Book Description

Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it.His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life.

In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature.Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.

This revised edition of Dawkins' fascinating book contains two new chapters.One, entitled "Nice Guys Finish First," demonstrates how cooperation can evolve even in a basically selfish world.The other new chapter, entitled "The Long Reach of the Gene," which reflects the arguments presented in Dawkins' The Extended Phenotype, clarifies the startling view that genes may reach outside the bodies in which they dwell and manipulate other individuals and even the world at large. Containing a wealth of remarkable new insights into the biological world, the second edition once again drives home the fact that truth is stranger than fiction. ... Read more

Reviews (147)

THE BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK I HAVE EVER READ
The Selfish Gene is the best popular science book I have ever read, PERIOD. In it, Dawkins provides clear explanations of the mechanism of evolution, to the point that the reader can teach someone about evolution right after reading. It does not in any way patronize the reader, but instead delves deep into complex subjects, ranging from game theory to psychology, to explain evolution.

The main idea in the book is to change the perspective of evolution: it is genes that use bodies and organisms to reach their goals of reproduction. In my opinion, however, the most brilliant part of the book is the very beginning, in which Dawkins explains how it could come about that some chemicals (genes) actually would grow a "wish" to reproduce. The answer makes the reader feel really smart, and that is what pop science is all about.

Much of the book is devoted to showing how evolution can in fact explain altruism, agression, aging, cooperation, sexual relations, etc. He spends a lot of time debunking the theory that animals act a certain way "for the good of the species". His argument is that animals have no want, it is the genes that want more of themselves available.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with a wide open mind, a logical train of thought, and deep curiosity about life. Dawkins will change the way you see life, and he will hold your hand through the entire process, quenching your thrist for knowledge. It is written in such a simple way that it is hard to understand why this book is not recommended at high schools. Anyways, I hope you choose this book, it is one of those that make you sad to have finished.

An excellent read in Evolution
The Selfish gene is one of the pioneering books in modern evolutionary thought, which will not be surprising to anyone who reads it. Dawkins writes comprehensively and thoroughly without letting his complex and mainly innovative ideas become dry or boring.

Although The Selfish Gene discusses many advanced concepts, it is by no means aimed only at professional readers. I do think, though, that it would be an advantage to be familiar with the main tenets of evolutionary theory before starting this book, for you will be taken to a realm beyond basic organic evolution. Dawkins goes further to explain formerly troublesome problems in evolutionary thought with a convincing argument for gene selection. Like any thorough essayist, he discusses the other prevailing notions of selective units in an evolving population and then goes on to argue why it is the gene, not the individual or the population as a whole, that is under selective pressure.

Dawkins provides dozens of stunningly interesting examples in nature to provide evidence for his arguments, maintaining all the while a humorous and clear writing style. You need not worry about trudging through complicated mathematical proofs or obscure evolutionary jargon.

I would recommend The Selfish Gene to all who are interested in evolutionary thought. Be you familiar or unfamiliar with this topic, you will derive pleasure and inspiration from this book.

Essential
Reading this book today, one can easily forget how revolutionary it was. Many of the new, controversial ideas inside are now accepted scientific dogma; memes now have their own entire field of study.

Enlightening and exciting for both the layperson and expert, if you haven't read it yet, you're missing out!

Evolution Paradigm shift? hmmm...
Richard Dawkins is one of the best natural science writers of our time. This is a must read for anyone trying to familiarize with Dawkin's ideas; a really great representative book of his thought. Dawkins is no traditional evolution thinker, he is continually trying to visualize nature as a hole, trying not to loose perspective and seeing the big picture. He surely is an excellent system observer and analyzer. Is he right? Honestly, I don't know. What I know is that his view of nature is clarifying and aids you to understand things otherwise would be kind of intricated in essence.
I really recommend this book to anyone interested in evolution, specially in an unorthodox view of evolution.

HA! This is so funny!
There are plenty of reviews here written about this book that well describe it's genius in ways that allow me to focus the amazon review reader to some rare review humor. Some apparently find the idea of evolution or more accurately it's implications less than appealing. While you will find some of the most entertaining reviews on this website among Mr. Dawkins readers, mainly in the "blind watchmaker" review section, allow me to highlight those readers who apparently thought Mr. Dawkins work was so outrageous they some how decided to read many of his works and review them on amazon. These can be found by clicking the "see all customer reviews" link at the bottom of the main page of each book and selecting view by 1 star reviews. With that said, this is nothing less than a five star book. I might point out that Mr. Dawkins is a scientist, a fact a biology graduate friend of mine from Cal Tech recently pointed out, not a writer of science such as Matt Ridley, who has some excellent books by the way, but a scientist who writes well and in my opinion brilliantly. Anyway, check those reviews and enjoy. ... Read more

Book Description

How Humans Evolved uses the broad perspective of behavioral ecology, drawing on Robert Boyd's expertise in evolutionary theory and Joan Silk's specialty in primate behavior in a uniquely integrative text. For the Third Edition, the authors have revisited many chapters in depth, added new supplemental readings, and incorporated the latest archaeological findings, including coverage of the fossil cranium Sahelanthropus tchadensis, whose dating was announced in the summer of 2002. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Superior text for the Upper Crust Undergraduate
There's plenty of textbooks on the subject of physical anthropology, of varying quality. This, however, is by far the most theory-oriented, detailed, and clear. Compared to a text like Jurmain's (2004) this book truly caters to an intelligent undergraduate who's capable of understanding what Australopithecus boisei means. I assign it to my students with the understanding that students rise to the expectations we as instructors hold for them. I found Jurmain's text to be belittlingly simplistic. Thanks Boyd and Silk!

Great textbook
I was assigned this book for my physical anthropology class. Overall, it's very easy to understand. THe authors explain difficult concepts well for the most part, and they usually include diagrams or pictures to reinforce the point. Granted the chapters on genetics weren't the easiest things on earth to understand, but I had a firm biology background from high school so it was not an issue. The authors also do a good job of making the concepts very interesting and alive, a difficult task for a college textbook.

Overall, it's a great book and very informative.

Great textbook
I never thought that I would enjoy biological anthropology, let alone understand it well, but this text has made the class easy and even fun (seriously, I'm not joking). The book is layed out simply with outlines at the beginning of each chapter and clear subheadings within the chapters to help get across the main points. The points are all connected together nicely to leave the reader with a complete picture of human evolution.

Good Overview of Evolutionary Theory
This book was the required text for an anthropology course I took recently. The book explained things well and actually made complex biological concepts simple to understand, even for a undergraduate. It provides a very detailed and easy to understand overview of human evolution and the biology of human culture. I would recommend this book.

