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List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £5.40
Author:
Charles Darwin
By Vintage Classics
 Two Darwins for the price of one., 2008-08-15
By combining the two books into one volume the publisher gives the reader the chance to see Darwin in two different stages of his life.
The Voyage of the Beagle shows us the young Darwin, energetic and enthusiastic with a brilliant mind and a keen observer of everything he sees.
This is a wonderful book and Darwin gives a facinating look at South America and Australia as it was 200 years ago. If you have ever been bored by some friend showing you his holiday snaps as he drones on about every detail of his holiday you might be put off buying a book describing a five year sea voyage but don't be fooled, this is Indiana Jones meets the theory of evolution.
In the Origin of Species we have a much older but just as brilliant Darwin describing his theory of evolution by natural selection. He takes us through the basic idea and then uses it to explain why the natural world is the way we see it. The fundamental idea is brilliant in its simplicity and in its power to explain. What is all the more amazing is at the time Darwin was writing there was no concept of genetics and the discovery of DNA was 100 years away. Inevitably this book may appear a bit dry compared to the high adventure of The Voyage of the Beagle but the reader is more than compensated by the knowledge that they are reading one of the most important books every written in the history of mankind.
List Price: £7.50
Our Price: £1.91
Author:
Carl Sagan
By Ballantine Books Inc.
 Cerebral speculations, 2007-12-12
Back in 1977, Sagan delved into the 3-layer evolution of the mammalian brain over the last 100 mn years. A worthy attempt to unravel the most complex biological assemblage (per kilo) yet known.
Sagan is somewhat simplistic in the way he stresses the layering (neocortex), reptilian core etc.. instead of increases in interconnectivity & his theorising may no longer be accurate in the 21st century. He depicts the Homo Sapiens brain as an organ riven with inner conflict & adversarial hangovers.
Hence the age-old dragons slain & re-slain (presumably our collective DNA memory of nocturnal mammal v. dinosaur?)
Very entertaining popularisation of science nonetheless.
List Price: £13.50
Our Price: £9.13
Author:
Andrew H. Knoll
By Princeton University Press
A beautiful mystery story skilfully told, 2008-12-26
Life on a Young Planet must be a rare popular science book, since I never once found myself grumbling about massive inaccuracies while reading it. It presents a sobre and balanced account of our knowledge of early life, and does it in a very readable and engaging style. One of the strengths of the book is that Knoll always explains why scientists think what they think (and does it without getting overly technical). Another is its very subject: people (myself included) definitely need an appreciation of the interestingness of life other than animals.
The emphasis on the data, *and* the uncertainty often surrounding them, is IMHO the way to present science to laypeople, and the highly enjoyable style just makes you want to read on and on. It's an intriguing story told exactly as it should be.
List Price: £11.99
Our Price: £3.80
Author:
Steve Jones
By Black Swan
Steve Jones describes Darwin's The Origin of Species as "the only bestseller to change man's conception of himself ... without doubt, the book of the millennium." That book's sensational central proposition, that speciation arose from descent with modification through the mechanism of natural selection, constituted a kind of Grand Unifying Theory of the biological sciences, allowing what had been until Darwin's time an essentially anecdotal practice to cohere into a modern discipline. In the century and a half since its publication, Darwin's big idea has been attacked many times, on many grounds, but has never convincingly been refuted. Yet, as Jones points out, hardly anybody reads The Origin of Species now for its science. It is celebrated as a landmark in the history of ideas, as a contribution to the philosophy of science and as a masterly work of high Victorian prose. The idea of evolution has pervaded almost every aspect of human thought. But it has almost been forgotten that it is primarily a work of science. Almost like a Whale is an attempt to redress the balance. Jones, himself a geneticist, assumes the mantle of Darwin and rewri...
a brilliant rewrite of a classic, 2006-07-09
This is a clear and concise rewrite of Origin of Species. It is easy to understand with many up-to-date examples, and adds to Darwin's original ideas with hindsight of modern scientific discovery. It is up to Steve Jones usual high standard and is fascinating to read. A great place to start if you're interested in our behaviour and evolution, and a fascinating read even if you're not!
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £4.19
Author:
Robbins Burling
By OUP Oxford
Highly Plausible Reconstruction Effort, 2005-12-20
Burling's relatively short volume is very readable, non-technical attempt to mark a path looking at real world forces in connection with the evolution of speech. Centrally, and without bold claims, he stresses the importance of cognitive evolution proceeding physiological evolution: shared meaning, and the understanding of intention must proceed more sophisticated communication practices.He repudiates the position of those who believe in the necessity of rapid phological evolution: again, as so often demonstrated in evolutionary studies, a rudimentary, or more basic form of an "organ" often serves a demonstrably useful role. Burling paints a highly plausible picture of progressive, incrementally more sophisticated stages of vocal communication appearing amongst our ancestors. He also rejects Klein's concept of the cognitive "big-bang" taking place around 50,000 years ago: evidence now strongly supports an earlier still impressive degree of cultural sophistication. This volume is a very important addition to the literature on this topic, and I think one of the most careful and convincing in its approach. Anyone interested in the field will be virtually compelled to read it because of Burling has grasped the nettle and laid out a fairly detailed trajectory for the evolution of this most human of skills, but besides the compulsion on the grounds of keeping abreast with the field, this book is a pleasant and relaxed exposition. Certainly a more detailed level of mechanistic explanation is warranted than what he has provided here, but he's shone a light onto "a" path of evolution: its now down to others to challenge his model or assist with substantiating it.
