Evolution

Book Description

Mark Ridley 's Evolution has become the premier undergraduate text in the study of evolution. Readable and stimulating, yet well balanced and in-depth, this text tells the story of evolution, from the history of the study to the most recent developments in evolutionary theory.The third edition of this successful textbook features updates and extensive new coverage. The sections on adaptation and diversity have been reorganized for improved clarity and flow, and a completely updated section on the evolution of sex and the inclusion of more plant examples have all helped to shape this new edition. Evolution also features strong, balanced coverage of population genetics, and scores of new applied plant and animal examples make this edition even more accessible and engaging.

Customer Reviews:

Superb.......2007-07-13

The price of this book is well worth it -- A book of this nature is no small task to assemble. Broad in scope, Ridley had done a very thorough job on comprehensively covering technical topics, leaving out opinion and covering subjects from multiple perspectives.
However, it is a fairly technical read, and lengthy, which should only be undertaken by those who take the subject seriously. Each topic has a multitude of citations and the chapters end with recommendations for further reading. A true work of scientific literature by an author who cares about educating his reader.

A thorough and clear book.......2007-06-28

I have used this book through my undergraduate and early graduate years and have been very pleased with the layout, the content, and the writing. I would recommend this text to anyone who has taken a first year biology course and wants or needs to learn more on the background for much of the current work in evolutionary science.

Poor excuse for science...missing pages = poor production.......2006-11-24

After paying over 100 dollars for the book I finally got around to reviewing it. As you read the chapter summaries you'll get tired of reading about how such and such data "suggests" or "may" or "can". These are not the words of science. Science is about knowing. Ridley quite masterfully takes data and weaves his faith of evolution to connect dots that have no reason to be connected...except that he presupposes evolution as fact.

There's very little in this book that the evolutionist can stand on that points to "PROOF" of macroevolution.

Not only this...my book jumps from page 614 to page 647. That's 33 pages that are missing. Ridley might suggest the book has evolved, but the creationist suggest that a loss of information never accounts for parts and can not be the basis for macroevolution. Is the author/publisher planning on sending supplements for those of us with the missing pages.

Mine is the third edition with the moth and flower on the front

Excellent review of modern evolutionary thought.......2004-06-24

I saw the 2 star review and decided I could not let it sit without challenge. I have just received my Phd in psychology and masters in statistics, and have decided to attempt to make a career out of behavioral genetics and evolutionary genetics. Mark Ridley's book was an absolute inspiration to me when I first read it, and it continues to be a must-have reference. The book is noteworthy because it explains the major debates in evolutionary thought in a balanced yet readable way. For example, Ridley gives an excellent introduction into the fundamental question about what maintains genetic variation in the face of selection, an issue that is given only cursory attention in other books of this kind.

I first read this as an undergraduate, yet it continues to serve as my fundamental reference to evolutionary biology. This is truly a wonderful introduction to evolution.

Technical evolutionary biology.......2004-05-04

The neo-darwinian evolutionary synthesis has been called a genetic takeover. This book testifies to the truth of this dictum. Genes are of the utmost importance. EVOLUTION is not so much about evolution as teaching theoretical evolutionary biology without much feeling for practical evolutionary research or the natural world. As an introductory textbook, Ridley's book will succeed in making students avoid evolutionary biology, as a subject full of theoretical debates with little biological sense

The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans

Average customer rating:

Brilliant and beautiful
A catalogue of cousins
Beautiful Pictorial Guide To Human Evolution For Those Who Aren't Scientists
The Ultimate Extended Family Photo Album
A Hominid Family Photo Album

The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans
G. J. Sawyer , Viktor Deak , Esteban Sarmiento , and Richard Milner
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300100477

Book Description

This book tells the story of human evolution, the epic of Homo sapiens and its colorful precursors and relatives. The story begins in Africa, six to seven million years ago, and encompasses twenty known human species, of which Homo sapiens is the sole survivor. Illustrated with spectacular, three-dimensional scientific reconstructions portrayed in their natural habitat developed by a team of physical anthropologists at the American Museum of Natural History and in concert with experts from around the world, the book is both a guide to extinct human species and an astonishing hominid family photo album.
The Last Human presents a comprehensive account of each species with information on its emergence, chronology, geographic range, classification, physiology, lifestyle, habitat, environment, cultural achievements, co-existing species, and possible reasons for extinction. Also included are summaries of fossil discoveries, controversies, and publications. What emerges from the fossil story is a new understanding of Homo sapiens. No longer credible is the notion that our species is the end product of a single lineage, improved over generations by natural selection. Rather, the fossil record shows, we are a species with widely varied precursors, and our family tree is characterized by many branchings and repeated extinctions.
Exhibition information:
Photographs of most of the reconstructions that appear in this book will be featured in exhibits appearing in the new Hall of Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The opening of the Hall is planned for November 2006.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant and beautiful.......2007-09-06

Brilliant and beautiful, this book may help those who still don't grasp human evolution.

The artwork is spectacular and succeeds at bringing long-extinct hominids back from the dead.

A catalogue of cousins.......2007-08-02

There's a great deal of information available to the interested seeker of human origins. What has been lacking is a good descriptive overview and logical arrangement of the fossils found. Sawyer and Deak have responded to that need with this volume. Arranged in order of the oldest to the youngest of fossil specimens, the authors summarise which parts have been uncovered. In addition, they further descriptions of the likelihood of bipedalism, the known locations with assumed roaming areas, the associated wildlife and climate information. A special feature presents the way the "man-ape" probably appeared in its natural habitat.

The oldest fossils are very fragmentary and lead more to suggestions as to how they fit in the human lineage. Some clearly were successful creatures in their own right, but likely lie in a line that died out in time. Those aged pieces need further finds to establish their place - the chief reason the authors describe the probable range they inhabited. Later, more complete, fossils offer more information. The authors begin depicting fossil pieces in a restored placement with Australopithicus afarensis, the now-famous "Lucy" revealed by Don Johanson and his team in 1973. The authors provide an almost startling image of this hominid searching the savannah for her "lost daughter" - a very human characteristic. Laetoli's preserved footprints are described with the implications for how close to modern humans A. afarensis could stride.

