Origins: How the Earth Made Us
Lewis Dartnell promises to show how the terrain around us shapes not only the physical space we live in but also the political, economical and evolutionary climates of who we are
Before I started reading it, the concept of Origins excited me. Dartnell promises to show how the Earth made us, how the terrain around us shapes not only the physical space we live in but also the political, economical and evolutionary climates of who we are.
There are certainly a lot of fascinating stories on this subject. Did you know, for example, that the Black Belt of the US was originally named for the band of dark, nutrient-rich soils heralding from the Cretaceous Period? You can see this band in US voting patterns too, mirroring the dense African-American populations from the cotton farming history of the region.