The firmament of time

by Loren C Eiseley.
New York : Atheneum, 1975, ©1960.

This text examines what we as a species have become in the late 20th century. The book is a synthesis of scientific theory, factual evidence, personal anecdotes, haunting reflection and poetic prose.

Loren Eiseley was an anthropologist, educator and natural science writer, who taught at the University of Pennsylvania. This book consists of a series of lectures Eiseley did in 1959 to honor the 100th anniversary of Darwin’s “The Origin of the Species.” They explore evolution and our relationship to time and the natural world, or rather our growing disconnectedness from both. And now, 50 years later, Eiseley’s concerns have only become more troublesome. We’re even more isolated, existing in an artificial world.