We learn about symbiogenesis the merging of independent organisms into a more advanced organism and that we humans are composites of many life forms and many mergers. We all envelop traces of bygone beings. To put such microscopic beings into perspective, we learn that Emily s cocoliths literally carpet the oceans, covering areas larger than all the continents put together. Fortunately, we read, mitochondria cannot abandon us as they can no longer live outside of our cells. Other panels describe the periods of continental drift, glaciation, the times of mass extinctions and the long periods of recovery, the coming of plants, seeds, animals with backbones, eggs, the first mammals.
Mammals help pollinate and fertilize as they graze and swallow delicious fruits.
And so on, through the final few panels, to homo erectus, a single step away, a mere million years ago. The Walk Thru Time is more than a history lesson or a course in science. The idea for the Walk took root in the mind of Dr. Sid Liebes. He grew up on the San Francisco Peninsula when it was pastoral, uncrowded, and quiet. After spending time teaching at Princeton, he returned to his home area to find eucalyptus forests chopped down, apricot orchards replaced by housing projects, endless fields of poppies turned into shopping centers.