After "Lucy's" time, about 3.5 million years ago, hominids developed into many and varied types. Lucy's fossils were found in Ethiopia, but a million years later a new species, with robust jaws and bearing a crested cranium appeared. Paranthropus aethiopicus had nutcracker jaws and was more sturdily built than Lucy. Yet, in the same time frame, Lucy's likely direct successors also emerged. One of these may have been the first to apply tools to aid food processing. Far away in what is now South Africa, other branches of Lucy's clan may have evolved as a result of earlier forebears migrating. Within another half-million years, examples of hominids in the direct lineage to today's humans appear, only a short distance from the supposed range of Lucy's wanderings. Their descendents launched new migrations traced by finds to the east of their original homelands.

The recent find near Dmanisi in Georgia provides a look at hominid life nearly 2 million years ago. Flaked stone, likely used for meat cutting, although no bones with cut marks have yet been revealed. A contemporary of the Georgian hominid wandered yet further east, typified by the skull and thigh bone excavated by Eugene Dubois in 1891. Homo habilis has been found in other sites, demonstrating its wandering habits. The most astonishing find outside our African origins is the small hominid, H. floresienses, discovered in a cave in Indonesia.

Ultimately, of course, the sole survivor of hominid evolution, Homo sapiens, outlasted its many competitors. The last major contender alongside our species was Home neanderthalis, ranging from today's Middle East into Western Europe. The authors' coverage of this species is thorough, but not extravagant. Moving to our species, Sawyer and Deak provide a good overview of the factors used in classifying the fossils without greatly extending their coverage in comparison to the other topics. To conclude the book, they describe the techniques used in making the representative images of the various hominid species discussed in the text. The key point is how they developed the faces in the images. These stand in stark contrast to some of the historical illustrations of "early man" done earlier.

This book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in our ancestral past. Written in a straightforward manner, the authors give the available data, describing various speculations with care. They avoid dwelling on the many controversial questions that have plagued palaeoanthropology, and have no particular positions of their own to forward or defend. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Beautiful Pictorial Guide To Human Evolution For Those Who Aren't Scientists.......2007-07-05

"The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans" is a beautiful, illustrated guide to human evolution that's aimed for a scientifically literate general audience, without much of the terminology associated with paleoanthropology and other relevant aspects of physical anthropology. The principal authors, physical anthropologist Gary P. Sawyer and artist Viktor Deak, are the co-leaders of the Fossil Hominid Reconstruction and Research Team based at the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Anthropology, which has used the techniques of forensic anthropology to recreate these vivid illustrations of these extinct hominid species, often relying on the latest paleoanthropologic research (though, in a couple of instances, the authors observe that some artistic license was taken with the final appearance of several individuals). This book is essentially a visual companion to the dioramas and other related displays featured in the recently opened Spitzer Hall of Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History, in which the reconstructions made by Sawyer and Deak have taken their rigntful prominent places as among the most intriguing in this elegant hall devoted to human evolution. If nothing else, both this book and this new permanent exhibition, demonstrate more convincingly than ever, that human evolution has been an increasingly "tangled web" of species diversity, of which Homo Sapiens - humanity - is the sole surviving species. In addition to Sawyer's and Deak's contributions, there is eloquent writing too from Richard Milner, an anthropologist and writer who is affiliated with both the museum's anthropology department and Natural History Magazine. The book's text does an admirable job covering not only the paleontology of each species (e. g. geological and paleobiogeographic range, palecological reconstruction), but also delves into the probable cultural attributes of each of the twenty-two hominid species. Without question, this book is artistically - and scientifically - the latest word on human evolution aimed for a general audience; I strongly commend Yale University Press for trying to keep its production costs to a minimum to ensure a potentially large audience for it.

The Ultimate Extended Family Photo Album.......2007-07-03

"The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans" is a numinous, scientifically accurate, and artistically inspired depiction of human evolution - the ultimate extended family photo album and history - that follows the emergence of 22 human species from our primordial cradle in Africa six to seven million years ago to the dawn of Homo sapiens.

Unlike overly popularized accounts, "The Last Human" unflinchingly notes that Homo sapiens was not an inevitable outcome. Environment and contingency generated, and the fossil record documents, a hominid family tree sprouting many branches including forerunners, relatives, and extinctions. Photorealistic three-dimensional reconstructions portray hominids such as Australopithecus afarensis, Homo rhodesiensis, Homo erectus, and Homo neanderthalensis (among others) with startling and emotionally evocative intensity.

The accompanying text provides a comprehensive account of each species with information on its emergence, chronology, geographic range, classification, physiology, lifestyle, habitat, environment, cultural achievements, co-existing species, and possible reasons for extinction.

By masterfully merging scientific insight and artistic interpretation into a coherent and compelling whole "The Last Human" eloquently articulates how family history is everyone's heritage. This is a category-defining book that deserves to be widely read. It has my highest recommendation.

Also try Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade, The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors by Ann Gibbons, From Lucy to Language: Revised, Updated, and Expanded by Donald Johansen, or the Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins by Carl Zimmer.

A Hominid Family Photo Album.......2007-06-12

This book is the work of the artists and scientists of the Fossil Hominid Reconstruction and Research Team. Sawyer is the physical anthropologist and Deak is the paleoartist. They take all that is known about each species within the genera Australopithicus, Ardipithicus, and Homo, and synthesize that data into stunning, beautiful, and somewhat disturbing likenesses of individuals. Whether in forecasting the future or in reconstructing the past, the further you get from the present day, the more uncertainty is introduced. The authors admit to a blending of science and art, and they admit that the more flimsy the fossil record, the greater their artistic license. It is said that all of the known fossils of proto-humans would fit in the bed of a pickup truck, and it is with this implicit caveat in mind that you must evaluate the accuracy of the reconstructions. Also, only bone fossilizes, and this is a book about soft tissue, so there is considerable inductive logic implicit in the reconstructions. But, hey, it's a good start, and it's more than we had before Sawyer and Deak had their inspiration. My guess is that any future corrections to their work will likely appear immaterial to the scientifically literate general reader which is their target audience.

All of the paleoanthropological discoveries in the text of this elegant photo album of proto-humans have been published before, and the authors do not claim offer new theories or interpretations of hominid evolution. The reason you will want to read this book is to meet your family in the flesh, to see what your ancestors looked like. Take each reconstruction as a hypothesis; this is what they most likely looked like, based on our current interpretation of the fossil record.

