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Author:
Richard Dawkins
By Black Swan
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 The greatest book on Earth..., 2010-07-19
I'd read two of Dawkins's other books prior to reading this and I'd forgotten how excellent they were until reading this! He may occasionally be abrasive and frequently intolerant, but always with good reason. Creationism is nonsense so it should be treated with contempt. Evolution and creationism aren't two competing theories to be given equal consideration. Evolution is a FACT and creationism/intelligent design is a fantasy and Dawkins is an energetic champion of the former. I challenge anyone to read this book - read it properly - and not come away from it believing in evolution by natural selection. In fact, I think the first three chapters should in themselves achieve this. I also liked the author's pithy asides, footnotes, which were often completely irrelevant, but fun. Dawkins is a genius. And remember: natural selection is "all about the survival of self-replicating instuctions for self-replication". In other words, life is pointless. Fascinating, but ultimately pointless.
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Author:
Charles Darwin
By Dover Publications Inc.
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Need to know for cultural literacy, 2010-05-03
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.
The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski
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Author:
Simon Singh
By Harper Perennial
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Great book, 2010-05-24
I can only agree with the great reviews already included under the 5 star rating. In recent times I find myself watching my ipod whilst out traveling, but with this book I read it cover to cover and the ipod never left my pocket. A great read in a topic that can so easily become dull or over complicated.
I recommend it to anyone with any level of interest in this topic, whether it be for a basic understanding of the Big Bang, or cosmology in general, or especialliy in the way in which cosmology has developed over time. Excellent book.
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Author:
Jerry Fodor, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini
By Profile Books
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Talk about sticking your neck out!, 2010-04-04
'What Darwin Got Wrong' is a critical analysis of the theory of natural selection by a philosopher and a cognitive scientist. The writers fully accept the fact of evolution but argue that natural selection, the primary mechanism by which Darwin thought evolution took place, is logically untenable.
Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini are two highly regarded senior academics in their own fields - or at least, they were until they published this book. Since then all kinds of curses have been rained down upon their heads and all kinds of vegetables have been thrown at them. As their argument attacks the theory of natural selection at a time when it is fighting a fierce action against the massed ranks of creationists, that is hardly suprising.
Given the controversy this book has stirred up I think I should say very briefly where I am coming from. I have no professional or academic expertise in evolutionary biology, I have always accepted natural selection as a fact and I call myself an atheist. I also have a very rusty degree in philosophy which has been useful in reading this book. I have given it five stars, not because I am bowled over by its arguments or committed to its point of view but because I believe that in science challenges are good and controversy is generally productive. A second reason is that 'What Darwin Got Wrong' is also a very enjoyable read: one of the most genial and well-written - I didn't say 'easy' - philosophy texts I have read in a long time.
So, why would you want to read this book? Well, unless you are a specialist, you will probably need to have at least several of the following: an interest in evolutionary theory; a thirst (or at least a capacity) for reading long, complex and closely argued philosophical arguments; a liking for controversy; an enjoyment of well-written theoretical texts; and a desire to take up an intellectual challenge. You might also be looking for an excuse to crow over the death of Darwinism, or, as a Darwinist, you might be itching to take a pop at the authors.
First a warning. Interspersed with passages of easy and enjoyable narrative, the writing can often get dense and difficult. If you are reading this book to understand its argument you are going to have to grapple with passages like this: "To a first approximation, the claim that, 'all else being equal, Fs cause Gs' says something like: 'given independently justified idealizations, Fs cause Gs reliably.' The intuition in such cases is that, underlying the observed variance, there is a bona fide, reliable, counterfactual-supporting relation between being F and causing Gs, the operation of which is often obscured by the effects of unsystematic, interacting variables.' Even genial philosophers are philosophers still!
Having said that, the authors have done a lot to make their abstract and complex arguments easier for the general reader to follow - though they could have done more. Some of the technical terms in the passage above are explained beforehand. The book is extremely well (even attractively) written. It's prose is lean but never bloodlessly academic. Without becoming arch or irritating, it is punctuated by moments of wry, warm humour, and there are plenty of explanatory examples and some recapitulations. On the down-side, it has a tendency to dive into side issues, which makes the main line of argument more difficult to follow. The language is often difficult and the authors seem to have an unnecessary love-affair with Latin tags: "ceteris paribus"; "mutatis mutandis"; and so on. None of these problems are insurmountable, but they do demand a fair bit from any reader who wants to understand the arguments in detail.
Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini present two arguments to support their case. The first is built upon empirical discoveries in evolutionary biology, some of them old, some a lot more recent. This argument suggests that the operation of natural selection is limited by formal and other constraits. It does not undermine Darwin's major theory but does question its position as the principal explanation for evolution. (Few, of course, not even Darwin, have ever claimed it to be the only explanation). It is a controversial argument, not entirely new and not generally well received by working scientists.