The best textbook!
This was a clear and fascinating textbook on human evolution. It became "the homework I did to procrastinate from my real work." The professor in my course wasn't the greatest, and this book really helped to bring everything together. It will make you examine humans, where we've been, and where we're going in a completely new fashion. ... Read more

Book Description

In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet," focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day. ... Read more

Reviews (118)

Forceful, persuasive presentation of natural selection
Richard Dawkins books, starting with The "Selfish Gene," brought Darwin's dangerous idea of natural selection to a new widespread recognition. He addressed an audience that otherwise might not have been inspired to engage Darwin, and left them with the amazing and somewhat disturbing implications of a world guided by the Darwinian hand of selection and adaptation rather than the divine hand of the Bible.

In "Darwin's Dangerous Idea," Dennett takes the flag of natural selection on to its next step, toward a secular view of nature where meaning may be found in natural history. Dennett is a forceful and persuasive polemicist capable of making Darwin's core idea both understandable and hard to argue.

Sure, many will remain unconvinced that the "universal acid" of Darwin's algorithm of variation and selection reveals the bare bones of just about anything, as Dennett argues. But Dennett does exactly what we expect from an excellent analytic philosopher of his calibre, and all too often don't get, a powerful and enduring argument for the usefulness of a very basic idea.

The greatest danger of Darwin's idea is not, as many religious conservatives seem to fear, that Darwin will erode faith in God. As powerful as Darwin's dangerous idea is, it has not itself been a threat to religious faith. The faithful have always had a way to reconcile their faith with the modern view of natural history along Darwinian lines. The greatest danger is that Darwin's idea seduces us into telling second rate evolutionary stories that don't add to our real understanding the way Darwin's core concept does. As Dennett says, the greatest danger of Darwin's idea is its seductiveness.

Dennett brings the power of Darwin's view of nature to us in a renewed and clarified form, and makes many of its implication startlingly clear. But then he leaves us to wonder what is left once the "universal acid" of Darwinism had eroded the rest of our cherished ideas.

Dennett doesn't always convince me that he has quite eroded *all* of the other ways of viewing nature by making such a forceful case for Darwin's selection and adaptation, but he does make it clear that these are ideas that must be understood and applied if we are to truly understand our role in nature. Whether we can take them as far as Dennett does, that's left to the reader to decide.

While I can't agree with all of the nuances and implications of Dennett's arguments here, it is very hard to find specific fault with them, and I certainly was left with the feeling that Dennett is more right then wrong in his conclusions. The greatest weakness of this book, like Dawkins' Selfish Gene, is that it is perhaps _too_ compelling, it seems to lead us beyond science and into a secular religion of sorts.

Dennett's writing style is very user friendly
The density of the subject matter makes this slow reading as all good philosophy often is. Daniel Dennett's writing style goes a long way toward making this accessible. He relies on very good story telling, excellent metaphors, and avoids a lot of the dense jargon heavy prose often found in other philosopy works. The condensed introductions and summaries at the beginning and end of each chapter make it easy to review material again and again, without having to do complete rereadings.

Dennett creates one of the most conceptually vivid pictures of the evolutionary scheme, and demonstrates how evolutionary algorithms occur even outside the field of biology. Intelligent detractors of evolution will find themselves accusing Dennett of turning evolution into a theory of everything. Assuming of course their minds do not become dissolved within this universal acid. I don't think Dennett makes it a theory of everything, but it just might become a theory that has at least something to say about most important things. Proponents of evolution will discover new ways of thinking about evolution. Even career biologists will find conceptual doors that an intelligent scientifically oriented philosopher like Dennett can best point to. Nobody can truly digest this book without having their thinking altered in some significant ways.

Dennett's user-friendly style makes philosophy exciting even for the more philosophobic readers. No one interested in the various debates about evolution, regardless of their personal position, should miss this book. It stands to eventually change the entire arena for dialogue on this subject.

Philosophy, not Science
As a Darwinist and a reader of Dawkins and Gould, I read this book primarily to familiarize myself with the scientific refutation of other prominent Darwinists, specifically Gould. I say "scientific," because on the upper left corner of the back cover of the paperback, it is categorized as "Science," so I thought I was reading a science book.

I started reading the book past the half-way point, in the area of content that most interested me, and I discovered a couple of things.

First, there are metaphoric terms used throughout this book, introduced in earlier chapters, which make the book difficult to fully comprehend when opening it up to read at an arbitrary later chapter, if you aren't already familiar with the metaphors (such as "skyhook" and "crane").

Second, apparently, among other subjects, this is also a book on architecture. Specifically, on arcane aspects of the architecture of domes and their supporting structures. Several pages were dedicated to this subject, including detailed pictures and diagrams. Apparently this proved that Gould is wrong, which made absolutely no sense to me, so I bit the bullet and started back at page 1.

I enjoyed the first three or so chapters of this book. A good introduction to the history of thought which immediately pre-dated Darwin, which put into context how truly revolutionary His ideas were at the time.

I couldn't get through the final chapters, something about the evolution of morals. A worthy subject, I'm sure, it's just not the subject for which I picked up this book. Again, I thought I was reading a science book.

Ultimately, I came away thinking, "Why did Dennett write this book?" More specifically, why did a non-scientist write a book purportedly about Science? Well, Dennett answers that for me, sort of. In an anecdote he tells about attending a conference of Thinkers and Scientists in the Northeasten US, and how, during a Q&A type session with attendees, the responses given clearly showed that many of these educated people had a very poor understanding of Darwin's Ideas. It was this experience, he claims, which helped further to motivate him to write this book, ostensibly to set the record straight.

If Dennett had written a book which simply synthesized and explained the current state of Darwinist thinking, I would have been more receptive. Instead, I read a book by a Philosopher who is pretending to be a Scientist, espousing his own scientific ideas, and I don't think he was able to pull that off credibly.

Shallow
I am for evolution, but I find Dennett's arguments very weak. It is books like this that sustain creationists.

