I read this book to challenge myself and to learn more about nature due to my sibling's interest in conservation. Whilst this book was challenging in places for someone uneducated in geography, geology, or the natural world, it was incredibly interesting. Knoll explains lab studies and references his personal experience as a geologist and the people he met, including

the palaeontologist who theorised and proved that the dinosaurs were made extinct by a meteor.

Knoll interspersed his own wit and comic language between his descriptions of the earth's history, and placed the reader's imagination in the nature of the prehistoric world through excellent writing. I only reduced the rating to 3.75 because I often zoned out when reading and therefore couldn't maintain my own interest or comprehension (but maths and science were never my forte.)