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The Adventures of Paddy and Penny Pig: Part 3: The Time Machine

by John Lusk

166 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-2075; ISBN 1-4251-4814-X; US$18.19, C$18.19, EUR12.43, £9.39

Paddy and Penny Pig are abandoned at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The pigs use a time machine to visit Earth's geological past as they ascend the Time Trail out of the canyon.

About the Book

In Part 3, Paddy and Penny Pig, from Johns River piggery near the eastern seaboard Australia, are accidentally abandoned at the bottom of the Grand Canyon in the United States. The pigs are left with an extraterrestrial time machine which they soon learn to use. This allows them to have adventures in Earth’s fascinating geological history as they ascend the Time Trail to the surface of the canyon.

During their adventures in different geological Periods, our intrepid time travelers learn about life history and changing geological environments in the south western part of the United States of America from approximately 1,700 million years past to the present.

As a geoscientist, I attempt to recreate plausible snapshots of the geological past. Evolving faunal and floral communities are interwoven at appropriate times. Our hosts Paddy and Penny Pig are mostly tourists who simply observe. However they do get into bother on occasions, but always manage to escape.

A book of this nature will offend some readers, and especially those who reject the notion that the Earth is very old – approximately 4,500 million years in fact! However there is something for everybody. I personally accept that biological evolution is a fact. Nevertheless, I am not in a position to reject interventionism as an alternative suggestion for the biological ‘explosion’ which occurred in the Cambrian Period more than 550 million years ago. Besides, this approach leaves the door ajar for Cosmic Intelligence to peek in. Remember, we humans do not have all the answers – at least not yet!

About the Author

The author is an Australian citizen and a retired geoscientist. He freely admits to having spent too long in the confusing corridors of academia in both north America and in Australia where one is apt to unlearn ‘which way is up’! One may also learn about ‘trench’ warfare while observing colleagues in action.

An uncomfortable association with geology’s multi-faceted problems soon drove the author into the relative ‘comfort’ of an experimental laboratory where there existed the possibility for simplifying ‘systems’, and perhaps even understanding how they really work. From this experience, he believes that good science involves about 1 % inspiration, 9 % intuition, and 90 % perspiration which can drown the struggling scientist. On balance, it’s all been good fun!

“Why pigs?” you ask. “And, why not?” We eat them, they provide replacement heart valves for us, and farmers have a devil of a time herding them when they escape. Pigs are also likely to prompt a smile from the young at heart. And there’s a real bonus if you can learn something from them. Indeed, the antics of Paddy and Penny Pig in Parts 2 and 3 of this trilogy allow this. So there you have it!