I thought I knew about Evolution, about the random mutation of genes and the success of some mutations that convey an advantage to the host in the environment and could be the beginning of a new species or variety of plant or animal. That is the base. Saying that one and one makes two is at the base of mathematics but tells you very little of the depth and breadth of numbers. And so it is with this book.I can't review it any better except to say it filled my head with ideas and conjectures for t...

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 Provides a lot more historical references than any other book I have read on the topic.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 inc...

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 ide...

Drawing upon the Beagle's journey, Carl Zimmer leads us through time and space to tell us how evolution through natural selection came to impose itself in the scientific realm.In this superb book, easy to read yet abounding in details, very well documented, biology waltzes with suitors as diverse as palaeontology to geology and prehistory, showing that evolution is more than a explanation for the diversity of life on Earth: its understanding is crucial to our survival, from medicine to environme...

Carl Zimmer, one of our finest science writers, has written an elegant companion to the PBS NOVA miniseries which stands on its own as an excellent introduction to evolution, covering topics which should be of interest to all, ranging from the evolution of sex to fighting disease, and of course, the search for humanity's origins as the only extant member of a once-flourishing tribe of hominid species related to the great apes. Each of Zimmer's chapters corresponds with the NOVA episode related t...

This book was the companion piece for a PBS television series in 2001. Around America, and the world for that matter, evolution is being assaulted as religious superstition grows. In my country, tax dollars are being spent for religious schools where they teach things like the age of the Earth is about 6,000 years old. That is simply ignorance.

A decent, well-written introduction to evolution. I like the approach of Zimmer to start the book with two chapters on the origin and context of the ideas of evolution. It's a story of Darwin's travels on the HMS Beagle and his search for evidence to back up his theory. Even the controversial and personal context is treated by Zimmer. Another thing I liked was the incorporation of the developments in geology (especially the importance for biology) and the origin and developments of genetics. Zim...

This is an excellent introduction or review of the theory basics. This covers sufficient detail to supply a solid foundation of evidence of change in species without being boring.Only towards the ends does Mr Zimmer seem to begin to present ideas with some bias. I did not read the 'Natural History of Rape" by Thornhill & Palmer but I did read the original paper on the scorpion fly rape behavior. This paper was given very short shrift by Zimmer despite being good research and well written. Since

Now I am wondering: are there boring books about evolution? I've already read a few (a standard set) and still found this one worth reading. It tells a bit about Darwin, and dinosaurs, and crazy creatures living next and inside us, and some philosophical implications. The least interesting part, especially for those living outside of US, is about the long-standing battle between scientists and evolution opponents who somehow manage to survive, no matter what.

A profound read. I encourage everyone to pick up this one. Easily digestible and beautifully written.

Zimmer has once again triumphed with a work of solid erudition and admirable clarity. By turns entertaining and informative, he writes with a clean style. Neither as technical as Dawkins or Dennett, nor as luxurious as Gould, this book nevertheless showers the reader with the gold of understanding, should it be lacking, and new perspectives. For a reader not already steeped in the technicalities of evolutionary writing or the politics of creationism, this is an excellent place to come for a firs...

"Are we a biological accident or a cosmic imperative?" -383A very interesting book on the history of evolution and the effects of evolution in our everyday lives. What I appreciated about this book is that it did not just cover the biological implications of evolution (it did do this by the way, and very well) but it also discussed social, cultural and psychological aspects of the human species that are deeply rooted in evolution. The bond of language, the role of sexuality, the origin of emotio...

Of all the books on evolution at the local library, I went with this one because I wanted a fairly objective, accurate YET thoroughly readable survey of the theory of evolution since Darwin's time. I was not disappointed. The preface even brought it bang up to date by summarising the main breakthroughs between 2001 (when the first edition was published) and 2006.Let's start with "objective": I didn't want Richard Dawkins, whose rampant atheism sometimes betrays the quality of his science. Zimmer...

