Evolution

"This book is an unusual recommendation for me because it was written on commission. About a decade ago, the [PBS] scientific documentary television series Nova put together an eight-hour series called Evolution .They had some help from the BBC with this. They felt that they needed a companion book for the series. So they knocked on the door of the person who is, in my opinion, the best science writer in the United States – Carl Zimmer. Yes, and they asked him to write the companion book. These kinds of books can be deadly dull, but not in the hands of Carl. He took the seven programmes in this series, described them but also amplified upon them. In this book the reader gets an idea as to how pervasive and influential evolution has been as a guiding principle in the study of natural history, of behaviour, of our understanding of human sexuality, and in our efforts to combat infectious diseases. Absolutely. One of the most overriding things about our species, Homo Sapiens, is the way in which we form cohesive social groups, beginning with members of a family looking out for each other. And this, too, lends itself to an evolutionary explanation. Finally, in the last chapter of the book, “What about God?”, Zimmer looks at religion. This, and the final programme in the television series, explore some of the conflicts that swirl around evolution, especially the teaching of evolution in the United States. Zimmer’s book is to be recommended for the broad scope that it gives to the influence of evolutionary ideas in modern biology. It is brilliantly written and above all it is profusely illustrated – a great “coffee table” book. It is a book you can lay on the table and let visitors leaf through and chat about, enjoying the pictures and the fine prose at the same time."