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For over a century, opening the black box of embryonic development was the holy grail of biology. Evo Devo--Evolutionary Developmental Biology--is the new science that has finally cracked open the box. Within the pages of his rich and riveting book, Sean B. Carroll explains how we are discovering that complex life is ironically much simpler than anyone ever expected.
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet - having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art - while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins?
How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean B. Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions.
To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish.
Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new gene-editing tool CRISPR - a revolutionary new technology that she helped create - to make heritable changes in human embryos.
For over a century, opening the black box of embryonic development was the holy grail of biology. Evo Devo--Evolutionary Developmental Biology--is the new science that has finally cracked open the box. Within the pages of his rich and riveting book, Sean B. Carroll explains how we are discovering that complex life is ironically much simpler than anyone ever expected.
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet - having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art - while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins?
How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean B. Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions.
To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish.
Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new gene-editing tool CRISPR - a revolutionary new technology that she helped create - to make heritable changes in human embryos.
Just 150 years ago, most of our world was an unexplored wilderness. Our sense of its age was vastly off the mark. And what we believed to be the history of our own species consisted of fantastic myths and fairy tales; fossils, known for millennia, were seen as the bones of dragons and other imagined creatures. How did we learn so much so quickly? Remarkable Creatures celebrates the pioneers who replaced our fancies with the even more remarkable real story of how our world evolved.
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don't understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.
Improbable Destinies will change the way we think and talk about evolution. Losos' insights into natural selection and evolutionary change have far-reaching applications for protecting ecosystems, securing our food supply, and fighting off harmful viruses and bacteria. This compelling narrative offers a new understanding of ourselves and our role in the natural world and the cosmos.
In their latest audiobook, Joe Kirschvink and Peter Ward will show that many of our most cherished beliefs about the evolution of life are wrong. Gathering and analyzing years of discoveries and research not yet widely known to the public, A New History of Life proposes a different origin of species than the one Darwin proposed, one which includes eight-foot-long centipedes, a frozen snowball Earth, and the seeds for life originating on Mars.
Where does DNA come from? What is consciousness? How did the eye evolve? Drawing on a treasure trove of new scientific knowledge, Nick Lane expertly reconstructs evolution's history by describing its 10 greatest inventions - from sex and warmth to death - resulting in a stunning account of nature's ingenuity.
Time moves forward, not backward---everyone knows you can't unscramble an egg. In the hands of one of today's hottest young physicists, that simple fact of breakfast becomes a doorway to understanding the Big Bang, the universe, and other universes, too. In From Eternity to Here, Sean Carroll argues that the arrow of time, pointing resolutely from the past to the future, owes its existence to conditions before the Big Bang itself---a period of modern cosmology of which Einstein never dreamed.
For decades Richard Dawkins has been the world's most brilliant scientific communicator, consistently illuminating the wonders of nature and attacking faulty logic. Science in the Soul brings together 42 essays, polemics, and paeans - culled from personal papers, newspapers, lectures, and online salons - all written with Dawkins' characteristic erudition, remorseless wit, and unjaded awe of the natural world.
Religious fundamentalists and biblical literalists present any number of arguments that attempt to disprove evolution. Those with a sympathetic ear often fail to critically examine these creationist claims, leading to an ill-informed public and, perhaps more troubling, ill-advised public policy. As Aron Ra makes clear, however, every single argument deployed by creationists in their attacks on evolution is founded on fundamental scientific, religious, and historical falsehoods - all of them.
Although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for food, turn off lightbulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make daring escapes.
Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin - a "microbe's-eye view" of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on Earth.
"It doesn't take an Einstein to understand modern physics," says Professor Wolfson at the outset of these 24 lectures on what may be the most important subjects in the universe: relativity and quantum physics. Both have reputations for complexity. But the basic ideas behind them are, in fact, simple and comprehensible by anyone. These dynamic and illuminating lectures begin with a brief overview of theories of physical reality starting with Aristotle and culminating in Newtonian or "classical" physics.
Professor Brian Cox uncovers some of the most extraordinary natural events on Earth and in the universe and beyond. From the immensity of the universe and the roundness of Earth to the form of every single snowflake, the forces of nature shape everything we see. Pushed to extremes, the results are astonishing. In seeking to understand the everyday world, the colours, structure, behaviour and history of our home, we develop the knowledge and techniques necessary to step beyond the everyday.
DNA is the genetic material that defines us as individuals. Over the last two decades, it has emerged as a powerful tool for solving crimes and determining guilt and innocence. But, very recently, an important new aspect of DNA has been revealed: it contains a detailed record of evolution. That is, DNA is a living chronicle of how the marvelous creatures that inhabit our planet have adapted to its many environments, from the freezing waters of the Antarctic to the lush canopy of the rain forest.
In this fascinating narrative, Sean Carroll guides listeners on a tour of the massive DNA record of three billion years of evolution to see how the fittest are made. And what an eye-opening tour it is - one featuring immortal genes, fossil genes, and genes that bear the scars of past battles with horrible diseases. This book clinches the case for evolution, beyond any reasonable doubt.
"Carroll offers some provocative and convincing evidence." (Publishers Weekly)
"Here is evolution clearly explained and stoutly defended." (Booklist)
Sean Carrol takes on the theory of evolution using DNA as the focus. In his book "The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution," Carroll makes evolution and DNA approachable.
It has always seemed to me that those who believe in a God, god, or a creator have no more problems than those who don't - so far as the ultimate origin of life is concerned. Those looking to support their faith or destroy the beliefs of others there will find no help here. Rather, Carroll deftly helps the reader to understand why species appear as they do NOW and how some did not make it to the present. Therefore, everyone can relax and learn what science has found about DNA and evolution to date. Audible listeners will be rewarded.