Dennett's Stupid Idea
If creationists wanted a book that would make evolution look absurd, they could do no better than Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Allies of science and reason are done no favor by the likes of Dennett (who, by the way, has no formal scientific qualifications) and his crudely reductionist screeds. ... Read more

Book Description

Phylogenetic Trees Made Easy helps beginners get started in creating phylogenetic trees from protein or nucleic acid sequence data. Although aimed at molecular and cell biologists who may not be familiar with phylogenetic or evolutionary theory, it also serves students who may be familiar with phylogenetic theory but are unfamiliar with the tools used to apply that theory. The reader is led, step by step, through identifying sequences that are homologous to a sequence of interest, downloading these sequences from databases, creating multiple alignments, and using several different methods to construct trees."Learn More" boxes present background on the various concepts and methods, and an accompanying CD and Website provide files needed for working through the tutorials in the text.Key changes to the Second Edition include:

* discussion and screen shots updated to reflect current software versions
* all software discussed available for Macintosh, PC, and UNIX platforms
* detailed discussion of PAUP* for both Macintosh and Windows
* inclusion of PHYLIP as an alternative to PAUP*
* addition of "Advanced Topics," including constructing deep phylogenies from protein structure comparisons, ancestral sequence reconstruction, and measuring positive selection as evidence of adaptive evolutionEvery copy of the Second Edition includes a CD with current Windows and Macintosh beta versions of PAUP*. These time-limited versions will allow semester-length use of this popular software, giving students hands-on experience in tree-building as they work through the text. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Truly Novel Approach to Literature
Don't let the fact that Madame Bovary's Ovaries is a fun read fool you; the ideas contained within will forever change the way that you read fiction.Barash and Barash have managed to cogently describe their clever new way to analyze literature.It makes so much sense, you'll ask yourself "why didn't I think of that".In fact, you'll wonder why generation upon generation of English Lit. professors failed to pick up where Darwin left off.

I think it's safe to say that just about any lover of literature will enjoy a fresh perspective of their old favorites after reading Madame Bovary's Ovaries.

Witty, insightful and a fabulous read!
Madame Bovaries Ovaries was simply delightful. This is the perfect book for anyone interested in science, literature or both!

This book offers a new look at the "human condition" so often referred to as a mysteriously intangible entity by dry literary critics.The Barashes simply suggest that this "condition" is a biological one, governed by (but not limited to) Darwinian principles.

Their friendly and straightforth style makes this book a joy to read. Its more like a lively conversation than literary criticism.

Their Darwinian look at literature was never dry nor heavy handed.The Barashes provide a refreshing new look at literature in a style that is witty, casual and ironic. ... Read more

Book Description

Molecular markers have opened exciting new windows through which to view the natural biological world. This treatment addresses the many applications for genetic markers (from polymorphic proteins and DNA) from the perspectives of population biology, behavioral ecology, organismal evolution, and phylogeny. Opening chapters review the history and purview of molecular approaches, and compare and contrast various laboratory techniques for revealing molecular markers. Subsequent chapters review the extensive scientific literature of molecular ecology and evolution, and describe a cornucopia of captivating discoveries about nature's workings, past and present.

The book is taxonomically balanced with numerous examples from plants, animals, and microbes. It is also temporally balanced with examples ranging from assessments of genetic parentage and kinship in the most recent generations to phylogenetic assessments deep in the Tree of Life (and nearly everything in-between). This Second Edition of a seminal work (first published in 1994) brings the reader up-to-date on the many dramatic advances and insights made over the last decade. Furthermore, by retaining descriptions of many pioneering works, this book also traces the empirical and conceptual roots of each subject, and thereby provides a rich sense of the field's history.

Appropriate for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scientists in such disciplines as ecology, genetics, population biology, ethology, molecular biology, systematics, and conservation biology, this new edition is for anyone interested in the application of molecular markers to organisms in the wild. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great.
Excelent book, full of diverse examples. Excelent to read too. Full of very interesting informations. Everyone who is interested at the subject should read it. ... Read more

Book Description

An investigation of the evolution of backboned animals (vertebrates), now appearing in its Fourth Edition. Traces the history of each major vertebrate group from its origin to its extinction or the emergence of the next, more advanced group. Contains drawings and illustrations depicting lifelike renderings of these creatures of the past. ... Read more

Book Description

Evolutionary algorithms are relatively new, but very powerful techniques used to find solutions to many real-world search and optimization problems. Many of these problems have multiple objectives, which leads to the need to obtain a set of optimal solutions, known as effective solutions. It has been found that using evolutionary algorithms is a highly effective way of finding multiple effective solutions in a single simulation run.
· Comprehensive coverage of this growing area of research
· Carefully introduces each algorithm with examples and in-depth discussion
· Includes many applications to real-world problems, including engineering design and scheduling
· Includes discussion of advanced topics and future research
· Can be used as a course text or for self-study
· Accessible to those with limited knowledge of classical multi-objective optimization and evolutionary algorithms
The integrated presentation of theory, algorithms and examples will benefit those working and researching in the areas of optimization, optimal design and evolutionary computing. This text provides an excellent introduction to the use of evolutionary algorithms in multi-objective optimization, allowing use as a graduate course text or for self-study. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great book; a must for engineers and scientists alike
Kalyanmoy Deb has put together a great summary of the state of affairs in multiobjective genetic algorithms. Should you be an engineer or a scientist involved in the optimization of any design of sizeable complexity, you should read this book and become familiar with the techniques that have evolved over the last decade into powerful methods of optimization. This book is in many many ways bridging the gap from Michalewicz's and Fogel's book ("How to solve it") to the more modern era of this field (eg late nineties up to now...). So whereas those two authors never really considered multiobjective genetic algorithms, Deb plows through with the great expertize of a (perhaps even "the") leading researcher in that domain. This is a great book of _receipes_ with the level of details necessary to make use of them. It's a "how to" book; this is the one you have cracked open on your desk while you're hard coding it all up. However, it's not very well written with the prose being very terse and basically quite unengaging. But so what! In some sense yes perhaps, but Michalewicz and Fogel made a point that one can write technical litterature that one can also read. Perhaps they went overboard... in any case, Deb's book is about algorithms so who cares about whether the book puts you to sleep and it can do that, unfortunately. Apart from the unengaging style and the paucity of depth in the examples scope, the real problem with the book is not with the book itself, it's with the field of multiobjective optimization based on evolutionary methods. It's fairly evident that there is not much of any sort of fundamental understanding available at this time in support of why evolutionary techniques do work well, and they do, sometimes... If this understanding is available, you won't find it in Deb's book. If you are like me though, you won't care all that much really so long as the techniques are efficient and presented in a way that make them useable, and that's done right... But on the whole, it's a little unsatisfying because one's left with a panoply of various techniques and ways to define operators and representations but there is no insight given on which one might be best or how to craft them to particular situations. There is a lot of so-'n-so in reference this and that did it like this and it seems to work well there, however... The reason for this state of affairs is, of course, that nobody has a real clue, yet... But that is _not_ Deb's fault and this is not why, as a user, I'm not rating his book a full 5 stars. In some sense it could be rated as high as that but I thought the presentation was rather unengaging and not with all the breath and depth it could have had. So it's a 4.5 stars perhaps... let's say... but Amazon does not let me select 4.5 stars so it's 4, this edition at least...