This book's stunning illustrations will be certain to attract a fresh audience of paleoanthropological novices, and they will find, after their initial shock, that the authors present a rather comprehensive introductory course in the topic. It is a welcome addition to a bibliography of recent books aimed at the general reader, including "The Dawn of Human Culture", by Richard Klein, "From Lucy to Language," by Donald Johansen, "Extinct Humans," by Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz, and "Becoming Human," by Ian Tattersal (see my Amazon reviews). This book doesn't require a vocabulary in craniodental morphology, and for the most part scientific terms are avoided. For instance, Sawyer uses the term "man-ape" instead of the term "hominid."

What emerges from these pages is the slow, but accelerating evolution of proto-humans, by a process of brutal natural selection, including many failed "branches" in the evolutionary tree, all but one ultimately leading to extinction, leaving only ourselves.

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals)

Average customer rating:

Can't Beat It
Four classics
Wonderful writing wrong package
Too big
From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, T

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals)
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393061345

Book Description

A gorgeous gift and a landmark work that is an essential addition to everyone's personal library.

Never before have the four great works of Charles Darwin—Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle (1845), The Origin of Species (1859), The Descent of Man (1871), and The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872)—been collected under one cover. Undertaking this challenging endeavor 123 years after Darwin's death, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson has written an introductory essay for the occasion, while providing new, insightful introductions to each of the four volumes and an afterword that examines the fate of evolutionary theory in an era of religious resistance. In addition, Wilson has crafted a creative new index to accompany these four texts, which links the nineteenth-century, Darwinian evolutionary concepts to contemporary biological thought. Beautifully slipcased, and including restored versions of the original illustrations, From So Simple a Beginning turns our attention to the astounding power of the natural creative process and the magnificence of its products. Slipcased hardcover; 101 illustrations, map.

Customer Reviews:

Can't Beat It.......2007-04-03

I bought this book knowing very little about Darwin or his theories. From So Simple a Beginning was an easy read about a very interesting man. I would hope that not just supporters of evolution would read this book there is more to the man then just one theory.

Four classics.......2007-01-12

Excellent in every particular. Five stars in delivery time, condition, quality of the experience.

Wonderful writing wrong package.......2007-01-10

There is no gainsaying the writings of Darwin or the thinking of my favorite living scientist, E.O.Wilson. But the package is wrong.
Four books in one. Too heavy, too cumbersome. Discouraging.

Too big.......2007-01-05

This book is way too big to hold to read, so it is not useful. From the picture I thought I was ordering 4 different books in a book holder, not one giant book. I recommend buying them separately unless you have very strong arms and wrists.

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, T.......2006-07-02

Good

Average customer rating:

Elegantly brilliant
More Christian propaganda to seperate people
Great edition
One of the Greatest Books ever written
A Handy Edition of this Vital Classic

The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517123207
Release Date: 1995-05-22

Amazon.com

It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable.

To a certain extent it suffers from the Hamlet problem--it's full of clichés! Or what are now clichés, but which Darwin was the first to pen. Natural selection, variation, the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest: it's all in here.

Darwin's friend and "bulldog" T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thought of the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin who gathered the mass of supporting evidence--on domestic animals and plants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal--that swept most scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that the book is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surely the pinnacle of British understatement. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

The Origin of Species sold out on the first day of its publication in 1859. It is the major book of the nineteenth century, and one of the most readable and accessible of the great revolutionary works of the scientific imagination.
The Origin of Species was the first mature and persuasive work to explain how species change through the process of natural selection. Upon its publication, the book began to transform attitudes about society and religion, and was soon used to justify the philosophies of communists, socialists, capitalists, and even Germany's National Socialists. But the most quoted response came from Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's friend and also a renowned naturalist, who exclaimed, "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!"

Download Description

In the Origin of Species (1859) Darwin challenged many of the most deeply held beliefs of the Western world. Arguing for a material, not divine, origin of species, he showed that new species are achieved by 'natural selection'. Development, diversification, decay, extinction and absence of plan are all inherent to his theories. Darwin read prodigiously across many fields; he reflected on his experiences as a traveller, he experimented. His profoundly influential concept of 'natural selection' condenses materials from past and present, from the Galapagos Islands to rural Staffordshire, from English back gardens to colonial encounters. The Origin communicates the enthusiasm of original thinking in an open, descriptive style, and Darwin's emphasis on the value of diversity speaks more strongly now than ever.

Customer Reviews:

Elegantly brilliant.......2007-09-17

I had read The Voyage of the Beagle first. It is easy to see how Darwin's theory of evolution was growing as he traveled and saw how plants and animals adapted to different environments. Then he invented a theory to explain what he had observed.
This book is a 300 page definition of the theory of natural selection. Darwin goes through a detailed explanation of how evolution must have occured. He is very methodically, very detailed. When he doesn't understand something, he says he doesn't. He is humble in his presentation, giving credit to other scientists. I was amazed at how many experiments he performed himself, growing generations of plants and insects, watching how they developed and changed.
There is a quote in the book from Darwin's gardener who said, "He's really a sad little man. Sometimes he stands and stares at a flower for hours. I really think he'd be better off if he had something to do."
We are so lucky that Darwin inherited money and could spend his early years traveling and his later years in contemplation and writing.

More Christian propaganda to seperate people.......2007-07-31

Darwin was a born again Christian. Few people know that. And if there's one thing you need to know about Christians it's the fact that they are always trying to put one group of people against another. Divide and conquer. Darwin's plan(actually the plan of the intelligentsia that Darwin was a member of) was to create a new theory for the creation of man and then use Christian beliefs to blow it out of the water. It didn't work though. Even though Darwin picked the most crazy idea he came up with, man coming from monkeys!!!, people began to believe it. The powers that be saw that Science could very well be a new religous dogma and people would believe anything as long as a man in a white coat said it. Besides everyone knows that Allah created man in his supreme mercy, Allah Akhbar!!

Great edition.......2007-06-02

I liked the edition very much. Its legibility is very nice and it's a lightweighted version, dispite its 470 pages. I was just disapointed with the illustrations, that have very little relation to the text. But this fact doesnt compromise the quality of the whole. And the content... well, it's darwin world changing work, very readable.