The second argument is an analysis of the logic underlying the case for natural selection. This is a purely philosophical (analytic) one and is potentially more damaging - if shown to be valid. It rests upon the claim that the very terms in which natural selection is formulated are founded upon a logical error - an intentional fallacy. To show the significance of this error, the authors draw parallels with other scientific theories (like B F Skinner's theory of Operant Conditioning) which follow an identical (and, they claim, identically flawed) logic. These other theories have, in consequence, been rejected by the scientific community as untenable, and for that reason appear to leave natural selection looking extremely exposed.
The conclusion of this argument, and of the book, is that the theory of natural selection is not a scientific law. This means that it has no predictive power and therefore cannot lawfully govern all the myriad events of natural history. Instead, they argue, it is a (perfectly respectable) causal theory which allows us to provide plausible explanations of individual evolutionary events - after the fact - much in the way that historians provide explanations for historical events. The authors claim this is true of many scientific theories: "theories about lunar geography, theories about why the dinosaurs became extinct, theories about the origin of the Grand Canyon, or of the Solar System, or, come to think of it, of the Universe."
The authors accept that many scientists have long since abandoned the idea that natural selection is a law, but claim that some have not and that much of their theorising tacitly assumes it.
So, what is to be made of the controversy the book has raised? At this early stage in the debate (April 2010) the overwhelming response is hostile. One criticism repeatedly levelled at the authors is that they have strayed ignorantly into the field of evolutionary biology without understanding either its current state of knowledge or its methodology. Others have attacked the author's arguments directly. Unfortunately, along with some valuable comment there is also a great deal of heat and confusion. Many have made generalised attacks upon the arguments or dismissed them as nonsense. Others have accused the authors of hubris or of meddling where they are not wanted. Too often, accusers have themselves misunderstood the arguments they are criticising or failed to engage with them. Vague or ad hominem attacks of this kind are not very useful. If the arguments are flawed as most commentators assume they are, then we need to know precisely and clearly why they are flawed. If it turns out that they are not, then we need to take stock of the implications. Either way I don't think this issue is going to be settled quickly.
Many of the commentators I have read so far have been antagonised by the book's methodology. That's unsurprising since most of its arguments are philosophical rather than empirical. The authors happily admit that the ideas in the book arose out of recent debates in contemporary philosophy and not evolutionary biology. Anyone who lacks an understanding of the current preoccupations of Anglo-American philosophy will probably have a hard time following the arguments in detail or appreciating their wider implications. Many will also need to keep a good dictionary by their side.
Those who are unfamiliar with the bodiless arguments of philosophers, or get impatient with their abstract methodology, or regard the whole philosophical enterprise as a bizarre, self-indulgent activity which has nothing to say to the world of hard-working empirical scientists, will quite possibly not even get as far as wondering whether the arguments are valid - it is quite likely they won't even find them very meaningful. Reviews on the web are bristling with accusations of this kind. Some are angrily expressing irritation over arguments more concerned with relationships between logical/notional entities (like hearts that go `thump' and those that don't) than they are with presenting evidence from the natural world.
Those who have a clear understanding that all scientific theories stand or fall not just upon empirical evidence but upon their own internal logic are more likely to give the book some head room. In point of fact, the kind of logical arguments Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini rely on are no different in principle from those used regularly by working scientists when they come, for example, to distinguish between rival theories. They are just not the sort of arguments that are generally found in books on evolution.
Where then, is the poor non-specialist to go for help? There are some interesting and enlightening discussions taking place on the web (particularly between Jerry Fodor and Elliott Sober on Blogging Heads and the Leiter Report) but many are bogged down in a great deal of muddle and misrepresentation. A good example of this is to be found on 'Pharyngula', the highly popular blog of P Z Myers, Professor of biology at University of Minnesota. Typically it provides a mixture of enlightenment and confusion. Myers offers an interesting and pertinent critique of part of Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini's secondary argument. He demonstrates that there are well-understood genetic mechanisms which account for features of biological form that the authors claim are inexplicable by natural selection.
Unfortunately, when he begins to deal with their main thesis, he comes unstuck. A working biologist, Myers seriously misrepresents the authors' argument. Heaping scorn on their lack of understanding of genetics, he fails to appreciate that their argument is a logical, not an empirical one, for which the exact mechanism of genetics (or even the existence of genes) is entirely irrelevant.
On philosophical websites, where contributers are more likely to understand the book's methodology, things are not much better. There are a number of good articles, but many more which are clearly failing accurately to represent the authors' position. Darwin, it seems, arouses passionate partisanship even among philosophers.
The controversial nature of the work means that people are taking up strong positions for and against. Evolutionary biologists, having read through the book's 163 pages of abstract analysis and 59 pages of appendices and notes, are unlikely to immediately commit natural selection to the dustbin of history. And on the other side...? Initially, I doubted whether the book's technical arguments would give creationists and other anti-Darwinians much cause to cry for joy either. On this, it appears, I was mistaken. Over on the creationist 'Discovery Institute' website they are already breaking out the champagne. (I'm curious to know what the atheistical and anti-creationist Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini are making of this.)
For the non-technical among us, the options at present seem to be to skim the book and take up a position, to try to puzzle our way through the argument as best we can, or to retire to the side lines and wait for a result. I suspect we will have to wait a while for any kind of consensus to form.
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Author:
Nick Lane
By OUP Oxford
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One of the three most informative books I have ever read, 2009-12-07
I read the hardcover version three years ago and I'm ready to start it again. There is a lot to get hold of, so I would not recommend anyone to tackle this book unless they are prepared to work at it, or unless this is their specialism. A strong motivation is probably more important than a grounding in biology - I had zero formal education in life sciences, but exposure to certain theories of disease revolving around mitochondrial processes and A-B symbiosis gave me the incentive to find out more. "Power, Sex, Suicide" came along at the right time. And by the way I think the title is spot on.
Fortunately for readers like me, Nick Lane has the gift of tracing the development of scientific understanding (and misunderstanding) as engagingly as your favourite writer of crime-thrillers. Yet you never feel there's the slightest tendency to dumb down. Once you get into it, the story is really gripping and by the end believe me you will be an expert - I was able to explain things to a doctorate in biochemistry! Of course, five years is a long time in science and the frontiers have undoubtedly moved on. So Nick, if you're reading this, I would love to get hold of the revised edition - 2010 maybe?
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Author:
Richard Dawkins
By OUP Oxford
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A gene-centred view of evolution, 2010-04-15
The idea of the selfish gene must rank as one of the most significant of the last century. Certainly it made a huge impact in biology, extending the explanation of evolution given by Charles Darwin before the basic mechanisms of genetics were understood. It was also this idea - and this book - that catapulted the writing career of Richard Dawkins, so for better or for worse, we have this book to thank for that!
This is a book that, in many ways, is as much about game theory as it is about the theory (and fact) of evolution. With rigorous analysis and beautifully clear writing, Dawkins explores the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour, kinship, sex ratio theory, reciprocal altruism, deceit, and much more. He frequently refers to fellow specialists in the field of evolutionary biology, and where he disagrees with them, does so with honesty and generosity. More than thirty years later, the book shows a few small signs of age, but also retains a certain freshness - most likely because the idea of the selfish gene has, in the intervening years, become more not less controversial.
On that last point, anyone who doubts or dismisses evolution as "just a theory" needs to read The Selfish Gene. And I mean actually read it. (Yes, the whole book - not just the title) Only then will it become abundantly clear that the author is *NOT* suggesting any of the following:
1) that at the human level, selfishness is good and altruism is bad,
2) that genes are somehow conscious entities,
3) that we must live in a manner that benefits our genes.
What he IS suggesting is that blind natural selection makes genes behave AS IF they were purposeful. The genes that get passed on are the ones "whose consequences serve their own implicit interests - to continue being replicated". The selfish gene is no more than a metaphor; a convenient way to avoid having to repeat an account of events each time in longwinded terms. Dawkins emphasizes and re-emphasizes this point constantly. I'm doing the same here as it's mind-boggling that some people (including reviewers here on Amazon) still overlook this crucial point.
The 30th anniversary edition includes the original 1976 preface and foreward (the latter by RL Trivers), a further preface to the 1989 second edition, and a new 2005 introduction by Dawkins. It also includes 65 pages of genuinely illuminating endnotes, written more than a decade later, so incorporating clarification and responses to criticism of the original material. There are also selected extracts from reviews. In short, if you are planning on reading The Selfish Gene, this is the version to get.
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Author:
Nick Lane
By OUP Oxford
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Incredibly fascinating, 2010-07-04
Fascinating book which covers how oxygen is involved in our prehistory to the present.
The first part covers prehistoric times to the present. With some fascinating science on how the natural world interacted with levels of oxygen in those times to the present.
The second part involves how we adapt to levels of oxygen as we age. And possible reasons of how we can adjust to those changes.
It is a well written book with a very useful glossary.