The Reference in Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization
This is the first complete and updated text on Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs), covering all major areas clearly, thoughtfully and thoroughly. Thanks to the development of evolutionary computation MOEAs are now a well established technique for multi-objective optimization that finds multiple effective solutions in a single run. The widely interdisciplinary interest of engineers, scientists and mathematicians towards MOEAs has been evident during the first international conference on this topic (EMO2001,Zurich). The book is extremely useful for researchers working on multi-objective optimization in all branches of engineering and sciences, that will find a complete description of all available methodologies, starting from a detailed description and criticism of classical methods, towards a deep treating of the most advanced evolutionary techniques. Moreover several analytical test cases are given, covering all difficulties a MOEA encounters when converging towards the Pareto Optimal front. This set of test problems, together with several performance measurement parameters are essential when testing a new strategy before its application to a real-world problem. Despite the detail in advanced topics, Deb's book may be also used as a reference-book for a post-graduate course thanks to the scholarly coverage of basic arguments. As a final remark I strongly suggest everyone working on evolutionary computation and optimization to keep this book on the desk. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend twenty years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos studying natural selection.They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are four hundred at the time of the author's visit, or when there are over a thousand.They have observed about twenty generations of finches -- continuously.
Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

A perfect sequel to "Origin of Species"
"The Beak of the Finch", subtitled, "A Story of Evolution in Our Time", is a truly amazing book. Its principle topic is the work of Peter and Rosemary Grant, who have been studying the finches of the Galapagos Islands ("Darwin's Finches") in great detail since 1973. They have collected and analyzed data on 24 generations and close to 19,000 individual birds. The result of their work is empirical proof of Darwin's theory of evolution, along with a tremendous amount of new data concerning the mechanisms of evolution and life. The author (Jonathan Weiner) quotes liberally from Darwin. Of course Darwin was not right in every detail, but modern work is validating much of the speculation of "Origin" and other works. Some points I gleaned: (1) Natural selection works much more quickly than Darwin or anyone else had, until recently, realized. Under extreme selection pressure the finches were recorded evolving in one direction, then another. The reason the pace has been misjudged by several orders of magnitude is that the effects follow environment, and tend to net out over long periods of time, leaving the impression of a much slower pace. (2) The theory of evolution has been rigorously proven through the traditional scientific method of exact hypothetical predictions confirmed with experiment and observation. (3) Stephen J. Gould mentions frequently that the observation of evolution is neither unknown or even rare. I learned from Weiner that observed incidents are not necessarily subtle or obscure, and learned about many fascinating specific cases. (4) American farmers have never realized a net gain against insects by use of insecticides. When the cotton fields were cleared of "pests" in the forties, adjacent species began invading their crops almost immediately. Pesticides, of course, select for pesticide resistant insects. Before pesticides were introduced farmers lost 7% of their crop to insects. In 1993 the number was 13% and has risen steadily since the first pesticide was introduced. The irony is that the farmers being destroyed by the inevitable forces of evolution are deep in the cotton/bible belt, where they are simultaneously (not all of them of course) trying to keep their schools from teaching evolution, thus crippling the chances of saving their crops. (5) Antibiotic resistance is, of course, taking the same course as pesticide resistance, threatening everyone's health. I had missed the point that the same fundie saying s/he doesn't "believe" in evolution is likely aware of one of it's most immediate effects, bacteria surging ahead in our ongoing war. (6) I gleaned a pretty good grasp of how divergence and speciation occur in the absence of geographical barriers. This has been a stumbling block to understanding for me, because the geographical separation requirement seemed too rare for the effects attributed to it. Very briefly, when a species is severely stressed by changing environment, there are commonly two or more survival niches best addressed by different evolved configurations (beak shape and overall size, in the case of the finches). Offspring suited to a niche survives, and by staying out of each others' niches, the separating groups survive and prosper. Speciation can occur if the conditions favoring the separation persist long enough. (7) "Preserving a species" is an almost meaningless statement. Species are constantly in evolutionary flux, and the descendents of animals we preserve will likely not be the same species, especially if we introduce or reintroduce them to the wild.

Brilliant exposition of evolutionary biology for the layman
Writing about science, scientists, and history in a way that keeps an educated layman absorbed is an extremely difficult craft. This writer is so adept at it that his Pulitzer Prize was almost inevitable; and I'll now read everything he writes. The Beak of the Finch is about what Darwin deduced from limited observations, which only in the past couple of decades has been confirmed and better understood by biologists. The book focuses on the work of Peter and Rosemary Grant and their students in the Galapagos Islands, which Darwin visited on the Beagle. I picked up this book before going to the Galapagos--as should everyone lucky enough to do that--but it would be just as fascinating for the armchair traveler and the would-be or wannabe biologist. I marked numerous passages to read to wife and teenaged kids on our trip, and even the most cynical and anti-school of the kids rated it extremely interesting and beautifully written. The shocking punch line: "Nearly half of all Americans say they don't believe the theory of evolution."

Darwin's fascinating finches.
Although Creationists have long argued that evolution is "only a theory" which cannot be scientifically proven (see, for instance, THE HANDY-DANDY EVOLUTION REFUTER, Wheaton, Illinois), and that whatever processes the Creator used to create, those processes "are not now operating anywhere in the natural universe" (Duane Gish, EVOLUTION? THE FOSSILS SAY NO!), current evolutionary studies are now demonstrating what even Charles Darwin thought was impossible.

Darwin first introduced us to the finches that inhabit the Galapagos Islands in his ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES. Through their research since 1973, evolutionary scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have discovered that Darwin's finches are even more interesting than Darwin ever dreamed, and reveal that Darwin may not have known the strengths of his own theory. Jonathan Weiner's Pulitzer-Prize winning book provides a fine introduction to evolutionary science, while also delivering conclusive proof that evolution is happening "in jittery motion," daily and hourly all around us (pp. 8-9). "The beak of the finch," Weiner writes, "is an icon of evolution the way the Bohr atom is an icon of modern physics, and the study of either one shows us more primal energy and eternal change than our minds are built to take in. Yet like the vista of the atoms, the vista of evolution in action, of evolution in the flesh, has enormous implications for our sense of reality, of what life is, and for our sense of power, of what we can do with life" (p. 112). For this reason, Weiner's brilliant book should be considered required reading.

G. Merritt

An insight on evolution
"The Beak of the Finch" analyzed many of Darwin's theories on evolution. Most of the book follows the Grant's as they study thirteen species of finches on the Galapagos Islands, especially the island of Daphne Major. The Grant's studies focused mainly on how the finches reacted to environmental changes and how natural selection influenced their evolutionary change. Jonathan Weiner also provides insight into other experiments done by other scientists on finches and other species.

The book was an interesting read and the author did a good job of keeping complex science concepts simple for the purpose of suiting every type of reader. He included the stories of the Grant's and numerous other scientists to keep the novel interesting and not strictly scientific. The novel was presented in a story-like fashion on how evolutionary concepts were supported.The idea that evolutionary changes are always occurring and that the results of evolution can be seen in both short and long time periods is presented in the novel. Overall, the book was enjoyable and gave the reader valuable insight on evolution and Darwinism.

a good read, if you're interested
This book is a fascinating look into the science of volution. It is centeres around the very place that inspired Darwin: the alapagos Islands. Peter and Rosemary Grant, along with many other respected scientists, keep watch on the island of Daphne Major and keep close tabs on the finch population living there. The virtually inaccessible island is perfect for this study because of its sheer simplicity and isolation from the outside world. The Grants can keep a close eye on every environmental factor on the island, and know every one of the finches by sight. Over the past twenty years they have seen remarkable changes in the finches' traights, especially their beaks. They have had a first-hand look at what Darwin said would take millions of years: evolution in action.
The Beak of the Finch is a well-written book that throws a whole new light of authenticity on the theory of evolution. It suggests that evolution is not the slow process Darwin thought it was, but that it can be seen clearly from year to year, season to season. However, it runs into the same problem that has been plaguing the evolutionism-creationism debate for years: it offers no hard evidence that large-scale evolution can occur. If you are an evolutionist, it will confirm your beliefs with several documented cases of proven natural selection. If you are a creationist, chances are it won't sway you much. Creationists argue that you can not extrapolate from relatively minor changes like the ones mentioned to evolving into completely different species. It is a good book if the topic interests you, but most will probably find it more tedious than it is worth as a convincing argument for evolution. ... Read more

Book Description

From the acclaimed author of Life and Trilobite!, a fascinating geological exploration of the earth's distant history as revealed by its natural wonders.

The face of the earth, crisscrossed by chains of mountains like the scars of old wounds, has changed and changed again over billions of years, and the testament of the remote past is all around us. In this book Richard Fortey teaches us how to read its character, laying out the dominions of the world before us. He shows how human culture and natural history-even the shape of cities-are rooted in this deep geological past.

In search of this past, Fortey takes us through the Alps, into Icelandic hot springs, down to the ocean floor, over the barren rocks of Newfoundland, into the lush ecosystems of Hawai'i, across the salt flats of Oman, and along the San Andreas Fault. On the slopes of Vesuvius, he tracks the history of the region down through the centuries?to volcanic eruptions seen by fifteenth-century Italians, the Romans, and, from striking geological evidence, even Neolithic man. As story adds to story, the recent past connects with forgotten ages long ago, then much longer ago, as he describes the movement of plates and the development of ancient continents and seas. Nothing in this book is at rest. The surface of the earth dilates and collapses; seas and mountains rise and fall; continents move.

Fortey again proves himself the ideal guide, with his superb descriptions of natural beauty, his gripping narratives, and his crystal-clear, always fascinating scientific explanations.
Here is a book to change the way we see the world. ... Read more

Book Description

Around 60,000 years ago, a man--identical to us in all important respects--lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. How did this real-life Adam wind up father of us all? What happened to the descendants of other men who lived at the same time? And why, if modern humans share a single prehistoric ancestor, do we come in so many sizes, shapes, and races?

Showing how the secrets about our ancestors are hidden in our genetic code, Spencer Wells reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. We now know not only where our ancestors lived but who they fought, loved, and influenced.

Informed by this new science, The Journey of Man is replete with astonishing information. Wells tells us that we can trace our origins back to a single Adam and Eve, but that Eve came first by some 80,000 years. We hear how the male Y-chromosome has been used to trace the spread of humanity from Africa into Eurasia, why differing racial types emerged when mountain ranges split population groups, and that the San Bushmen of the Kalahari have some of the oldest genetic markers in the world. We learn, finally with absolute certainty, that Neanderthals are not our ancestors and that the entire genetic diversity of Native Americans can be accounted for by just ten individuals.

It is an enthralling, epic tour through the history and development of early humankind--as well as an accessible look at the analysis of human genetics that is giving us definitive answers to questions we have asked for centuries, questions now more compelling than ever. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

"Y" is the answer - not the question
A few years ago a furor arose over the announcement that a calculation of mitochondrial DNA mutation rate formulated an "African Eve". Since then other genetic ancestral studies have been undertaken. Most notable of these was the determination that Neanderthal was not a direct ancestor of modern humans. Spencer Wells provides an enthralling overview of the research tracking changes in the Y [male] chromosome. The studies verify again that our origins are African. Somewhere, around 60 000 years ago, lived one man, a flesh and blood individual, from whom we've all descended. His progeny, in an amazingly short span, scattered around the globe. The scattering isn't news, but the verification of the paths and chronology is lucid and vividly outlined in this book.

The key to the tracking, as Wells makes abundantly clear, are various polymorphisms [changes] in the Y chromosome. These mutations are reflected in today's populations and the rate of their diversity indicates the approximate age of the various regional groups. These changes, nearly all prefixed "M" [male?] are used as ingredients in recipes Wells offers as illustrative metaphor. It's a clever ploy, so long as you remember ingredients may only be added, never removed nor replaced. That's how genetics works, he reminds us. He portrays the build-up of recipe ingredients with maps and diagrams. The diagrams are almost redundant as the clarity of his prose enables you to envision them.

Following the paths of migration, Wells shows how some archaeological finds offer support for the patterns he sees. Fossils are rare, elusive and sometimes misunderstood. Genetics, buried deep in our cells, are unequivocal in providing their evidence. Dating methods are briefly described and their shortcomings mercilessly paraded. Wells doesn't give the paleoanthropologists much voice. His story needs telling and the reader may go elsewhere for countering information. Yet he acknowledges the importance of confirming information from various digs around the world.

Wells firmly addresses a great anomaly - if modern humans arose from the evolutionary bouillabaisse about 60 millennia ago, how did the Aborigines arrive in Australia at nearly the same time? His answer is that the track followed shore routes, not inland ones. Hunter-gatherer groups, subject to the whims of climate, food resources and population pressure took the softest trail. Africa to Australia during ice ages was a gentle, if lengthy, stroll.

Nit-picking department: Wells' opening gun is turned on the racial "expert" Carleton Coon, who asserted the human races each followed a separate evolutionary path. Coon has been refuted in so many ways by so many researchers, Wells' effort seems superfluous. There are more competent scientists adhering to the "Multiregional" thesis. Some of these researchers might have been given a small voice in an annotated bibliography. While Wells offers a reading list for each chapter, a full bibliography would be an enhancement. Many of his references are remote. That doesn't tarnish the value of this book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Death Blow for the Multiregionalists
After reading this book, I don't know how anyone can seriously entertain the theory of multiregionalism anymore. The genetic evidence is conclusive and proves that we have all descended from a band of anatomically modern humans somewhere in Africa 50,000 years ago.