One of the Greatest Books ever written.......2007-05-12

Darwin was one of the most brilliant men who ever lived. He was perhaps the greatest observer the world has known. In 1831, he set sail on the Beagle, a tiny little ship, for a five-year cruise around the world, and without pay, as naturalist. He had studied theology, medicine, and, finally, biology and geology. He saw how organisms change with time and environment and how Biblical events simply could not have happened as stated. He spent twenty-three years going over his notes, rethinking, and agonizing over the results. In 1859, he published Origin of Species, and it upset the world. He demonstrated evolution as no one had. Uneducated religious leaders may ridicule it, but evolution is a fact, accepted by any intelligent, educated, honest person.

A Handy Edition of this Vital Classic.......2007-05-11

There are many different versions of Darwin's "The Origin of Species" available, but I found this one particularly helpful. First, while it is nicely printed and easy to read on good paper, it is not terribly expensive. Second, it reprints the first or original version of the book which Darwin subsequently modified substantially in the the further five editions he published. Third, it also includes Darwin's "Historical Sketch" and "glossary" which had not appeared in the first edition. Fourth, the color cover illustration by the Victorian artist Henry de la Beche is an important indicator of why the Victorians were so into prehistoric studies. However, the thing that really distinguishes this Penguin Books edition is the incredibily incisive and invaluable introduction by the editor, J.W. Burrow. Burrow is beyond question one of the most significant intellectual historians of our time. Among other things he has written extensively on the concept of evolution in Victorian thought in his classic "Evolution and Society: A Study in Victorian Social Theory." In 37 crisp pages, Burrow incomparably sketches the Victorian intellectual background against which Darwin wrote. Although the essay is nearly 40 years old, it has stood the test of time very well. It alone is worth the price of the book. Altogether, a very nice introduction to this critical event in scientific and intellectual history.

Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography (Books That Changed the World)

Average customer rating:

You can ask for little more in so little space
Adequate
This author knows the subject too well to explain it

Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography (Books That Changed the World)
Janet Browne
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0871139537

Book Description

Charles Darwin’s foremost biographer, Janet Browne, delivers a vivid and accessible introduction to the book that permanently altered our understanding of what it is to be human. A sensation on its publication in 1859, The Origin of the Species profoundly shocked Victorian readers by calling into question the belief in a Creator with its description of evolution through natural selection. And Darwin’s seminal work is nearly as controversial today. In her illuminating study, Browne delves into the long genesis of Darwin’s theories, from his readings as a university student and his five-year voyage on the Beagle, to his debates with contemporaries and experiments in his garden. She explores the shock to Darwin when he read of competing scientist’s similar discoveries and the wide and immediate impact of Darwin’s theories on the world. As one of the launch titles in Atlantic Monthly Press’ “Books That Changed the World” series, Browne’s history takes readers inside The Origin of the Species and shows why it can fairly claim to be the greatest science book ever published.

Customer Reviews:

You can ask for little more in so little space.......2007-09-09

Simple me, I enjoyed the book tremendously. I was impressed by the author's ability to cover so much territory in so little space (the book is, in the end, a biography of both Darwin and Darwinism). Even condensed, it reads well. The last chapter, on the fate of Darwinism after his death, did seem a little rushed, but it was all so new to me that I was happy to have it, rather than nothing at all. This is, after all, an introductory book, and after you have read it, you can look elsewhere for something more substantial. You should judge a book by what it sets out to do, not by what you would do if you were the author.

Adequate.......2007-06-07

This short book is devoted to exploring Darwin's Origin of Species. Browne provides concise summaries of the background to the Origin, Darwin's life, the circumstances under which it was published, and its reception. Overall, these parts of the book are solid and essentially glosses of Browne's outstanding 2 volume biography of Darwin. The final part of the book is a brief tour of the subsequent history of Darwinian ideas from the late 19th century to the present. This is simply too much stuff in too brief a format and is superficial.
Readers interested in a better exploration of this topic would do well to read Browne's biography of Darwin. This is a thick book but very well written and is simply superb as an introduction to Darwin and the relevant 19th century history. Another complementary and excellent book is Ruse's The Darwinian Revolution.

This author knows the subject too well to explain it.......2007-05-22

This book was very disappointing to me, in that it failed to accomplish its main task. It's supposed to help us see how The Origin of Species changed the world, right? To do that it would have to make us see what the belief system was that Darwin's book upset. What did intelligent, educated people believe about animal and other species before Darwin came along? Why was his thesis so shocking? I am sure Janet Browne herself understands this thoroughly, but she makes the Number One mistake of bad pedagogues, which is to fail to imagine what her readers know and don't know - to fail to see the subject from her readers' point of view. We all live in a world steeped in the idea that species evolved over vast spans of time, through random variations, into the ones we know today, which are still evolving. Before Darwin, however, a different dogma was in the air, and I could not grasp from Browne's text what it was.
She should have devoted a whole chapter to putting us back into that mind-set, so we could then appreciate the shock of Darwin's theory.

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters (P.S.)

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Understanding what makes us, US
Compelling
review of genome
Genome
Remarkable

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters (P.S.)
Matt Ridley
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060894083
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Amazon.com

Science writer Matt Ridley has found a way to tell someone else's story without being accused of plagiarism. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters delves deep within your body (and, to be fair, Ridley's too) looking for dirt dug up by the Human Genome Project. Each chapter pries one gene out of its chromosome and focuses on its role in our development and adult life, but also goes further, exploring the implications of genetic research and our quickly changing social attitudes toward this information. Genome shies away from the "tedious biochemical middle managers" that only a nerd could love and instead goes for the A-material: genes associated with cancer, intelligence, sex (of course), and more.

Readers unfamiliar with the jargon of genetic research needn't fear; Ridley provides a quick, clear guide to the few words and concepts he must use to translate hard science into English. His writing is informal, relaxed, and playful, guiding the reader so effortlessly through our 23 chromosomes that by the end we wish we had more. He believes that the Human Genome Project will be as world-changing as the splitting of the atom; if so, he is helping us prepare for exciting times--the hope of a cure for cancer contrasts starkly with the horrors of newly empowered eugenicists. Anyone interested in the future of the body should get a head start with the clever, engrossing Genome. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

The genome's been mapped.
But what does it mean?

Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.

Genome offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.

Customer Reviews:

Understanding what makes us, US.......2007-07-12

This is a great primer for anyone wanting to understand what genes are - and they are not there to cause diseases!!!. The writing style is informative without being weighty and the book is an easy read for the non-scientific.

Compelling.......2007-06-27

I love this book. I only gave it 4 stars because I haven't finished it yet. It's one of those books that you can read over and over and learn new material each time. Matt Ridley's writing style is very easy to follow and he makes the discoveries of science compelling. It's a well organized piece that will most likely intrigue your friends and family as it makes for great conversation. I'm planning on checking out his other published works as well. Great gift too!

review of genome .......2007-05-29

I only read one chapter but i thought it was well written and easy to read despite the complex subject matter.

Genome.......2007-02-07

This is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. I am in the field of music and business. This book broke it down so that I could understand most of the major concepts. It is a very good overview of what the Genome Project is and begins to discuss some of the implications that it may have for the future.

Remarkable.......2006-12-31

Fascinating revelations about the workings of genes by a talented writer who makes a complex subject entertaining, insightful, and informative without overloading the non-scientist with arcane scientific and technical jargon. Perhaps even puts a thumb on the scale when a person weighs the contibutions of nature verses nurture in determining who we are and who we will become.

Average customer rating:

Excessive observant eye
The Fact of Evolution and the Theory of the Mechanisms of Evolution
A Great Scientist
Does not waste time with controversy; just read the book.

Origin Of Species
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: Castle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0785819118

Customer Reviews:

Excessive observant eye.......2007-07-16

Darwin's theory begins with individual variability(individual variation).

What does individual variability mean? Not to mention, it means that one individual differs from another one. A group of different individuals makes species or genus. When the individual variability proceeds to a certain degree, the creature produces defective offspring. This creates the difference of species or the wall of species. So we tell about biological diversity.

But there is no continuity between the individual variability and the change of species(evolution). For examble, at which point would our ancestors change to other species, when we go back to our distant ancestors? Our ancestors hold their continuity as species and they do not break.

Nevertheless Darwin connects individulal variability with the variation of species. It is because his definition of species is very obvious and the definition of classification is also not clear.

Hegel says in §229 of "Shorter Logic": "Definition involves the three organic elements of the notion: the universal or proximate genus (genus proximum), the particular or specific character of the genus (qualitas specifica), and the individual, or object defined."(From the site of MIA)

To put it briefly, when there are more objects than two: the identity(commonality) of the two objects is the universal; the distinction(difference) of them is the particular; the two objects is the individual. In other words, it is the whole-part relationship. Therefore Darwin lacks this distinction, that is, the particular.

Therefore, however significantly the parts may change(and the too major change of parts produces defective offspring), so far as the whole does not change, the transition of species does not occur. The theory of explaining evolution does not exist.

Only the hierarchical structure of creatures explains biological diversity.

Without the hierarchical structure, Darwin was not able to flow it and to tell about evolution. The evolution lacking the hierarchical structure is only `change.' Here there is only a continuum.

He did not find discontinuity in the nature and understand the aspect of distiction. There are an infinite abyss between part and whole, and between whole and whole.

Finally it hits fundamental limits, or the problem of `infinitesimal,' and this problem could be solved by `0.999~ = 1,' which would make the theory probabilistic and statistical.

Also, `the 0.999~ = 1' makes the distinction indiscriminating or continuous. Thereby in the continuum there is `a middle species,' so-called `the missinglink.' And infinite middle species.

But, ignoring the hierarchical structure, the fact that Darwin was seduced by the continuum forms a grave crime.

The Fact of Evolution and the Theory of the Mechanisms of Evolution.......2007-03-13

Charles Darwin (a naturalist) is the father of modern Evolution (not *Evil*ultion; it is pronounced *Evo*-lution).

Darwin's overall explanations of evolution in this book are not modern evolution. Modern evolution can, and does, critic Darwin.

Darwin's model is often called Darwinism, a philosophical concept with references to the science of biology. It is sometimes said that modern evolution disproved parts of Darwinism and this is somewhat true. This does not mean that Darwin was in complete error. Darwin almost got it all right. His underlying points still remain quite valid in modern evolution. Thus we say that Darwinism was then a very broad general hypothesis that contained valid theories.

Theories are comprised of facts without gaps. Theories are factual. Theories contain facts to explain a factual instance of something material. Theories do not contain fabrications or a little bit of lies plus some truths. If a theory is not all facts then it is not a theory.

The phrase "it is just a theory and not fact" is a contradiction of terms. A factual instance of something (such as observing speciation) needs to be explained. Facts are used to explain the factual instance of something material. A theory means that a set of facts explain a factual instance.

Darwin used philosophy and biological science to develop the concept of evolution which is primarily based on the theory of `natural selection'. Darwin observed in the world about him what he believed to be the result of a single cell organism that had evolved into all forms of life we see today. More importantly, there is no chaos involved. It has order. "Origin of the Species" is all about Darwin discussing how he came to this conclusion.

In the 21st Century, "Speciation" has been observed countless times. Go search right now for "Observed Speciation Events".

***Speciation is a fact whether we can explain the mechanisms of how it works or not. This can not be understated! A fact is a fact regardless of our ability to explain how it works. Gravity existed well before Newton could explain it. Speciation exists (a new species suddenly popping up in the world, under scientific observation) meaning evolution is a fact. Look at the title of this review. Nobody should have to explain evolution in order to prove it factual. ***

Now is the time to say this. If you don't believe theories are factual, then stop engaging the results of factual science in your life right now. Walk the talk. Turn off the PC. Turn off the electricity. Turn off the heating... and walk. I will allow you the option of a bronze spear... that is if you know how to smelt bronze.

As a note, the Catholic Church has been teaching the fact of evolution and the theory of the mechanisms of evolution in Catholic schools since the 1950s. This is exactly the same coursework that secular schools have on evolution.

