"I think that the picture painted in this book is true. Life most surely evolved, along the lines described here. That is not dogma, but evidence tested in reality and corrected accordingly. Whether this grand picture is compatible with faith in God, I do not know. For some people, intimately acquainted with evolution, it is; for others, it is not. But whatever our beliefs, this richness of understanding should be a cause for marvel and celebration. It is a most wonderful thing to share so much with the life around us on this blue-green marble, floating through the bleak infinity of space. There is more than grandeur in this view of life. There is fallibility and majesty, and the best human eagerness to know."
If you are interested in evolution, this is a fantastic book, though because it is
quite heavy it may be better to start with something like Richard Dawkin's 'Greatest Show On Earth'. Winner of last year's Royal Society prize for Science Writing, it has some of the latest scientific research. This book covers ten particular aspects of life, how exactly they work, how they developed through the process of evolution, and how we know this. The areas he chose to cover fell under the criteria of 'the invention had to revolutionise the living world, and the planet; it had to be of surpassing importance today; it must be a direct outcome of evolution by natural selection; and finally the invention had to be iconic in some way. Some readers may disagree with his ten choices, as the introduction acknowledges, but I went with the flow and it made sense to me."
quite heavy it may be better to start with something like Richard Dawkin's 'Greatest Show On Earth'. Winner of last year's Royal Society prize for Science Writing, it has some of the latest scientific research. This book covers ten particular aspects of life, how exactly they work, how they developed through the process of evolution, and how we know this. The areas he chose to cover fell under the criteria of 'the invention had to revolutionise the living world, and the planet; it had to be of surpassing importance today; it must be a direct outcome of evolution by natural selection; and finally the invention had to be iconic in some way. Some readers may disagree with his ten choices, as the introduction acknowledges, but I went with the flow and it made sense to me."
Starting with the Origin Of Life, it doesn't just trace life back through DNA history to the earliest known forms of bacteria, but goes much deeper into the chemical reactions required to create and maintain these early bacteria and how this could be achieved with what is known about early Earth. It suggests we are not far from finding out exactly how life can emerge from simple proteins. The chapter on Sight, one of the most interesting, shows that the human eye is not as flawed as oft cited and traces back to the origin of sight.
Throughout all the different chapters - Sex, Hot Blood, Death, Photosynthesis to name a few - you will learn in depth, the beauty of each of these systems and how and why they evolved, far more than just 'survival of the fittest' and 'selfish genes', but the chemical balances and trade off restrictions involved. One of the most fascinating things I've learned from this book is how and why aging and death evolved, and is not just the natural order of things. The only chapter that deviates from the rest of the book is the chapter on Consciousness as there's no accepted definition of what exactly consciousness is, but it takes a scientific analysis of how it developed and how it may be explained.
The book does at points offer up competing theories and admits where scientific knowledge is lacking.
Ultimately, reading this gave me a much deeper realisation of the beauty of evolution than I already held. And even if at times some of the chemical processes went beyond my understanding, it's an acceptable level and there's far more information here that's accessible to anyone with an interest in the subject.
Score: 6/7
Writer: Dr Nick Lane
Publisher: Profile Books
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