Wells has written a cogent and persuasive book that looks at every phase and aspect of the human odyssey from these African origins to modern times. If I have any criticism, however, it's that the book tends to slow down a bit after the settlement of the Americas is discussed. The chapters on the spread of agriculture and the evolution of language were less coherent than the others and seemed to digress from the central thesis. Still, I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the recent origins of modern man. It shows that only 2000 generations ago, we were all one family living in one place. The racial differences we all note today are thus very recent and very superficial. This is all the more important to understand now that the world is heading toward genetic convergence rather than genetic divergence. In another couple thousand years, we will probably all look like Tiger Woods (one of the multi-racial examples Wells cites in his book).

Impressively little content.
One doesn't learn a lot about evolutionary genetics from this book. When the author talks about how statisticians arrive at a result he does a really poor job of explaining the calculation for a layman. He presents almost nothing at all, just stating results. The book contains a lengthy list of results from many different fields. Most people want to know a lot more about how the various quantities are deduced, even a newspaper article goes more in depth. Science via inductive logic is a little sketchy, but you get the impression that the author doesn't understand that what he studied in grad school is inductive. One receives the impression that the author doesn't question much of anything at all.

This is a book about everything he learned as a post-doc, all the people that he met, and all of their theories. But, I don't think that many people will take anything away from The Journey of Man - it lacks the substance that readers of layman's science books desire.

Why I love this book!
I am Indian (with roots in the Indian subcontinent) and I like the way Spencer Wells touches upon our "aryan" Y-chromosome that (as he explains) we share with the eastern europeans. Take that Hitler. And yes I too feel this book beats Seven Daughter of Eve (by Bryan Sykes)by far.

No photos in the paparback edition!!!
The paperback edition does not include any photographs. They are essential and included in the hardcover edition in a great number!!! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A planet where men descended from apes?
It takes guts to write a picture book. Putting your work out there to speak for you. The criticism of hundreds of thousands of adults just waiting to tear you apart. It takes even more guts to write a non-fiction picture book. Now you have to deal with parents passing over your story for, oh I dunno, "Mr. Peabody's Apples" because they're afraid that they themselves will be bored. Pompous adults like that. And finally, it takes a kind of bravery most humans would be lucky to possess to write a non-fiction picture book that sports the word, "evolution", on its cover. So please take a moment to mentally applaud the gutsy efforts of one Ms. Lisa Westberg Peters and one Ms. Lauren Stringer for their moxie laden little number, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story".

A delicate rendering of Lascaux acrylics on watercolor paper, the story is one of the oldest ones on earth. Peters begins, "All of us are part of an old, old family. The roots of our family tree reach way back to the beginning of life on earth. We've changed a lot since then". Slowly we learn about DNA and the birth of cells in the seas. We hear about oxygen filling the planet and how the seas rose and fell, changing the landscape. About how animals crawled up onto the land and how after an asteroid our particular branch of the family tree survived. Finally, the monkeys evolved, and we evolved out of the monkeys. The book ends with further details for the inquisitive child about each step of the family tree. A helpful timeline follows these facts at the end.

For those human beings that dislike the notion of evolution and prefer a more creation-laden viewpoint, this is not the book for you. It's pretty darn clear in the text that life began 3,800 to 3,600 million years ago. End of story. You will not find a religious note in this book. It's scientifically written and happy to remain that way. Not that the facts presented are full-proof. I may be wrong, but I don't believe the asteroid theory has ever matter-of-factly killed off the dinosaurs as it does here. Also (as more professional reviewers have pointed out) the timeline really does make it look as if it was just a hop, skip, and a jump from single celled organisms to wormlike vertebrates.

On the whole, however, this is a good informative text. Children reading it should be a little older, in order to fully grasp exactly what is being said. For them, however, this book serves as an excellent resource. The pictures are lovely and the facts are mostly on the ball. A lovely addition to any children's evolution library. ... Read more

Book Description

The Phylogenetic Handbook is a broad introduction to the theory and practice of nucleotide and amino acid phylogenetic analysis. As an unique feature of this book, each chapter contains an extensive practical section, in which step-by-step exercises on real data sets introduce the most widely used phylogeny software including CLUSTAL, PHYLIP, PAUP*, DAMBE, TREE-PUZZLE, TREECON, SplitsTree, TreeView, SimPlot, MEGA2, PAML and BOOTSCANNING. The book provides a strong background in basic topics: the use of sequence databases, alignment algorithms, tree-building methods, estimation of genetic distances, and testing models of evolution. ... Read more

Book Description

Virtually all serious scientists accept the truth of Darwin's theory of evolution. While the fight for its acceptance has been a long and difficult one, after a century of struggle among the cognoscenti the battle is over. Biologists are now confident that their remaining questions, such as how life on Earth began, or how the Cambrian explosion could have produced so many new species in such a short time, will be found to have Darwinian answers. They, like most of the rest of us, accept Darwin's theory to be true.

But should we? What would happen if we found something that radically challenged the now-accepted wisdom? In Darwin's Black Box, Michael Behe argues that evidence of evolution's limits has been right under our noses -- but it is so small that we have only recently been able to see it. The field of biochemistry, begun when Watson and Crick discovered the double-helical shape of DNA, has unlocked the secrets of the cell. There, biochemists have unexpectedly discovered a world of Lilliputian complexity. As Belie engagingly demonstrates, using the examples of vision, bloodclotting, cellular transport, and more, the biochemical world comprises an arsenal of chemical machines, made up of finely calibrated, interdependent parts. For Darwinian evolution to be true, there must have been a series of mutations, each of which produced its own working machine, that led to the complexity we can now see. The more complex and interdependent each machine's parts are shown to be, the harder it is to envision Darwin's gradualistic paths, Behe surveys the professional science literature and shows that it is completely silent on the subject, stymied by the elegance of the foundation of life. Could it be that there is some greater force at work?

