Overview

The theory of evolution stands over modern biology as quantum mechanics and relativity do over modern physics. And few modern scientists are as widely familiar and celebrated as Darwin. Yet most of us remain less than entirely clear as to how evolution by natural selection works and a series of celebrated titles by such writers as Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins do little to help, being each so partisan of a particular, contentious, view of the subject.

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9780099439820

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Reviews

Zimmer takes us on a comprehensive tour of the history and implications of evolution that is hard to fault... Admirable. * Guardian * Written with crystal clarity, Zimmer uses a broad brush to sweep us through the length and breadth of evolution... We are enthusiastically brought up-to-date.... a stunning and accessible book * Tim Birkhead in the BBC Wildlife Magazine *

Few (apart from an army of religious fundamentalists) would argue that Darwin's The Origin of Species has been one of the key texts of the modern era: a cogently argued, powerfully written and uncompromisingly radical study of the evolution of life on earth. But, however groundbreaking, Darwin's classic was published long before palaeontologists and geologists determined the chronology of life on this planet, and long before biologists identified the molecules that are the basis of heredity and natural selection. It was only at the turn of the 20th century that the astonishing scope of Darwin's theories was revealed in its full complexity. Festooned with praise from such influential writers as Steve Jones, this illuminating and handsomely illustrated volume from Carl Zimmer presents the history of Darwin's idea, its impact, development and continuing implications, from the history of life on earth and the nature of sex to the understanding of the antibiotic-resistant diseases and the wave of species extinctions that are a reality in this century. Zimmer cogently encapsulates the theory of evolution from Darwin's journey in the Beagle to the latest battleground of current evolutionary theory, from Darwinian medicine and sexual selection to the origins of language, evolutionary psychology and the struggles between evolutionists and creationists in the US. And as the latter achieve gain more and more ground (several American states are now obliged to inform children that the world was created in seven days), the timing for this lucid and compelling account could not be more acute. The Triumph of an Idea? Intelligent readers will fervently desire that triumph after reading Zimmer's persuasive book. (Kirkus UK)

Zimmer takes us on a comprehensive tour of the history and implications of evolution that is hard to fault... Admirable. Guardian Written with crystal clarity, Zimmer uses a broad brush to sweep us through the length and breadth of evolution... We are enthusiastically brought up-to-date... a stunning and accessible book Tim Birkhead in the BBC Wildlife Magazine

Author Information

A former senior editor at Discover magazine, Carl Zimmer is Stephen Jay Gould's successor on the US magazine Natural History. He is the author of two previous books and lives in New York.

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