List Price: £10.99
Our Price: £7.27
Author:
Michael A. Cremo, Richard L. Thompson
By Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
thought provoking, 2008-11-25
This book exposes the deplorable manner in which the so-called elite of archeology simply dismiss overwhelming evidence of greater antiquity of man (for instance, "modern" artefacts discovered in strata dated to 300 million years ago) because it doesn't fit existing data.
Yes, it can be dry reading at times, as it is very repetitive, but it is not boring. All in all, it is highly informative, and has opened my mind to the idea of a new timeline for human evolution. Cremo and Thompson do a tremendous job of exposing the high degree of subjectivity that is involved in screening and evaluating evidence of the presence and lineage of modern man. They credibly call into question the established timeline and path of human evolution, and do a good job of it. The open-minded nature of their approach is unusually refreshing in a field typically defined by unreasonably hardened opinions and condescension.
This book combines a vast amount of both accepted and controversial evidence from the archeological record with sociological, philosophical, and historical critiques of the scientific method to challenge existing views and expose the suppression of information concerning history and human origins. The authors should be congratulated, because they spent eight years producing the only definitive, precise, exhaustive and complete record of practically all the fossil finds of man, regardless of whether they fit the established scientific theories or not. NO other book of this calibre exists. It should be compulsory reading for every first year biology, archeology and anthropology student and many others, too!
The authors exhibit tremendous courage in including all reports from the past two centuries that can be considered credible based on eye-witness accounts. When it exists, they also present contrary opinion. Rigid conclusions are generally avoided and the readers are left to decide for themselves how to interpret the evidence. Criticism of this book ironically follows the same sort of strategy that the authors discredit - namely that full attention is given to the weakest evidence, while the stronger is ignored.
Some of the negative reviews appear to be attempts to STOP people from reading this material. But the more people know about anything the less dictatorial they become on that subject. That is why real scientists tread the ground carefully. True science knows its limitations. The great scientists are humble and conservative. They know the difference between theory and fact. They distrust themselves and their findings. Perhaps as a first step our textbooks should be more realistic and honest about what we know (really very very little) and don't know.
No, I am not a creationist. Nor am I a Darwinist. Actually, I object to arguments about creationism vs Darwinism on the basis that there is no real proof on either side. What's the point of getting emotional about it?!
List Price: £27.99
Our Price: £19.29
Author:
Louise Barrett, Robin Dunbar, John Lycett
By Palgrave Macmillan
Clear, broad (pluralistic), in depth: good overview!, 2006-01-12
I have a background in sociology and found this book really helpful. For someone not familiar with theory and history of an evolutionary approach to human behaviour, this book is the perfect introduction to this field (although it is more than an introduction alone). I especially appreciated the authors' presentation of different arguments about some controversial issues. Some other introductory texts to evolutionary psychology only talk about one specific approach within this field. The pluralism in this book is a welcome change. Furthermore, a broad range of subjects is covered.
I do not fully agree with the authors' discussion of the demographic transition and fertility in modern societies. But I surely recommend this book. People from the social sciences will find evolutionary psychology easier to accept after reading it.
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £5.17
Author:
Michael J. Behe
By Simon & Schuster Ltd
Michael J. Behe, a biochemist at Lehigh University, presents here a scientific argument for the existence of God. Examining the evolutionary theory of the origins of life, he can go part of the way with Darwin--he accepts the idea that species have been differentiated by the mechanism of natural selection from a common ancestor. But he thinks that the essential randomness of this process can explain evolutionary development only at the macro level, not at the micro level of his expertise. Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is "irreducibly complex". This is the last black box to be opened, the end of the road for science. Faced with complexity at this level, Behe suggests that it can only be the product of "intelligent design".
Here's a book to make you think, 2006-12-19
Don't be put off by the technical language used in this book. It's worth persevering, since the fundamental basis of the challenge that Behe raises against the old and established theory of evolution is found at the cellular level of life. Unless you are prepared to follow Behe into the cell, you cannot appreciate how cleverly designed it really is.
I'm not a scientist. I'm an Engineer. I can honestly say that I've never seen anything so well engineered as the cellular machinery described in this book. Man has not been able to engineer anything that is remotely close to the "technology" in living cells that is described in this book.
If you're comfortable with the theory of evolution, and don't like having your beliefs challenged, don't read this book. It will open your mind.
List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £2.64
Author:
Jonathan Howard
By Oxford Paperbacks
Enjoyable read, 2008-11-18
When I began my 'A' levels in 1976, I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to be a doctor or an engineer.
At around the age of 13 or 14, I enjoyed biology, English, geography, geology, history, human biology, Latin, metalwork, religion, technical drawing and to a certain extent chemistry but struggled with mathematics and physics. By the time I was 17, however, something must have happened to my brain as I was able to learn mathematics and physics quickly but was finding other subjects more tedious.
I had studied biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics for a whole year at 'A' level but was finding that coping with four subjects wasn't giving me enough time to have a social life and pursue my other interests and I therefore dropped biology. Therefore I hold biology and human biology (i.e. two distinct subjects) at 'O' level but nothing higher than that in life sciences.
Once I had finished my formal education, I became very interested in philosophy and have read wiidely in this field too. I own all four of Darwin's books in the Penguin series but have so far only had time to read just one of these - the Origin of the Species.
By the time I read this introductory guide I was interested in philosophy as well as science and I found that I could follow the text easily with only an 'O' level in biology.
An excellent and fascinating read. It is interesting to note that in the BBC programme "The Greatest Britons" two brilliant scientists made the top ten - Darwin and Newton. Not bad for a small island.
I would strongly recommend this book.
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