Michael Behe is not a creationist. He believes in the scientific method, and he does not look to religious dogma for answers to these questions. But he argues persuasively that biochemical machines must have been designed -- either by God, or by some other higher intelligence. For decades science has been frustrated, trying to reconcile the astonishing discoveries of modern biochemistry to a nineteenth-century theory that cannot accommodate them. With the publication of Darwin's Black Box, it is time for scientists to allow themselves to consider exciting new possibilities, and for the rest of us to watch closely. ... Read more

Reviews (425)

The Deathknell of Evolution as We Know It
Michael Behe's revelation of the profound flaw inherent in modern day evolutionary theory is nothing short of genius. He clearly illustrates his point in a manner so simple (as you can see by some of these reviews) he has left even the coolest evolutionary theorists babbling. This book has gained much attention and it is no wonder! With crippling reasoning, Behe exposes an area completely unknown to Darwin at the time he formed his theories - the microbiological level of life (Darwin used magnifying glasses!). Using examples of highly complex systems existing on this level, Behe clearly shows that such systems could not have developed in accordance with the theory of modern evolution - by gradual change over time. Evolutionary theory is based upon the principle of progressive change to form a more complex organism. Behe takes this principle to task by illustrating systems existing on the microbiological level (sometimes no bigger than a conglomeration of several cells) composed of multiple parts and functioning in highly specified ways. There is no possible way for such systems to have evolved, one, two, three, or even ten parts at a time, because without all elements functioning together, they are completely useless, or worse yet, harmful! Evolutionists cannot explain how such highly complex systems could have evolved. Such intricate and complex systems would have had to appear all at once in time. This is nothing short of a miracle - which diehard evolutionists, sadly, cannot accept. The logic in Behe's reasoning is airtight. To understand the beginning of the end of modern day evolutionary theory -- this book is a must read.

Darwinian Evolution is a Theory
As a molecular biochemist, physician and christian I found Dr. Behe's book accurate, well-written and fair. He neither preaches to those who are unbelievers, nor forces a concept of God onto the reader. Instead, he attempts to explain where and why Darwinian Evolution fails. I've gradually come to this same conclusion prior to reading his book. (As for the issue of the number of proteins in flagella, as discussed in one review, if you were to calculate even 20 proteins mutating simultaneously, using only a very short protein chain--as the likelihood is a function of protein chain length, the probability would be well over 10^50 power, in other words: impossible. I'd refer you to various Chuck Missler audio tapes for more details.)

A couple of areas where Dr. Behe did not elaborate, and perhaps would have calmed some irrate reviewers of this and his other book if he had, is the topic of micro-evolution. A perfect example of this phenomena is antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Creationism is not incompatible with this concept (and BTW, as one reviewer incorrectly stated, Scripture does not say the world is flat, nor to drink poison; a more careful reading would be in order).

Similarly, Dr. Behe did not discuss another concept of molecular evolution that also supports intelligent design: amino acid conservation. That is, the small differences between animal species with respect to amino acid substitution in hemoglobin is not necessarily an argument for microevolution, but an argument for a designer. A designer will tend to re-use parts rather than create whole new systems (eg, modular programming).

Aside from these minor topics that would further strengthen his book, Dr. Behe offers the lay reader an excellent discussion of why intelligent design is a compelling topic and needs to be placed along side of Darwinian evolution in the classroom. His discussion is definitely not a re-hash of the arguments put forth in the Scopes Monkey Trial (as in the movie "Inherit the Wind"). His logic is not poor, as one review suggested, and Dr. Behe encourages the reader to look for topics in other books. The problem is not that these books cannot be found, again as one reviewer suggested, but that the level of discussion is those books is meager at best and usually does not fully address the stated topic. In any event, you should read his book and decide for yourself.

Scientific Knowledge Shouldn't Be Decided By Popular Vote
I can appreciate that Michael Behe's supporters might fail to grasp the effectiveness of some of the more technical refutations of this book that have been presented. But I'd expect others - like those of cell biologist Kenneth R. Miller, for instance - to be readily understandable by anyone capable of following Behe's own rather difficult arguments.

Miller has won several awards for outstanding teaching, and is co-author of well-received high school and college textbooks. He can communicate. He's also a conscientious Roman Catholic, acutely aware of the conflicts that can arise when sincere religious convictions confront the sometimes disturbing and often counter-intuitive findings of modern science.

A little sampler from Miller's writings may hopefully stir the more conscientious among Behe's sympathizers to look into what Miller and other interested scientists have to say about the book and about the intelligent design argument in general.

In March 2002, Miller and physicist Lawrence Krauss took part in a debate before the Ohio Board of Education. Their opponents were Stephen Meyer and Jonathan Wells, senior fellows (as is Behe) at the Discovery Institute. The Institute, ID's home base, is a 'think tank' advocating what it calls "the renewal of science and culture". Its primary funding comes from wealthy conservative Christians, notably Christian Reconstructionists Roberta and Howard Ahmanson.

Miller wrote a blow-by-blow account after the debate (the full text is on his website), in which he recalls Krauss' insight that "the two-on-two format of this presentation wouldn't render a fair picture of the sentiment in the scientific community. A more reasonable arrangement .. would have one member of the Discovery Institute on one side, and ten thousand scientists on the other .. two of the Discovery Institute's nine senior fellows were the ID speakers who were there; if they had not been there, the only place to find more advocates for ID would be back at the Discovery Institute. If Krauss or I had not been there, however, we could have been replaced by scores of scientists from just about any college or university anywhere in the state of Ohio."

In another article, "Answering the Biochemical Argument From Design" (also on his website), Miller gives Behe credit for recognizing that "the mere existence of structures and pathways that have not yet been given step-by-step Darwinian explanation does not make much of a case against evolution. Critics of evolution have laid down such challenges before, only to see them backfire when new scientific work provided exactly the evidence they had demanded. Behe himself once made a similar claim when he challenged evolutionists to produce transitional fossils linking the first fossil whales with their supposed land-based ancestors. Ironically, not one, not two, but three transitional species between whales and land-dwelling Eocene mammals had been discovered by the end of 1994 when his challenge was published."

Darwin's theory states that "evolution produces complex organs though a series of fully-functional intermediate stages. If each of the intermediate stages can be favored by natural selection, then so can the whole pathway." Behe argues that due to the "irreducible complexity" of biochemical systems like those described in his book, there can be no fully-functional intermediate stages; all parts must be present for any function at all. Miller asks, "Is there something different about biochemistry, a reason why Darwin's answer would not apply to the molecular systems that Behe cites?

"In a word, no.

"In 1998, Siegfried Musser and Sunney Chan described the evolutionary development of the cytochrome c oxidase protein pump, a complex, multipart molecular machine that plays a key role in energy transformation by the cell. In human cells, the pump consists of six proteins, each of which is necessary for the pump to function properly. It would seem to be a perfect example of irreducible complexity. Take one part away from the pump, and it no longer works. And yet, these authors were able to produce, in impressive detail, "an evolutionary tree constructed using the notion that respiratory complexity and efficiency progressively increased throughout the evolutionary process".

"In 1996, Enrique Meléndez-Hevia and his colleagues published, in the Journal of Molecular Evolution, a paper entitled "The puzzle of the Krebs citric acid cycle: Assembling the pieces of chemically feasible reactions, and opportunism in the design of metabolic pathways during evolution" .. this paper does exactly what Behe says cannot be done, even in principle - it presents a feasible proposal for its evolution from simpler biochemical systems .. what all of this means, of course, is that two principal claims of the intelligent design movement are disproved, namely that it is impossible to present a Darwinian explanation for the evolution of a complex biochemical system, and that no such papers appear in the scientific literature. It is possible, and such papers do exist."

