A fascinating immersion at the heart of the origins of life, led by one of the great discoverers of our time.

How did everything begin? How did life, starting from one single cell, manage to diversify and give rise to an extraordinary abundance of life?

The reader is taken to the heart of true scientific quest on the origins of life on Earth. And our guide is not a journalist or a popularizer, but one of the world’s leading experts on the subject: Abderrazak El Albani. He is credited with the discovery, in 2008 in Gabon, of the oldest complex organism, a major discovery showing that multicellular life appeared 2.1 billion years ago, or 1.5 billion years earlier than previously thought! He also revealed the existence, at that time, of a complex oxygenated ecosystem, which overturned prevailing models of gradual oxygenation and simple life. He further proposed the hypothesis of a structured and coordinated internal organization in these complex multicellular organisms that appeared well before the first animals (approximately 500 million years ago).

His recent discoveries, along with those of teams in China, the United States, and Europe, have revealed a history of life that is much older, richer, and more dynamic than we ever imagined. Over the past fifteen years, joint advances in geology, paleontology, geochemistry, and 3D imaging have rapidly renewed our understanding of evolution.

As a passionate educator, Abderrazak El Albani shares his discussions with fellow researchers and provides the reader with the clearest summary of the current state of knowledge on the origins of life.

A lively, accessible account, driven by the infectious enthusiasm of a researcher who breathes new life into one of humanity’s greatest mysteries.