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The Last Lost World

Ice Ages, Human Origins, and the Invention of the Pleistocene

Author Lydia Pyne, Stephen J. Pyne
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Paperback
$24.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
5.51"W x 8.45"H x 0.77"D   | 10 oz | 20 per carton
On sale Apr 30, 2013 | 320 Pages | 978-0-14-312342-2
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An enthralling scientific and cultural exploration of the Ice Age—from the author of How the Canyon Became Grand

From a remarkable father-daughter team comes a dramatic synthesis of science and environmental history—an exploration of the geologic time scale and evolution twinned with the story of how, eventually, we have come to understand our own past.

            The Pleistocene is the epoch of geologic time closest to our own. The Last Lost World is an inquiry into the conditions that made it, the themes that define it, and the creature that emerged dominant from it. At the same time, it tells the story of how we came to discover and understand this crucial period in the Earth’s history and what meanings it has for today.

Praise for THE LAST LOST WORLD

"Daughter-and-father historians of science pretty fully justify their profession in this brilliant explanation of the most recent geological epoch […] For science mavens of a philosophical bent, this may be the book of the year, a font of knowledge and, what’s more and better, intellectual exercise." — Booklist


“Written in clear, supple prose, this title will interest historians, anthropologists, and anyone fascinated by the Ice Ages, human evolution, and the history of science and culture.”
— Library Journal


“Lasting from about 3 million to 10,000 years ago, the Pleistocene is both a geological epoch and an idea, write science historians Stephen Pyne (Voyager: Exploration, Space, and the Third Great Age of Discovery, 2011, etc.) and his daughter Lydia, who proceed to deliver a perceptive account of both."
— Kirkus Reviews


“[Pyne] and his daughter dig right into the subject of the tumultuous, fascinating Pleistocene and do […] a lively, bang-up job of it.”
— Open Letters Monthly
Lydia Pyne has degrees in history and anthropology and a PhD in history and philosophy of science from Arizona State University. She has participated in field and archival work in South Africa, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Iran, and the American Southwest. She has published articles and essays in The Atlantic, Nautilus, and Public Domain Review. She lives in Austin, Texas, where she is an avid rock climber and mountain biker. View titles by Lydia Pyne
Stephen J. Pyne is a professor of history at Arizona State University, a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and winner of the 1995 Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award for Arts and Letters. His book The Ice was named one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year. His eleven groundbreaking books include the five-volume Cycle of Fire. He lives in Glendale, Arizona. View titles by Stephen J. Pyne

About

An enthralling scientific and cultural exploration of the Ice Age—from the author of How the Canyon Became Grand

From a remarkable father-daughter team comes a dramatic synthesis of science and environmental history—an exploration of the geologic time scale and evolution twinned with the story of how, eventually, we have come to understand our own past.

            The Pleistocene is the epoch of geologic time closest to our own. The Last Lost World is an inquiry into the conditions that made it, the themes that define it, and the creature that emerged dominant from it. At the same time, it tells the story of how we came to discover and understand this crucial period in the Earth’s history and what meanings it has for today.

Praise

Praise for THE LAST LOST WORLD

"Daughter-and-father historians of science pretty fully justify their profession in this brilliant explanation of the most recent geological epoch […] For science mavens of a philosophical bent, this may be the book of the year, a font of knowledge and, what’s more and better, intellectual exercise." — Booklist


“Written in clear, supple prose, this title will interest historians, anthropologists, and anyone fascinated by the Ice Ages, human evolution, and the history of science and culture.”
— Library Journal


“Lasting from about 3 million to 10,000 years ago, the Pleistocene is both a geological epoch and an idea, write science historians Stephen Pyne (Voyager: Exploration, Space, and the Third Great Age of Discovery, 2011, etc.) and his daughter Lydia, who proceed to deliver a perceptive account of both."
— Kirkus Reviews


“[Pyne] and his daughter dig right into the subject of the tumultuous, fascinating Pleistocene and do […] a lively, bang-up job of it.”
— Open Letters Monthly

Author

Lydia Pyne has degrees in history and anthropology and a PhD in history and philosophy of science from Arizona State University. She has participated in field and archival work in South Africa, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Iran, and the American Southwest. She has published articles and essays in The Atlantic, Nautilus, and Public Domain Review. She lives in Austin, Texas, where she is an avid rock climber and mountain biker. View titles by Lydia Pyne
Stephen J. Pyne is a professor of history at Arizona State University, a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and winner of the 1995 Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award for Arts and Letters. His book The Ice was named one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year. His eleven groundbreaking books include the five-volume Cycle of Fire. He lives in Glendale, Arizona. View titles by Stephen J. Pyne

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