The theory of the mechanisms of evolution is independent of the fact of evolution. The theory of the mechanisms of evolution is a compilation of facts (without gaps) used to explain the fact of evolution. The theory of the mechanisms of evolution is here, in part, but are much better explained and referenced by modern evolution. If its modern evolution you want (and you may well do if your first search brought you here) then go to talkorigins on the net and read about the "29+ evidences for macroevolution". It can take days, weeks months, or years, or a lifetime to parse the data, but keep going over it and it will eventually click.

Darwin in OFTS starts by describing his life and times as a naturalist. Darwin then goes straight into variations under domestication showing that farmed animals are substantially different from their wild counterparts from which they came. Darwin also revises Gregor Mendel's laws of inheritance for us, an introduction to basic genetics. Darwin may err in stating that this species came from that species (a common mistake due to the lack of ability to genetically analyse the living thing's DNA; something that has always clouded the term `species' and how it is defined, now set right by modern genetic mapping) but the bases for the assertion that a species come from other closely related species is absolutely fundamentally correct. Any breeder can confirm his claims. Competition and Natural Selection is his big essay. Here he goes from the farmed variations back into the wild to show that nature is a bigger breeder than we can ever be (until the dawn of genetic manipulation arrived on the scene, but even then the quality of our work over nature is debatable). The complex web of relations with livings things to the environment is staggering yet so obvious in hindsight. The environment has an impact of living things and living things have an impact on the environment. This is a symbiotic relationship. There is an opportunity for improvement or deterioration in the offspring just on the basis of all possible genetic combinations. Minor changes add up to big ones.

Darwin's speculation about how the environment causes variations in living things is accurate in his proposals although his tenders are mostly humanistic with references to biology especially with regards to "monstrosities" that simply don't have any reason for things like "wings", such as some insects and some birds, if they can't fly. Vestiges are an extremely good case for evolution. The cave crab with an eye stalk without an eye is like a telescope without the lens. Darwin identifies the possibility of sex linked traits in animals, a proven point today. Darwin even critics himself and covers areas that he knows he hasn't got down pat. Reading OFTS is like a romance novel where the birth of something to unify the sciences further is described in a man's love for nature and his crucial discovery.

To impose another explanation for the species outside of evolution, we can quote Darwin who says "[Independent creations hypothesis]... rejects a real [fossil record] for an unreal, or at least for an unknown, cause. It makes the works of God a mere mockery and deception;"

A Great Scientist.......2005-12-27

Many people assume that Darwin's initial account of natural selection is so out of date that it is to be avoided in favour of more recent text books of evolutionary theory. While it is true that huge gains have been made in the one and a half centuries since the first publication of "The Origin", there is nothing in this work which is wrong. Darwin was too good a scientist and too cautious.

Some claim that Darwin admitted of the possibility of Lamarkian mechanisms. They have not read the original. Darwin knew nothing of the molecular basis of genetics, but knew that natural selection did not need a Lamarkian mechanism. He simply did not rule it out, although he found it improbable. Everything that is stated in this great classic is as true today as it was at the time of first publication.

It is also said that Charles Darwin was a lesser intellectual when compared to most other great names of science; that he was a plodder, a naturalist, a sort of gentleman stamp collector who pressed flowers into his books and barely a scientist in the contemporary sense. This is nonsense. Darwin was one of the giants of rigorous systematic thinking; the kind of rigorous thinking and critical attitude that asks the right questions and provides the capacity to answer them. Let me buttress this claim with one example.

At the end of chapter six Darwin noted that the theory of natural selection could not account for structures or behaviors found in one species that exist solely for the benefit of another unrelated species. In setting out the theoretical terms for the refutation of the theory in this way, he anticipated Karl Popper, that analytical non-nonsense philosopher of science, by more than a century.

I recommend you read this book with an attentive curious analytical mind. You will find yourself walking in the footsteps of an intellectual giant.

Does not waste time with controversy; just read the book........2005-08-12

This is a quick review of the book not a dissertation on Darwin or any other subject loosely related. At first I did not know what to expect. I already read " The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches" (see my review). I figured the book would be similar. However I found "Origin" to be more complex and detailed.

Taking in account that recent pieces of knowledge were not available to Charles Darwin this book could have been written last week. Having to look from the outside without the knowledge of DNA or Plate Tectonics, he pretty much nailed how the environment and crossbreeding would have an effect on natural selection. Speaking of natural selection, I thought his was going to be some great insight to a new concept. All it means is that species are not being mucked around by man (artificial selection).

If you picked up Time magazine today you would find all the things that Charles said would be near impossible to find or do. Yet he predicted that it is doable in theory. With an imperfect geological record many things he was not able to find at the writing of this book have been found (according to the possibilities described in the book.)

The only draw back to the book was his constant apologizing. If he had more time and space he could prove this and that. Or it looks like this but who can say at this time. Or the same evidence can be interpreted 180 degrees different.

In the end it is worth reading and you will never look at life the same way again.

Average customer rating:

nice review but rather pedantic
Speciation is great
A must have for speciation studies

Speciation
Jerry A. Coyne , and H. Allen Orr
Manufacturer: Sinauer Associates, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0878930892

Book Description

Over the last two decades, the study of speciation has expanded from a modest backwater of evolutionary biology into a large and vigorous discipline. Thus, the literature on speciation, as well as the number of researchers and students working in this area, has grown explosively. Despite these developments, there has been no book-length treatment of speciation in many years. As a result, both the seasoned scholar and the newcomer to evolutionary biology had no ready guide to the recent literature on speciation—a body of work that is enormous, scattered, and increasingly technical. Although several excellent symposium volumes have recently appeared, these collections do not provide a unified, critical, and up-to-date overview of the field. Speciation is designed to fill this gap.

Aimed at professional biologists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, Speciation covers both plants and animals (the first book on this subject to do so), and deals with all relevant areas of research, including biogeography, field work, systematics, theory, and genetic and molecular studies. It gives special emphasis to topics that are either controversial or the subject of active research, including sympatric speciation, reinforcement, the role of hybridization in speciation, the search for genes causing reproductive isolation, and mounting evidence for the role of natural and sexual selection in the origin of species. The authors do not hesitate to take stands on these and other controversial issues. This critical and scholarly book will be invaluable to researchers in evolutionary biology and is also ideal for a graduate-level course on speciation.

