Dawkins' best!
|
For the layman, this is perhaps Dawkins' best piece of work.
His readable style is unhindered by complicated genetics, leaving the reader to be hurled through time on a journey towards every living things' common ancestor.
Interweaving engrossing examples of the animal kingdom and fantastic research from around science, Dawkins works the threads of the extant world into an breathtaking tapestry.
Recommended to anyone.
|
|
|
All ancestors are ours
|
In this tour de force, R. Dawkins brushes not less than the evolution of the tree of man from `the vanity of the present' to the origin of life on earth, thereby showing that `all living creations are cousins'.
It is an itinerary heavily marked by nearly extinctions, drifting continents, geographical barriers, population migrations and climate changes. Darwinian natural selection molded new species, which were more apt to survive in all those different circumstances. Individual living beings, however, were not more than `temporary meeting points on the crisscrossing routes that genes take through history'.
For the author, the origin of life is the origin of heredity, from where `every gene has its own tree'. Overall, `biological evolution has no privileged line of descent and no designated end.'
During his tale, R. Dawkins explains clearly (!) the true nature and the role of, among others, genes, chromosomes, (mitochondrial) DNA, eu- and prokaryote cells, chemical reactions, as well as other important or strange phenomena like the `primitive soup' of the universe, the speed of and the next possible step in the Darwinian evolution, embryonic diversification, the bdelloid sex scandal, the (advantages) of sexual selection, bipedalism, brain size, radioactive clocks and much much more.
Contrary to S.J. Gould, he sees some kind of `progress' during the evolutionary processes.
He gives also outspoken and sharp comments, e.g., on abortion, on race-racism-positive discrimination and on creationists desperately looking for gaps.
This book with beautiful graphic material and an excellent bibliography is the work of a superb free mind. It is a must read for all those interested in the history of life on earth.
|
|
|
A masterpiece of intelligent and accessible science writing
|
The Ancestor's Tale: A pilgrimage to the dawn of evolution, by Richard Dawkins, is an absolutely fascinating book, and incredibly well written; it is a pleasure to read. The approach taken is novel in that the author walks us backwards through time, much like we would trace back our family tree. But here Dawkins traces back man's family tree through 39 different "concestors" and rendezvous'. He starts with man, and works back through chimpanzees and gorillas, through rodents and marsupials, into fish, down into sponges and fungi, and finally ending up in eubacteria. The writing is compelling and easy, without compromising detail, and the author is clear about what is know and what is informed conjecture.
As we walk backwards through time, I at least was also walking back through my (very limited) understanding of our past and of the principles of evolution more generally. The book is full of facts, anecdotes, speculations and justifiable uncertainty, yet we are left with the idea that nature is working full-tilt behind the scenes. Nevertheless I still have one outstanding question "how did our brain evolve to be what it is today?", and this book does not really answer that; this was not the books objective, but I am surprised that a book on evolution leaves this question unaddressed.
Many of the past reviews have already captured my sentiments about this book, so let me just quote them "Richard Dawkins is a master storyteller", "complex arguments accessible to the non-specialist", "eminently readable book", and "science as high art"; what more can you say! For me this book is up there on my "10 best books" list.
|
|
|
Excellent
|
Imagine a starting line, a long one, along which is lined up representatives of every single living species on Earth - whales, trees, snakes, vegetables, birds, bacteria, plus everything else alive at the moment. These are the pilgrims in Richard Dawkins' epic journey into the past. The pilgrimage starts and the pilgrims meander back through time to rendezvous with their own most recent common ancestors (`concestor' in Dawkins' terminology).
Because this is our, Homo sapiens', story Rendezvous 1 occurs between 5 and 7 million years ago with Concestor 1, the most recent common ancestor of us and the chimpanzee, our nearest living relative. By the end of the book, a very long time ago, at Rendezvous 39, all the pilgrims have met up again and we are exchanging limited small talk and shaking flagella with the latest arrivals, the eubacteria, our most distant living cousins.
The concestor concept tells us how closely we are related to other species, often counter intuitively. For example, because mammals (including us of course) share a more recent concester with the ray finned fish (cod, trout, herrings etc), we are more closely related to them than they (ray finned fish) are to cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays etc) even though both types of fish swim, have fins and look, well, fishy.
Newly arrived pilgrims at each rendezvous have their own tales to tell, just as in Chaucer's original. Whether it be the meaning of `primitive' via the anything but primitive bill of the duck billed platypus, the workings (and shortcomings) of the molecular clock or the evolution of the wheel (yes, it has happened, once apparently) each tale illustrates some aspect of the story of life.
And Richard Dawkins is a master storyteller, with the gift of making complex arguments accessible to the non-specialist. This is a hefty, at times demanding but eminently readable book, fizzing with evidence, anecdote, theories and speculation. For this reader, definitely not the sharpest hominid in the box, I must come clean and say bits and pieces did unfortunately go over my head. Yes, there is a lot to take in. Nevertheless, I finished the book satisfied and delighted that I'd been introduced to the main concepts of the story of life. For those who would like to take their investigations further, there is a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the book.
For someone who had carved out a reputation as an evangelical atheist, Dawkins is refreshingly open minded about the limits of our present knowledge. Despite what many people think, science does not deal in certainties (for that, consult a sacred text). As an honest guide, Dawkins marshals evidence, discusses conflicting theories, attempts a conclusion but isn't afraid of saying that, at this stage of the game, we simply don't know the answer to a particular question of when, where or how.
This book is a wonderful story of 4 billion years of life and a testament to the power of rational human thought to make sense of the world out there. With so many thought-provoking highlights, it's hard to pick out one in particular, but how about this little gem. Dawkins remarks that creationists gleefully point to gaps in the fossil record. Lucky for us, he reposts. `Without gaps in the fossil record, our whole system of naming species would break down. Fossils could not be given names, they'd have to be given numbers, or positions on a graph.' Stop for a moment and try to imagine the implications of that observation. Nothing is constant, species merge into species; everything that doesn't become extinct is in a state of shifting flux. That mental image of all life in a process of continuous evolving change will, I'm sure, stay with me for a long time.
Excepting dyed in the wool, young Earth, creationists, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of life. No, on second thoughts, even if you are creationist, but harbour the slightest doubt regarding the veracity of the strange stories told by your co-religionists, then please take a chance and read this book. Go on, it could change your life.
|
|
Excellent, but...
|
I had to mark down this otherwise 5-star book because of the political and religious commentary that is strewn throughout the text.
The core text is superb and really brings the subject to life (no pun there!), however the multi-page discussion on how Colin Powell is 'Black' only because it is an established view seemed to be misguided and provided nothing to the general commentary. This is an area that relates to 'Cultural Evolution' rather than genetic, and seems to be an area that Dawkins should stay away from.
The frequent critisism of religion and the religious gave me the impression that Dawkins has a chip on his shoulder about it and appeared overly defensive (I am an atheist myself, so agree with his general feeling). I don't know whether it was an attempt at irony for the last paragraph to make a note of how he had retrained from commenting on religion, or whether Dawkins really feels that he made no commentary, but it was there all the same.
There was also the frequent issue of terms being used before they were defined - not good technique in academic writing. As mentioned by another reviewer, some of the chapters (Rendevous) were very brief, particularly that of the plants and (for me) the Coelacanth - I would have expected more than 2.5 pages of discussion about a creature that was believed to be extinct for millions of years.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada