Humans now wield a greater influence on the planet than any other species in history, and human-developed technologies like genetic engineering and artificial intelligence stand poised to overtake biological evolution. Just how did we arrive at this unique moment in human history, 14 billion years after the birth of the universe? Sydney Brenner's 10-on-10: The Chronicles of Evolution brings together 24 prominent scientists and thinkers to trace the story of evolution through ten logarithmic scales of time. Through expert insights, this unique volume considers how humans found our place in the cosmos, and imagines what lies ahead. CHAPTER AUTHORS 1. Foreword (Sydney Brenner) 2. Life In The Habitable Zone (John D. Barrow) 3. From Clay To The Code Of Life (Hyman Hartman) 4. Stepping Up To Life (Jack W. Szostak) 5. When Cells Get Creative (Giulia Rancati and Norman Pavelka) 6. Finding Strength In Numbers (Detlev Arendt) 7. There And Back Again (Per Ahlberg) 8. Conquest Of The Land And Sea (Byrappa Venkatesh) 9. A Salute To Our Placoderm Pioneers (John A. Long) 10. Warming Up To Mammals (Harris Lewin) 11. All In The Family (Francis Thackeray) 12. Lessons From Our Inner Neanderthal (Svante Pääbo) 13. Wired For Intelligence (Terrence Sejnowski) 14. Getting Smart About Learning (Atsushi Iriki) 15. More Than Just Small Talk (Tecumseh Fitch) 16. The Logic Of Cultural Evolution (Roland Fletcher) 17. Going With The (Information) Flow (Sander van der Leeuw) 18. Lingo With A Life Of Its Own (N. J. Enfield) 19. How We Became Modern (W. Brian Arthur) 20. The Creative Destruction Of Evolution (Stefan Thurner) 21. The Challenge Of The Anthropocene (J. Stephen Lansing) 22. Difficult Questions In Evolution (Eörs Szathmáry) 23. An Evolving View On Evolution (Gerd B. Müller) 24. The Humble View From Inside Evolution (Helga Nowotny) 25. Epilogue (Sydney Brenner) Published by Wildtype Books and distributed by World Scientific Publishing Co. Readership: Science enthusiasts, history buffs, students, educators, scientists, social scientists, researchers. "This wonderfully anthropocentric and chronocentric book throws ten logs on the fiery topics of evolution. A must-read — next to Hawking's A Brief History of Time and Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything . A remarkably readable and inspiring distillate of amazing lecturers covering topics from the Big Bang to the Anthropocene, with many insights into the near and far future along the way." -- George Church, professor, Harvard University "'May you live in interesting times' is a curse of unclear origin but certainly one that applies to our current age, when fake news dominates the media. What a great delight then to read this marvellous book in which an inspirational concept based in the logarithmic analysis of time attempts to answer with intellectual rigour and clarity the great questions of 'Who are we?', 'Where did we come from?' and 'Where are we going?'. In all of this book the guiding intellect of Sydney Brenner is apparent. No one understands evolution better than he." -- David Lane, chief scientist, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore "An inspirational read. If there is one person who could distil 14 billion years of evolutionary history into a single volume, accessible to and for everyone — and do so with such impish brilliance — it could only be the unique Sydney Brenner. A true colossus of science, a leader others had to and invariably wanted to follow, and a brilliant individual at his best working within a team, Sydney does it all with a wonderful sense of humour that shines through whenever he speaks. This book is a fitting tribute to a true great who made a unique contribution to humanity and had fun doing so." -- Jeremy Farrar, director, Wellcome Trust " The Chronicles of Evolution brings together an impressive team of leading scientists to introduce readers to the history of life, from its very beginnings to the emergence of our own species." -- Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh " The Chronicles of Evolution is a fascinating compilation of short stories elegantly highlighting and explaining some of the key periods that led to life on Earth as we know it today. This treatise presents the history of life in terms that are understandable, enlightening and eminently readable by anyone with a basic education in science. With an introduction and a summing up by Sydney Brenner, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a fast overview of evolution. It is not easy to put it down." -- Richard Roberts, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1993) "Another real winner from Brenner! Sydney's brain never stops generating clever insights about the nature of life." -- James D. Watson, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1962) "Few people have been as long or as deeply involved in raising Singapore's scientific standing as Sydney Brenner. Brimming wit