Customer Reviews:

nice review but rather pedantic.......2007-01-17

i bought this book for a class on speciation. however, as a botanist i was somewhat disappointed to find 70% of the papers cited throughout the book related only to drosophila. coyne and orr's personal research deals only with drosophila so this seems like their bias on display. they also use superlatives more often in relation to their own work than anyone else's. though it's a harmless habit, it can become annoying and detract from the rest of the content of the book. the book is a probably the best review of major developments in our understanding of speciation in the past several decades, but it isn't perfect.

Speciation is great.......2005-09-21

Dude, amazon asked me to review this book... an invited review of Coyne and Orr's "_SPECIATION_" for my CV... Booyah!!
This book is good news for anyone interested in speciation, and brainstorming material for any biologist who's willing to consider an evolutionary approach to his/her system or model or whatever.
It would be a frustratingly difficult read for a non-biologist.

A must have for speciation studies.......2004-12-19

This is an excelent book for anyone interested in the processes of speciation. The book is written so that an advanced undergraduate can understand it, but a proffessor of evolution can still get insight from it. Theories of speciation are well laid out and discussed in-debth. A excelent addition for any professional book collection.

On the Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition (Harvard Paperbacks)

Average customer rating:

A good facsimile of a great book
Interesting, but the third edition is recommended
The Most Accessible Scientific Masterpiece Ever Written
Need to know for cultural literacy
Fascinating

On the Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition (Harvard Paperbacks)
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0674637526

Book Description

It is now fully recognized that the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859 brought about a revolution in man's attitude toward life and his own place in the universe. This work is rightly regarded as one of the most important books ever published, and a knowledge of it should be part of the intellectual equipment of every educated person. The book remains surprisingly modern in its assertions and is also remarkably accessible to the layman, much more so than recent treatises necessarily encumbered with technical language and professional jargon.

This first edition had a freshness and uncompromising directness that were considerably weakened in later editions, and yet nearly all available reprints of the work are based on the greatly modified sixth edition of 1872. In the only other modern reprinting of the first edition, the pagination was changed, so that it is impossible to give page references to significant passages in the original. Clearly this facsimile reprint of the momentous first edition fills a need for scholars and general readers alike.

Customer Reviews:

A good facsimile of a great book.......2007-09-26

I rate this four stars for the binding, not the contents. For a much greater price one can get a finer binding, but if one wishes to read or review the 1859 edition that Darwin rushed into print in order to prevent another putting essentially the same theory forward ahead of him, this is the book. There were a number of additional editions printed during Darwin's lifetime, reflecting later thoughts, but to see his thinking as of 1859, this is a good, and relatively scarce book to own. The copy I received from Amazon does not contain an Introductory essay. The binding appears to be perfect bound, and is a hardback. Contents: 5 stars, Binding: 4 stars

Interesting, but the third edition is recommended.......2005-12-27

Charles Darwin rushed his Origin to press when he became aware that he would be pre-empted with the theory of natural selection by Alfred Russell Wallace. In the course of the following few years he reviewed the manuscript thorougly at least twice. The Third edition is generally the standard. This facsimilie may be interesting for historical reasons, but I recommend the edition with Jilian Huxeley's introduction.

Many people assume that Darwin's initial account of natural selection is so out of date that it is to be avoided in favour of more recent text books of evolutionary theory. While it is true that huge gains have been made in the one and a half centuries since the first publication of "The Origin", there is nothing in this work which is wrong. Darwin was too good a scientist and too cautious.

Some claim that Darwin admitted of the possibility of Lamarkian mechanisms. They have not read the original. Darwin knew nothing of the molecular basis of genetics, but knew that natural selection did not need a Lamarkian mechanism. He simply did not rule it out, although he found it improbable. Everything that is stated in this great classic is as true today as it was at the time of first publication.

It is also said that Charles Darwin was a lesser intellectual when compared to most other great names of science; that he was a plodder, a naturalist, a sort of gentleman stamp collector who pressed flowers into his books and barely a scientist in the contemporary sense. This is nonsense. Darwin was one of the giants of rigorous systematic thinking; the kind of rigorous thinking and critical attitude that asks the right questions and provides the capacity to answer them. Let me buttress this claim with one example.

At the end of chapter six Darwin noted that the theory of natural selection could not account for structures or behaviors found in one species that exist solely for the benefit of another unrelated species. In setting out the theoretical terms for the refutation of the theory in this way, he anticipated Karl Popper, that analytical non-nonsense philosopher of science, by more than a century.

I recommend you read this book with an attentive curious analytical mind. You will find yourself walking in the footsteps of an intellectual giant.

The Most Accessible Scientific Masterpiece Ever Written.......2005-12-21

Many love to read science whether it is the newest technological innovations for high definition TV's or we expose to learn more about the unified field theory or String Theory. Science leaves us with alot to explore. What is the scientific equivalent of Shakespeare's Folio's? Or perhaps Cervante's-Don Quioxte's? Many scientist may say Darwin's-Origin of Species. This fascimilie of the 1st edition which is full of elegent prose and vivid descriptions and analogies while later editions are less decisive and espouse more questions than answers is the edition to read. Which is a dated romantic language. So arguably the most important text written in English is also easy to read and understand with little thought primarily to Darwin clear use of prose. It is a book that has been most heavily criticised since its inception and publication in November 29, 1859 but it is now gaining the long overdue momentum accorded the works of Copernicus and Newton. Just bring your imagination along for the splendid ride.

Need to know for cultural literacy.......2005-10-29

This is a quick review of the book not a dissertation on Darwin or any other subject loosely related. At first I did not know what to expect. I already read " The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches". I figured the book would be similar. However I found "Origin" to be more complex and detailed.

Taking in account that recent pieces of knowledge were not available to Charles Darwin this book could have been written last week. Having to look from the outside without the knowledge of DNA or Plate Tectonics, he pretty much nailed how the environment and crossbreeding would have an effect on natural selection. Speaking of natural selection, I thought his was going to be some great insight to a new concept. All it means is that species are not being mucked around by man (artificial selection).

If you picked up Time magazine today you would find all the things that Charles said would be near impossible to find or do. Yet he predicted that it is doable in theory. With an imperfect geological record many things he was not able to find at the writing of this book have been found (according to the possibilities described in the book.)
The only draw back to the book was his constant apologizing. If he had more time and space he could prove this and that. Or it looks like this but who can say at this time. Or the same evidence can be interpreted 180 degrees different.

