"The main aim of this book is to highlight one part of the immense sweep of time called the Precambrian -- the Proterozoic -- and, in fact, only a part of that Eon -- the time when the first animals appeared -- in a wide variety of places on Earth," the authors explains. "The first animals will always be of profound interest to scientist and layperson alike." With a foreword by the late Arthur C. Clarke. The reviewer for Science writes, "The Rise of Animals offers a much-needed avenue to communicate to the general public the past decade's exciting discoveries of Ediacaran fossils."