Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea – From Darwin's Natural Selection to Modern Genetics: A Compelling Science Guide

I first checked Zimmer's book out of the library and now I need to buy a copy. It is an excellent presentation of the history of evolutionary thought that is easily read and understood by almost anyone. I realize that many creationist will be put off and spend some time pointing out supposed "flaws" in the book and evolutionary theory generally. However, despite their difficulties and the lamentable inability of many Americans to take evolution and the concepts of deep time seriously, the idea has triumphed within the science of biology (and in much of the non-American world.) No amount of attempted suppression or "equal time" demands will change that and such attempts only make the proponents of "intelligent design" look foolish. It is possible that they will win out politically for a while, but so did Lysenko in the former Soviet Union until his ideas about "vernalization," among others, were later shown to be totally false. There was a huge cost to agriculture in the USSR because of Lysenko's ideas and we would face a similar cost in molecular biology, medicine, geology and similar fields if the creationists should "win," based on the weak "evidence" they currently present. If the "intelligent design" proponents want to discount biochemical, geological, anatomical, and even astronomical evidence, or discredit evolution by bringing up already discarded ideas and hoaxes (like Piltdown Man) as straw men, they are free to do so, but such perversity does not validate their argument. This is not to say that evolutionary theory is static or should be free from criticism- far from it! New ideas within the evolutionary framework are being proposed all the time. Gould and Eldredge some years ago brought up the punctuated equilibrium idea, expanding it somewhat on similar ideas of Mayr. More recently Margulis has proposed a symbiotic evolutionary mechanism. There is an ongoing argument over evolutionary psychology (well reviewed by Zimmer in this book!) and more and more discoveries in the areas of molecular biology, behavior, paleontology, geology, ecology and systematics are constantly altering and changing the landscape of evolutionary theory. This is in fact what distinguishes science from pseudo-science like "creationism" or "intelligent design." It is, despite individual scientist's egos and definite human flaws, a self-correcting system. If true empirical evidence for "intelligent design" should appear, eventually the scientific community would (perhaps after some time) accept it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for creationists, even in their new guise as practitioners of "intelligent design" theory. Science cannot deal with the supernatural explanations of the creationists, which are based on faith, because science has to be dedicated to the material world in order to function. Zimmer demonstrates these problems pretty graphically and I applaud for this magnificent effort! I recommend this book highly to anyone with an open mind.

Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer A thorough, well researched book that is broken out into four parts: Part One - Slow Victory: Darwin and the Rise of Darwinism, Part Two - Creation and Destruction, Part Three -Evolution's Dance, and Part Four - Humanity's Place in Evolution and: Evolution's Place In Humanity. Positives: 1. Accessible, well written book with an extensive bibliography. 2. Provides a lot more historical references than any other book I have read on the topic. It includes an excellent biography on the life of Darwin and how he came about the theory of evolution and his personal struggles to disclose his findings to the public. 3. Interesting history on the physics of how we determined the antiquity of Earth. Not to mention the order in which new life-forms appeared on Earth, and their actual dates in history. 4. A lot of interesting information regarding evolution: "A population of birds can evolve into its own species if it gets cut off from its neighbors". You will find out why. 5. The historical impact of germs...Napoleon found out the hard way. 6. Nothing like mutations to get evolution going. The genetic tool kit is explained in detail. 7. The origin of whales is one of the most interesting examples of evolution. And BTW a whale is no more a fish than a bat is a bird. 8. Everything you wanted to know about extinction and then some. 9. Interesting topics of the arms race between man versus bug, disease (great stuff on AIDS) and the evolution of sex. 10. My favorite chapters have to do with human evolution. Fascinating stuff and worth the price of the book (Kindle). Plenty of monkey business. It's the kind of stuff I go ape over. Negatives: 1. Less technical than other books on this topic. 2. The advancements of science is such that it is outdated in certain parts: genetics, and major recent findings (Tiktaalik comes to mind). That's what I get for waiting for the Kindle version. 3. It's an investment of time, a lot is covered. 4. Too politically correct if you ask me. Let loose a little Mr. Zimmer. In summary, a solid book on evolution that focuses on the history of the idea and how it succeeds to this day. I'm in awe of Darwin, science owes so much to his theory. Entire scientific fields are only possible with the understanding of evolution. Recommendations: Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne, "The Greatest Show On Earth" by Richard Dawkins, "Your Inner Fish" by Neil B. Shubin, "What Evolution Is" by Ernst Mayr and "The Making of the Fittest" by Sean B. Carroll.

I don't believe I need to emphasize what a wonderful book this is due to the plethora of positive reviews it has received. However, I would like to mention that in searching for a perfect introduction to evolution to recommend to friends, theists, and the simply uninformed (I included the misinformed by listing the theists), Zimmer's book by far outshines my prior favorites: What Evolution Is (Mayr's too technical), The Blind Watchmaker (Dawkins is too blunt) and Evolution (Ridley's too advanced). Zimmer treats evolution as the story of an idea, and describes it beautifully and candidly. I must admit, I was extremely caught by surprise by the authors' elegance never having read any of his other publications. However, that will shortly be remedied, because after the impression he's made on me with this book, his others will soon be invading my bookshelf.

Ottima introduzione all'evoluzione e alla genetica. Sebbene sia accessibile a tutti dal mio punto di vista risulta più chiaro e scorrevole se si hanno conoscenze di base di genetica.

Clear, provides summaries and links to detailed evidence and discusses controversies such as sociobiology, racism, social Darwinism and teaching of evolution (controversial in the USA). The discussion of convolution makes it very clear why !miss of species can trigger collapse.

I liked the structure of the book. I was interested in the historical aspects of Darwin's theory development and the author delivered them excellently. The only reason for the four stars is that it contains too many details about the evolution of different spieces that are more relevant for the experts on the field and not for the general public (in my opinion of course).

Evolution: The triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer serves as a wonderful introduction to Darwins's Theory of Evolution. It's a well-written book that really shows the full impact of the idea. What I liked: - It's very accessible: Carl Zimmer manages to explain complex scientific concepts in a way that's easy to understand. His writing style is entertaining and never dry - It contains a very readable biography of Darwin, how he came up with his theory of evolution and how the public reacted to his idea. - The sheer amount of information and different topics is amazing: evolution, genes, mutations, how these things were discovered, Social Darwinism, and even geology - I highly enjoyed the final chapters in Creationism and Intelligent Design, although Carl Zimmer wrote in a way that was maybe a bit too politically correct What I didn't like: My only criticism is not even the author’s fault: In places it’s a bit outdated. This is not surprising as it was first published in 2001. I read Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin earlier this year and couldn’t stop thinking about Tiktaalik, which wasn’t mentioned in Carl Zimmer’s Evolution. Overall I would highly recommend this book. It’s informative, accessible and a very enjoyable read. If you’re interested in the Theory of Evolution, Darwin and scientific progress after his death, Carl Zimmer’s Evolution might be the right book for you

Must read, written beautifully. Also recommend to read his book "tangled bank" if you are interested in learning evolution.