In The Evolution of Power: A New Understanding of the History of Life, distinguished Professor Emeritus of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Geerat Vermeij talks about findings he’s gleaned from his meticulous study of extinct creatures have yielded broader insights about evolution, humanity, biology, economics and now, the role of power. The book extrapolates on the idea that “the history of life on Earth can be meaningfully and informatively interpreted as a history of power” with the human species representing the current apex. Vermeij defines power as “energy taken up or spent per unit of time.”

Dr. Geerat Vermeij's interests include Marine ecology and paleoecology; the functional morphology of marine mollusks; the coevolutionary reactions between predators and prey, and their effects on morphology, ecology, and evolution; biogeography and climate, and their reconstruction from paleontological evidence; the marine Mesozoic revolution; the paleobiogeography of the Arctic, and its influence on Atlantic and Pacific Cenozoic faunas.

Vermeij has more than 200 publications, including five published books as well as papers in such leading journals as Paleobiology, Science, American Naturalist, and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. His latest book, Nature and Economic History, tackles the subject of economics and evolution. In it, Vermeij draws close comparisons between the principles of economics and the principles of evolution, and ties both to major trends in the history of life and the history of humanity.

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