My Scrapbook of the Story of Life (by Professor Genius)

Description

The very learned Professor Genius opens the pages of his personal scrapbook on the story of life. In a unique and accessible style, this wise character presents us with the major
stages of creation, from the origins of life to modern Man.

Subjects

• Books
• Savoirs
• Formal sciences

Informations

• Published by: Québec Amérique
• Published: 09 August 2012
• Reads: 0
• EAN13: 9782764409022
• Language: English
• Document size: 28 MB

Exrait

My scrapbook of the STORY LIFE of Professor Genius

My Scrapbook of the Story of Life by Professor Genius

My dear Genius,

Paris, April 8, 2005

Here is a wonderful book that touches all of us in the most profound way. It tells, with a sense of realism and with poetry, our personal story. The entire tale does not end with our conception, because even the ovum and the spermatozoid that created us were living creatures. They had a history, too, and therefore a beginning. But how do we find our way back to the very first event? This journey, taking big steps back in time, recreates the stages that led up to the present reality. It can extend into the distant past, to the inaccessible Big Bang, an event so difficult to imagine because it made space, matter, and time appear in a single stroke.

In your scrapbook, my friend, you limit your exploration to the later stages, those that have unfolded on our little planet since the appearance of this unexplainable “life.” Nature has been fabulously creative over the course of the last 3.5 billion years, but this creativity has been surpassed by the exploits of one of the more recent species to appear, ours. We humans can add an extra chapter to this enduring story, because we are not content to submit to the forces of the universe. We are not content merely to “be,” we are also aware that we exist. More mysterious than the appearance of life is the appearance of this consciousness. It creates the ability to make important choices. Because of consciousness, what happens tomorrow is up to us. By describing our past with clarity and simplicity, Genius, you help point the way forward.

In friendship,

Albert Jacquard

My friend Albert Jacquard is one of the great humanists of our time. This French scientist is a lecturer and writer to be admired. His reflections on the meaning of life make us think and contribute to the evolution of our collective consciousness.

To you who opens this scrapbook, Four and a half billion years ago, a star was born, called the Sun, as well as an entire procession of rocks, dust particles and gases that would form what we today call our “solar system.” Within this group, a tiny rocky planet, called Earth, would be a theater for the most spectacular show ever: LIFE. The first living things entered the scene 3.8 billion years ago. Soon, they were joined by billions of other original life forms with extraordinary destinies: algae, fish, plants, amphibians, insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

How did life appear on our dear planet? What is the spark that ignited it and the engine that drove it, creating the billions of examples of life we see today? These are great mysteries, my friend, and human beings throughout the ages have been searching for the explanations. Philosophy, religion, and science each offer their own version of the facts. These different versions sometimes clash, yet often live in harmony.

You know I have a passion for the sciences, so you will understand why I have chosen to summarize the story of life, as seen and understood by yesterday’s and today’s scientists. Over the years, I’ve collected newspapers, magazines, books, and photographs, and now I would like to share them with you. But remember this! Theories do not last forever. They change according to our knowledge of the world. The story of life will never stop being rewritten. Maybe some day it will be you, my friend, who will take over the task!

Happy reading and, most of all, never forget to be curious and to allow yourself to be moved by the beauty in Nature.

Professor Genius

You can write to

Professor Genius at the

following address:

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

My Scrapbook of the Story of Life (by Professor Genius)

Includes index

For ages 10 and over

ISBN 9782764409022

1. Inventions  Juvenile literature. 2. Scientific discoveries  Juvenile literature. I. QA International (Firme) II. Collection

Professeur Génius e 3 étage 329, rue de la Commune Ouest Montréal (Québec) H2Y 2E1 Canada

) was created and produced by: My Scrapbook of the Story of Life (by Professor Genius

QA International e 3 étage 329, rue de la Commune Ouest Montréal (Québec) H2Y 2E1 Canada

T 514.499.3000 F 514.499.3010 www.qa-international.com

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. © 2006 QA International Inc. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com

Printed and bound in Singapore.

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The characters in Professor Genius’ world, except for Mr. Albert Jaquard and those mentioned in the Acknowledgments, are pure fantasy. Any resemblance to actual living persons is entirely coincidental. Although the facts they contain are accurate, the newspaper articles, old letters, books, and magazines drawn from the professor’s personal collection are all products of the imagination of the creators of this scrapbook.