Miller shows in detail that even systems Behe proposes as "irreducibly complex" are not so. "Nature presents many examples of fully-functional cilia that are missing key parts .. this leaves us with two points to consider: First, a wide variety of motile systems exist that are missing parts of this supposedly irreducibly complex structure; and second, biologists have known for years that each of the major components of the cilium, including proteins tubulin, dynein, and actin have distinct functions elsewhere in the cell that are unrelated to ciliary motion .. what this means, of course, is that a selectable function exists for each of the major parts of the cilium, and therefore that the argument [for irreducible complexity] is wrong."

Miller demonstrates similar difficulties with Behe's claim regarding the bacterial flagellum. He concludes, "At least four key elements of the eubacterial flagellum have other selectable functions in the cell that are unrelated to motility .. by demonstrating the existence of such functions, even in just a handful of components, we have invalidated the argument".

Miller's verdict: "Prof. Behe argues that anti-religious bias is the reason the scientific community resists the explanation of design for his observations:
I would suggest that the actual reason is much simpler. The scientific community has not embraced the explanation of design because it is quite clear, on the basis of the evidence, that it is wrong."

Excellent Resource
The book that basically started it all, where whispers in the scientific community against neo-Darwinism became public discourse. Whether you're an IDist or a Darwinist, this is a good book to have on the shelf just as a reference point.

A lot of people on both sides just talk pass each other, and project their image of the "other" side the way they wish to see it. When Darwinists think of Intelligent Design, they think of 7-Day Creationists who want to burn scientists at the stake. When 7-Day Creationists think of evolution, they think of that athiest Joseph Stalin shoving Christians into Gulags (and Daniel Dennet apparently thinks religious people should be in cages, so maybe that assumption isn't very far off).

Behe's book is not about the Bible, or Christianity, or Creationism, or even anti-evolution. It is anti-aimless natural selection. Behe sets up many examples w/in biology and biochemistry that show how the human cell and its processes are dependent on complex plans that could not have developed gradually. Blood coagulation requires "knowledge" of the end result in order for the process to begin. The immune system requires separate parts to evolve at the same time to meet a common goal w/in the system. There are "blueprints" w/in life that mutation and natural selection cannot explain, especially w/in the timeframe of earth's development. Does this disprove evolution? No. Does it prove the existence of God? No, not necessarily, although you'd have to provide a funky explanation involving (gasp! oh no!) metaphysics. The Power of "Life" as the Grand Unified Theory of Physics, or something. So this book does prove the need for a new explanation that is going to have to account for the borderline miraculous development of life, since life is so "irreducibly complex". Francis Crick, probably seeing the writing on the wall because of his analysis of DNA, jumped on the panspermia bandwagon early on. I always wondered why he did so, because in High School and College I was never told of the weaknesses w/in Darwinism, and here comes Crick w/ this funky idea of panspermia. Why, I thought? Crick's obviously a genius, wasn't he aware that natural selection is flawless and infallible? Now I know why. Of course, panspermia has its own problems, as it just pushes the problems of chaotic life ex nihilo back a couple of galaxies and epochs.

Behe also shows how many of the arguments against Intelligent Design are Strawmen fallacies, such as "Well, God wouldn't have done it that way!" Well, why not? That's not an observation of nature, but a metaphysical argument, and one that comes from Sartrian "bad faith". Behe takes from the bottom up, and shows how the observation of cells and cellular mechanisms leads to planning and design. The identity and characteristics of the Designer--is he perfectly Good or does he have a mean side, is he Deistic or Theistic, would he make the universe perfect from a human perspective or would he make the universe glaring w/ imperfections--is for another book and another time. Like a good Belisarius (the Byzantine commmander who ushered in the strategy of defensive warfare), Behe merely stakes out a sound corner w/in science that orthodox scientific opinion cannot explain (irreducible complexity), and he sits there, secure.

Good Argument, So-So Writing
Behe presents a solid challenge to a Darwinian view of how life started on Earth (though he leaves the question of how it could begin elsewhere unchallenged). Unfortunately to do this, he relies on several esoteric biochemical processes (though i think that is the only sort of biochemical processes available to a neophyte like myself). The first half of the book reads as several iterations of the same argument, though delivered with increasing amounts of sarcasm. The second half of the book, in which he delivers his answer to the questions raised earlier, seems rushed. So if you tire of the seemingly endless stream of enzymes and proteins, skip to the second part -- it's much easier reading for the layperson.

Though to say that this book disproves or even dismisses evolution and natural selection as viable scientific theories is disingenuous at best, and dishonest at worst. Behe even says that beyond a limited set of structures that appear to be evidence of intelligent design, there are many structures that are not clearly designed (and most likely aren't, he admits). To explain these structures and organisms, he gives a variety of options, ending with what is clearly natural selection, though he declines to name it as such. Finally, while criticising evolutionary proponents for attacking a straw man (the watchmaker for darwinists, Richard Dawkins for intelligent design-ists), this is exactly what he does -- since Darwin's followers haven't demonstrated a valid argument/scenario for the basic structures of the cell, then entire theory is invalid (including portions that have been experimentally shown true on an organism level).

Finally, Behe doesn't give any sort of explanation or theory for how some basic structures of the cell are evidence of design, but others are not. He implies that those not showing evidence of design could have evolved, but does not explain why some more complicated structures could be designed before other more basic structures evolved.

Enjoy this book and the questions it opens, but it is far from the final word on the origins and progression of life on Earth (just as Dawkins' books aren't, either). ... Read more

Book Description

Insects are the most diverse group of organisms in the 3 billion-year history of life on Earth, and the most ecologically dominant animals on land. This book chronicles for the first time the complete evolutionary history of insects: their living diversity, relationships and 400 million years of fossils. Whereas other volumes have focussed on either living species or fossils, this is the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of insect evolution. The book is illustrated with 955 photo- and electronmicrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full colour and virtually all of them original. The book will appeal to anyone engaged with insect diversity: professional entomologists and students, insect and fossil collectors, and naturalists. ... Read more

Book Description

Mayr provides as convincing a testament to Darwin's genius as you are likely to find." --New York Times Book Review.

At once a spirited defense of Darwinian explanations of biology and an elegant primer on evolution for the general reader, What Evolution Is poses the questions at the heart of evolutionary theory and considers how our improved understanding of evolution has affected the viewpoints and values of modern man.

Science Masters Series ... Read more

Reviews (38)

Modern evolutionary science clarified
Ernst Mayr is a commanding figure in the field of evolutionary biology. Having published an awesome average of nine scientific papers a year since 1925, he has produced (at age 97) a comprehensive