Newly discovered fossils from a quarter billion years ago (the Permian period) provide a new narrative on how the transition from unicellular to multicellular life occurred. The Permian period is known as the great dying, however it could equally well be called the great rebirth. The earth was rocked by several extinction pulses, and each extinction pulse was followed by a "quantum speciation" or rebirth of life event. The fossils presented in the book appear to be part of one such quantum speciation or rebirth event. The whole body preservation of these fossils allows the specimens to be...