It's heavy but definitely good. There's something kind of humbling about reading about the way life on earth unfolding to become what it was over the course of billions of years, only to be drastically altered in only of few generations by humans. Reading the chapter about mass extinctions occurring thanks to the human race made me want to vomit. Coming across the figure that 2/3 of all living species live in tropical forests, 1/2 of which were gone by the year 2000 made me want to punch myself

I can't recommend this book enough. This is possibly the first non-fiction book that's had me at the edge of my seat, furiously flipping page after page because it's so interesting. It's helped me piece together bits of scattered understanding into a cohesive overview. It has so many cool little pieces of information that you can actually remember and hang on to because it suddenly makes more sense.

Excellent overview of evolutionClear, 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.

Wonderfully readable synthesis. Read it once with glee and now use as a reference. Highly recommended!

I have read quite a lot of books about evolution, which proves to me more and more how difficult it is to do that in both a clear and original way. With "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" Carl Zimmer manages to do both. Not only does he explain the basic ideas of evolution and natural selection, he goes several steps further by explorer areas that I have not seen discussed in a lot of other works.This includes going beyond "just" the regular animal kingdom that we often exclusively think of, wh...

An outstanding overview and an excellent book , especially for understanding Darwin's Theories and todays discoveries. Highly recommended.

This is the first book I have read explaining the theory of evolution. This is a good, easy, primer.I've always understood evolution as 'survival of the fittest' but after reading the book I now understand it in terms of 'natural selection'.Before, I saw evolution as the development of traits enhancing prospects for survival which come by way of some sort of struggle. Now I see it more as development of order and functionality by way of numerous random mutations, of which a very few, statistical...

Overall, this book is a very good introduction to evolutionary biology. The book does touch on Richard Dawkins' idea that memes evolve through a natural process, but the book is otherwise all about biological evolution, as should be expected. Those who produced the audiobook were wise to get Peter Thomas as the reader (you may have heard him on Cold Case Files). His tone is perfect to remind us of just how dramatic the Darwinian Revolution really was.There was one big problem with the book, howe...

Another excellent and readable book by Zimmer. This book has great examples well explained and brings in much of the historical context, including the misuses of Darwin's idea and the more current Creationist/Intelligent Design response. The book has an introduction by Stephen Jay Gould, a nice section of further reading by chapter and an index.

I love the way Carl Zimmer writes his books, he takes you into details without making you feel bored. I would love to see a new edition of this book especially after so many new discoveries in the field of human ancestry.

This was in audio as accompianment to crafting and thoroughly engrossing it was too. I never fail to be awed about the history of whalehood.Recommended heartily.

One of the best book to understand evolution. I stopped reading crap by Harun Yahya after reading this book.

Very well written

I really enjoyed this book, though I had a few minor issues with it. The beginning of the book felt like it had a bias against religion, as it cited early adopters of evolution and the difficulty it provided for faith, sensationalized stories like the Huxley Wilberforce debate, and refrained from mentioning the Christianity of Dobzhansky despite mentioning his work frequently. However, this apparent religious bias was made up for in the last chapter of the book which was phenomenal! Zimmer admit...

This was a decent read. Lots of interesting information and pretty well written. The sections are split into concise subsections and the author does a great job at avoiding technical terms. Both of those things make it a really digestible read, and has taught me a lot about communicating science to a lay audience. Personally, I didn't really learn anything new about the fundamentals of evolutionary biology. I wasn't expecting to, but reading hundreds of pages about concepts you are already famil...

This is a thorough and brilliant book that captures the essence of the theory of evolution in a way that most moderately educated people can understand. The writing is clear and follows a historical path in the development of the concept, which is basic to the understanding of biological science.Zimmer does a great job of describing Darwin's work and its meaning as the theory is developed and is bolstered by developments in geology, paleontology and later genetics. He discusses the time frames o...

I read this over a long period of time, partly because it was an e-book (I tend to favor the paper) and partly because it does not suffer from picking it up now and then. Of course, as a lifelong student of evolution, perhaps familiarity allows me special privilege. Zimmer is one of the greats in bringing science to the masses, and this volume is no exception. Every page is easily read, even when the subjects are complex. He brings in experts and is able to condense ideas, experiments, and compl...