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Author:
Charles Darwin
By Wordsworth Editions Ltd
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, Amazon.com
For Favoured Races Only, 2010-05-15
The shockwaves from the publication of this book still resound today. The full title of the book is "On the Origin of Species By Means Of Natural Selection or Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" by Charles Darwin and it was first published on November 24th of 1859. The importance of the work was not in the originality of the idea; the idea of evolution had been a theory long before as Darwin discusses in the text, nor was Darwin the only scientist at the time to arrive at the theory, as a paper by Alfred Wallace arrived the same year as Darwin's. What made "The Origin of Species" so significant was the way Darwin discusses the theory, and that it was not written just for scientists, but for everyone. This makes it a work of Literature as well as one of Science.
Another key aspect to "The Origin of Species" is that it has completely changed the focus of the subject from the point of its publication until now and undoubtedly will do so for some time to come. It is still the dominate point of reference in the argument between those who oppose the theory and those who support it. Those on both sides of the argument (and I use the term argument because the term discussion would lead one to believe that the discourse is much more civil than it actually is) would do well to emulate Darwin in the way he discusses his theory.
"The Origin of Species" in many ways sets the standard for scientific argument. Though again Darwin did not create the standard with this book, the significance of the work and the readability of the book make it stand out as an example of the correct way to present and defend a theory. Of course Darwin presents facts which support his theory, but it is his discussion of problems with the theory which is the strength of the book and his theory. Darwin admits he doesn't have answers to all of the issue, and he offers ways to prove his theory wrong or at least force a significant adjustment to the theory.
It is interesting that the issues with Darwin's theory and the methods of proving it wrong are in many ways unchanged. There will always be gaps in the fossil record, and there will probably always be questions of reducibility, but that doesn't mean that there isn't more evidence to support the theory than there ever has been, there is a lot more which has strengthened the theory, and the key point is that there hasn't been any evidence found to disprove the theory. And with regards to species being fixed, the scientific argument has long been over, though one can still find non-scientists who would argue the point.
"The Origin of Species" remains an important work of science and literature today. Understanding Darwin's theory is necessary to understanding the political discussions and ramifications that continue to take place. It also serves as a great guide to understanding what a scientific discussion is and how it works, and by contrast how it differs from a political, social, or theological discussion. It should go without saying that "The Origin of Species" gets five stars, and the introduction by John Burrow enhances the experience by putting it in the context of Darwin's life, and the times in which it was written and published. I was a little surprised that the Penguin Classics edition didn't include any notes on Darwin's text, but it does include a bibliography of Darwin's works. Also, while the text included is from the first edition of the book, it does include "An Historical Sketch" and a Glossary which were in later editions.
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Author:
Nick Lane
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Life ascending, 2010-03-18
Life Ascending
In Life Ascending, biochemist Nick Lane examines his particular candidates for the top ten "inventions" of evolution. These are; the origin of life, DNA, photosynthesis, the eukaryotic cell, sex, movement, sight, hot blood, consciousness and death.
The book itself is a fascinating account of some of the central themes of life, from the origin of life itself, through to consciousness and, finally, death. It is extremely well written by a passionate scientist and provides a clear and lucid insight into current scientific thinking regarding the evolution of the subjects selected for inclusion in the book. While the whole book is comendable, one of my favourite chapters is the very first, which explains how the discovery of submarine hydrothermal and alkaline vents, their structure and chemistry have transformed our understanding of the origin of life on this planet.
The author isn't afraid to tackle some difficult concepts head on and the first 3 chapters in particular deal with some pretty complex biochemistry. Whilst this is obviously intended as a popular science book, I would suggest that it possibly isn't all that suitable for the evolution/science novice.
Overall, a fascinating and well written account of our current understanding of the evolution of the chosen subjects, although if you are looking for a more "introductory" text, or a more general overview of evolution, I would suggest something like Jerry Coyne's excellent; "Why Evolution is True" or Dawkins' most recent offering; "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution".
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Author:
Richard Dawkins
By Bantam Press
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The greatest book on Earth..., 2010-07-19
I'd read two of Dawkins's other books prior to reading this and I'd forgotten how excellent they were until reading this! He may occasionally be abrasive and frequently intolerant, but always with good reason. Creationism is nonsense so it should be treated with contempt. Evolution and creationism aren't two competing theories to be given equal consideration. Evolution is a FACT and creationism/intelligent design is a fantasy and Dawkins is an energetic champion of the former. I challenge anyone to read this book - read it properly - and not come away from it believing in evolution by natural selection. In fact, I think the first three chapters should in themselves achieve this. I also liked the author's pithy asides, footnotes, which were often completely irrelevant, but fun. Dawkins is a genius. And remember: natural selection is "all about the survival of self-replicating instuctions for self-replication". In other words, life is pointless. Fascinating, but ultimately pointless.
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