"The Story of the World in 100 Species" by Christopher Lloyd

    I encountered this book accidentally in the public library.
Not a book you settle down to read from cover to cover--all 400 pages of it in a largish format on heavy glossy paper. But a book you might give as present to an intelligent teenager or keep on your bookshelf, dip into from time to time, and absorb a few fascinating facts
    The aim is to look at the species that have made great contributions to the modern world, starting with the most primitive forms of life, and moving through prehistoric creatures, the vast forests of trees that we now use as oil and coal, the rise of Homo Sapiens, wheat, maize, cotton, silk, rice, cows, cats, dogs, horses, foxes, crows, mosquitos, rats, grapes--there are a hundred species that are examined, and each gives rise to an interesting essay, usually relating the effects on world history and on the environment that the species have engendered.
     Just thought I would mention it--as I say, a good present for a teenager.