Actually, my reading of the book has brought a larger interest in evolution, DNA and disease. Carroll discusses cancer and links Malaria to Sickle Cell for example. These passages have focused and adjusted my views of disease - their origins and possible cures. I also found the sections related to DNA that is lost through disuse was very informative.
The book is wonderfully written, very well read, and will inform all who enounter it.
13 of 15 people found this review helpful
Unlike "Survival of the Sickest", which lays out a premise and provides some great background, this book is so ovbiously an argument for evolution that it gets old. Now, I believe in evolution so I didn't need this book to convince me. In fact, I was interested in hearing more about the science - the problem for me was that I didn't need all the convincing. But, this author keeps deriding those "non believers" so often that I felt like much of the books time was wasted. Also, I would expect that a book aimed at an intelligent, thinking audience could just say once (at the beginning) that graphs and charts could be found on the publisher's website. Why repeat it every 5-10 minutes? Why??
31 of 37 people found this review helpful
-excellent narration.
-The authors' main motivation is to argue the case for evolution. He does so with a broad spectrum of EVIDENCE. For example, he discusses the evolution of photoreceptors across a range of animals. Very interesting.
-the final segment presents some of the controversy of evolution verse intelligent design, which I found less interesting than main discussion of the book.
12 of 14 people found this review helpful
For me (I teach evolution) the best part of this book is the premise that we use DNA fingerprinting every day in the court systems and no one has a problem with its evolutionary implications. I am embarrassed that this had never occurred to me. For the teacher, this book is loaded with excellent examples and demonstrates our existing understanding of how DNA reveals evolution. The science in this book is extremely accessible to all levels of knowledge. The recording itself is quite clear and the narrator easy to listen to.
15 of 18 people found this review helpful
This is an outstanding book. The editorial review promises to "clinch" the case for evolution- as if it needed any further clinching. This piece of work does deliver. It indirectly points out the crucial need for strengthening science curricula in our schools.
Unfortunately, I suspect more than one may dismiss the author's solid scientific arguments due to a lack of a basic understanding of biological sciences. Although the book may sometimes seem too basic to somebody with a background in biological disciplines, the opposite may be the case for a more general audience. The fact is, however, that science is not easy. It needs to be learned from basic principles, with progressive levels of complexity being laid on previous knowledge.
Rather than spending so many resources trying to force the teaching of illogical, scientifically unsound, and plain nonsensical fairy tales in our schools, why not expand the teaching of the wondrous world of real science? As the author proposes, cultural and religious factors are responsible for this great disservice to future generations.
Against the backdrop of compelling scientific facts, the conciliatory tone towards religion, at least non-fundamentalist religious views, assumed by the author in Chapter 9 is somewhat disconcerting. Still, this is a minor issue in the context of this excellent review of why stating that evolution is "just another theory", whose scientific stature is shared by relabeled Creationism (i.e., Intelligent Design), is simply not tenable, reflecting a major lack of scientific rigor.
I agree with a previous reviewer that the narrator could refer us less often to the book's website. Also, there are a few mispronunciations of technical terms interspersed throughout the book. These are very minor details that do not substract from the content of this excellent work.
19 of 24 people found this review helpful
EXCELLENT. THE MOST FACTUAL AND CONVINCING BOOK ON THE SUBJECT OF EVOLUTION AND UNDERSTANDING WHO WE ARE. FROM THE PAST, PRESENT AND POSSIBILITIES IN THE FUTURE.SOME OF THE FACTS AND EXAMPLES ARE TRULY AMAZING. STANLEY
22 of 29 people found this review helpful
Carroll gets it right. Great case studies carefully explained puts this up there with The Beak of the Finch as testimony to the wondrous workings of evolution and natural selection.
9 of 12 people found this review helpful
I do have to agree with several other reviews that the selling of evolution in the book is a bit heavy handed, particularly since he is mostly “preaching to the choir” since people who don’t believe that in evolution are very unlikely to read the book. Saying something is “unquestionably true” is pointless if a high percentage of the population to indeed question it, their questions by be irrational, but they are still questions, but these sort of comments really make up a small portion of the book and I found fairly easy to ignore. The author should just let the facts speak for themselves; because the facts are presented very well.
I found that I had a much clearer understanding of how evolution works through DNA after reading the book, and that is plenty to make this a worthwhile read. The explanation of the mathematics of evolution, and how changes can occur far more quickly than one might expect, was very well done.
The section showing two examples how irrational opposition to scientific evidence can be damaging was excellent, and the fact that in both cases the culture based views did not have their basis in religion was very effective.
Although I recommend the book, I should warn anyone who is looking for a fun read that the final section of the difficulty in repairing damage done the environment is depressing.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful
The section on fossil genes, which refutes Intelligent Design, is worth the price of the audio book.
14 of 20 people found this review helpful
I debated whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. I used to be a 7th grade science teacher, and I found it telling me a lot of things I already knew. A previous reviewer mentioned that s/he is currently a science teacher and that this book provides excellent material to be adapted to the course s/he teaches. I would agree.
So if it's been a few years since you last studied evolution or if you didn't pay much attention in your high school biology class, this would probably be an excellent place for you to start. However, if you are an evolution enthusiast, maybe took some classes on it in college, have read other books on evolution, then this book may be too elementary for you. I also just finished reading "Before the Dawn" and I would recommend that to you as a great book with more in-depth information on human evolution.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful