克里斯托弗·劳埃德（Christopher Lloyd），曾身为学者在剑桥大学研读历史，任《星期曰泰晤士报》技术栏目的记者。。他与妻子和两个女儿曾在欧洲旅游四个月，有一次他在罗马附近的露营地洗盘子的时候，得到了一个灵感，于是写了《地球简史》。

A gorgeously illustrated and wholly comprehensive timeline of the earth's entire history that explains how everything is interconnected. As comprehensive as the subtitle suggests, "What on Earth Happened "is a primer for Planet Earth, a giant narrative leap across time and space, one seismic change at a time. Combining the history of earth science and the history of human civilization, "What on Earth Happened "covers how the earth was formed, how life began, the way the ecosystem works, how species evolved, the rise of man, migration, the development of tools, language, agriculture, art, transportation, architecture, cities, religion, government, global conflicts, and medicine. In short, it shows how everything--from the mountains and flowers and the birds and the bees to the Iraq war and the oil under the Arctic--is all wonderfully, complexly interconnected.Entertaining and accessible--and gorgeously illustrated with specially commissioned graphs, charts and maps--"What on Earth Happened" connects the dots of the past to tell a coherent, comprehensive, and compelling story about our very own third rock from the sun.