Contents

Prologue: A Tale of Two Planets

1    Almost Too Good To Be True

2    Mediocrity

3    Rarely Earth

4    Constant Change

5    Air Conditioning

6    Snowballs and Greenhouses

7    Staggering Through Time

8    Music of the Spheres

9    Force of Nature

10  Pond Weeds and Daisies

11  Life’s Big Bang

12  Eclipse

13  The Dark Side of the Moon

14  Gaia or Goldilocks?

Epilogue: Siblings

Further Reading

Acknowledgements

Index