Dawkins's "The Ancestor's Tale" is superb! Highly recommended.

[BurtWorm]

Difficult going in stretches for nonscientists, but well worth sticking with.

I am recommending it while still reading it because it's been just a brilliant book for the first 150 (of some 500 pp.). If you haven't heard of it, it's by Richard Dawkins, the British philosopher of science who coined the term "meme" (which doesn't mean what everyone thinks it means). This book is a walk back through time toward the concestor, or common ancestor, of all living beings, told as a sort of Canterbury Tales of evolution, with some 40 rendezvous points of lines of species converging (in the reverse pilgrimage to the dawn of life--in real, forward moving time, of course, the points are where the lines diverged) along the way where various concestors hypothetically stand. The concept is clear and compelling, and the execution is dazzling. You get smarter spending just a little time in the book.

DUers would also enjoy Dawkins' frequent asides about the state of the world today, including several digs at Bush's expense. While ruminating on the notion that things, as improbable as they may be, have to happen only once to have a lasting and profound effect (such as one tree laden with African monkeys crossing to a once much nearer South America to bring the concestors of all New World primates), Dawkins brings up the unpleasant thought that a man who can't even pronounce "nuclear" only has to authorize one offensive nuclear missile strike (improbable as that may seem) to cross a tragic rubicon.

[Coexist]

1. thanks - I'll check it out

[alarimer]

2. I really liked it

Very interesting.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

3. Finally got a job

so I don't have any time to read anymore.

Just kidding, :evilgrin: Thank you for the heads up. This looks like something I would really enjoy. :hi:

[Bunny]

4. Thanks for the recommendation.

This kind of stuff is right up my alley, although it sounds a little intimidating to this nonscientist!

[BurtWorm]

5. Parts are intimidating, to be sure.

But more of it is a sheer pleasure to read. You learn a lot about natural history. It's a very effective way to tell the story.

:hi:

[BurtWorm]

6. I just finished it tonight.

The excellence never let up. I can't recommend this book highly enough for anyone interested in what biology knows about our genetic ancestors.

Capsule review: :thumbsup:

[Odin2005]

7. Though I disagree with Dawkins...

...on his adherence to Gene Selectionism (which is what made him famous in the first place), I generally thought it was a really good book. My only qualm is that some of the branching points he used molecular data that many scientists find questionable (especially the relationsships among mammals, Afrotheria? WTF?).

[agincourt]

8. The Blind Watchmaker

an older book of his, was very good too. It was one of the best descriptions of evolution that I've heard.