In the end it is worth reading and you will never look at life the same way again.

Fascinating.......2004-01-17

Tweaked my imagination and opened all kinds of doors. Our bookclub spent many hours hashing out ideas that this book explored. I put this on my recommend list.

Average customer rating:

Mixing fact with speculative fiction
Struggle with Darwin
The Fact of Evolution and the Theory of the Mechanisms of Evolution
Should be part of everyone's education
Tough to read

The Origin Of Species
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451529065
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Book Description

The book that shook the world
First time from Signet Classic

This is the book that revolutionized the natural sciences and every literary, philosophical and religious thinker who followed. Darwin's theory of evolution and the descent of man remains as controversial and influential today as when it was published over a century ago.

Customer Reviews:

Mixing fact with speculative fiction.......2007-09-25

Darwin's The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life is so flawed its hard to know where to begin. Most evolutionists will agree that there is no real proof that macro-evolution has ever occurred. Yes, we see variations within species, or the adaptation to environments by natural selection, but the missing fossil evidence which should be present is a glaring deficiency, and that is only a one of the many lack of evidences for Darwin's theories. It is no wonder why the fastest growing minority of scientists are those who utterly reject evolution.

Struggle with Darwin.......2007-08-03

In this classic book, Darwin plods through endless piles of data and links it all with his theory of descent with modification through natural selection. It can be a tedious read to some, and surely is not for the lazy, if one can read 15-25 pages a day all will be fine.

Organisms are in a struggle for existence with other organisms and the environment. Any organism with a slight advantage, whether it is some physical advantage or greater reproduction rate will tend to survive. These variations accumulate over time and lead to divergence of species.

The classification of species and varieties is quite an ambiguous process and forms are not quite so solidly seperate from each other as one might assume at first glance. (One might say that all is in the flux of Heraclitus and any kind of form is our own abstraction, rather than being the true higher reality as a Platonist might believe.)

I noticed two obvious defects. On was Darwin's lack of knowledge of what causes variation. At his time he was not aware of genes. The theory of plate techtonics and more advanced geology was also not available to him. Nonetheless, it is a fine read for one who wants to see how Darwin's thought process led him to his idea of the genealogical descent of all forms of life traced to a common primordial ancestor, rather than independent creation of species.

The Fact of Evolution and the Theory of the Mechanisms of Evolution.......2007-03-13

Should be part of everyone's education.......2007-02-25

I read this book after discussing the devious "intelligent design" with someone. It never has occurred to me that the theory and facts of evolution wouldn't be more compelling to someone than Bible myth that wasn't intended to teach science at all.

Darwin's writing style can be awkward. He is working with a lot of facts to try to discern some laws. It isn't easy material to begin with. After a long delay of collecting evidence and formulating ideas, he was in a hurry to publish and may have skipped a useful rewrite to increase readibility. He is clearly not adverse to long sentences.

Nevertheless, he does present himself clearly and in an exemplary manner for a scientist. He packs his presentation with supportive facts. He presents tentative laws to explains what he observed and then sees how well this explain the data he had colllected. He points out his assumptions, raises doubts about them and responds sincerely to those doubts.

Charles Darwin was everything that the leaders of the "intelligent design" movement are not: scientific, inquiring, open, honest, and genuinely concerned about advancing human knowledge about the natural world.

It is surprising, as Darwin explains, how much can be accounted for given sufficient time (millions of years, not 5000, as scientific dating methods show), given small variations within any single generation and given conditions of scarcity. Darwin recognized that what may be hardest of us to accept is that we can not see the cumulative changes that took those millions of years to occur. He does make an effort to explain why the fossil record has gaps for which intermediate forms of life are missing. He also explains that grouping life into species is just a scientific convention and that the apparent fixed form of species can be explaned by consistent conditions on earth over long periods of time (such that new variations aren't selected).

Darwin does, both to identify a regularity and to make reading smoother , reify the process of "natural selection". "Natural selection" should be understood as the complement to "artifical selection" or variation under domestication, which Darwin considers first as such selection influenced by humans was well known. There is no one doing natural selection, but rather it is process that some variations are able to survive under certain conditions which they themselves cannot be aware of in advance. It is the considerable variation that occurs which enables life in some form at all to go on for so many million of years while other forms become existence.

That Darwin was able to formulate the laws he did prior to the science of genetics is a tribute to his skills and to the science involved.

Even if you don't read a single work on evolutinary science that appeared after this one, just this work alone will arm you against many of the mis leading arguments by advocates of "intelligent design".

It is a work that makes me proud to be a human being and grateful to Charles Darwin. Anyone who thinks evolution is incompatible with their religious beliefs should read this book and then realize that they have misundestood the spirit of the portions of the Bible the believe conflict with Darwin's and science's great contribution to us.

If there is a Christian God, you should feel certain He will have a special place close to Him in heaven for Charles Darwin.

Tough to read.......2006-11-15

No doubt Darwin had some important discoveries in his ground-shaking theory of evolution. Unfortunately this book was tedious to read. Bummers. Here's a sample (part of a chapter summary) of the writing style - it is not a bedtime book:

"If under changing conditions of life organic beings present individual differences in almost every part of their structure, and this cannot be disputed; if there be, owing to their geometrical rate of increase, a severe struggle for life at some age, season, or year, and this certainly cannot be disputed; then, considering the infinite complexity of the relations of all organic beings to each other and to their conditions of life, causing an infinite diversity in structure, constitution, and habits, to be advantageous to them, it would be a most extraordinary fact if no variations had ever occurred useful to each being's own welfare, in the same manner as so many variations have occurred useful to man. But if variations useful to any organic being ever do occur, assuredly individuals thus characterised will have the best chance of being preserved in the struggle for life; and from the strong principle of inheritance, these will tend to produce offspring-similarly characterised. This principle of preservation, or the survival of the fittest, I have called Natural Selection. It leads to the improvement of each creature in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life; and consequently, in most cases, to what must be regarded as an advance in organisation. Nevertheless, low and simple forms will long endure if well fitted for their simple conditions of life."

I don't know how to rate it. The important subject gets 5 stars, dense reading gets zero stars.

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