story takes place before the time of Adam & Eve. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Everything and everyone was in perfect beauty & harmony. Worship was the joyful duty of both beasts and other beings present during this time until the appearance of a deadly sight in the sky - THE FALL OF LUCIFER! What appears to be a giant meteorite followed by 3 smaller ones is in actual fact the prison cell for this menace who led a rebellion in heaven just moments ago. Crashing into the earth causing destruction & chaos on its impact alone, darkness is introduced to our world for the first time. Unable to move from his prison, Lucifer oozes forth diabolic smoke from within the meteorite to infest & corrupt the remnant of survivors on the earth with its emotional poison. Led by a Lion, the kings of this era each charged with the rule over the elements air, water & earth gather together seeking council & a solution for this time of peril, chaos & darkness covering the face of the earth. Admits this struggle against overwhelming odds for survival, they have to endure & deal with a rebel among themselves too that ancient serpent called the dragon who believes himself to be the "Chosen One" created to fulfill this era's prophecy to rule & unite all the elements. Thrones are shaken, friendships are tested & darkness spreads in this epic tail as the plot thickens in the search for the Creator God who alone can answer the cry of all of creation.

“Every James Rollins delivers mach-speed mayhem, throat-clutching suspense, high-style adventure, and a terrific story told terrifically.” —Steve Berry, author of The Warsaw Protocol Combining science, history, and breakneck suspense—and a secret tied to the Book of Genesis—Altar of Eden is sure to satisfy every James Rollins fan while winning over a slew of new converts. Following the fall of Baghdad, two Iraqi boys stumble upon armed men looting the city zoo. The floodgates have been opened for the smuggling of hundreds of exotic birds, mammals, and reptiles to Western nations, but this crime hides a deeper secret. Amid a hail of bullets, a concealed underground weapons lab is ransacked—and something even more horrific is set free. Seven years later, Louisiana state veterinarian Lorna Polk stumbles upon a fishing trawler shipwrecked on a barrier island. The crew is missing or dead, but the boat holds a frightening cargo: a caged group of exotic animals, clearly part of a black market smuggling ring. Yet, something is wrong with these beasts, disturbing deformities that make no sense: a parrot with no feathers, a pair of Capuchin monkeys conjoined at the hip, a jaguar cub with the dentition of a saber-toothed tiger. They also all share one uncanny trait—a disturbingly heightened intelligence. To uncover the truth about the origin of this strange cargo and the terrorist threat it poses, Lorna must team up with a man who shares a dark and bloody past with her and is now an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, Jack Menard. Together, the two must hunt for a beast that escaped the shipwreck while uncovering a mystery tied to fractal science and genetic engineering, all to expose a horrifying secret that traces back to humankind's earliest roots. But can Lorna stop what is about to be born upon the altar of Eden before it threatens not only the world but also the very foundation of what it means to be human?