Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea

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.

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.

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.

Although this book is, scientifically-speaking, quite old now, and I’m sure aspects have been updated by more recent discoveries, it still is worth a read. It clearly explains the principles of evolution as described by Darwin and then makes the case for how the ‘idea’ has proven to be accurate. I particularly like the references to how evolution is very much in action today with the impact of climate change. The original audience was clearly US readers and was written to accompany an 8 part series on US public broadcasting. It’s also clear to me that the intention, to a great extent, is to educate the significant minority of people in the USA who are (a) deniers of evolution, and (b) deniers of climate change. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to probe evolution in some depth, but not wishing to read an academic tome.