Why Evolution Is True

By: Jerry A. Coyne

Narrated by: Victor Bevine

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact.

In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design", there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned: the evidence, the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from many different fields of science. Scientists are observing species splitting into two and are finding more and more fossils capturing change in the past - dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs.

Why Evolution Is True weaves together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. In crisp, lucid prose accessible to a wide audience, Why Evolution Is True dispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms that this amazing process of change has been firmly established as a scientific truth.

NOTE: Some changes to the original text have been made with the author's approval.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Jerry A. Coyne (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"I once wrote that anybody who didn't believe in evolution must be stupid, insane or ignorant, and I was then careful to add that ignorance is no crime. I should now update my statement. Anybody who doesn't believe in evolution is stupid, insane, or hasn't read Jerry Coyne. I defy any reasonable person to read this marvellous book and still take seriously the 'breathtaking inanity' that is intelligent design 'theory' or its country cousin, young earth creationism." (Richard Dawkins)
"Coyne wonders what it would take to convince the apparently reasonable people who still deny evolution. A new Milton, perhaps, to justify evolution's ways in great poetry? Meanwhile, at a time...when good evolution books are rife, Coyne has given general readers one of the best." ( Booklist)

Wow

If you have any interest in this top it's worth the purchase. This guy really did his homework .

Read it!!

I loved this book in every way. It is without a doubt the most informative book I have read on evolution. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to be educated on the fact of evolution.

Great read and great narrator.

Sums up evolution well. Narrator is fantastic. I think about the Legend of Drizzt series every time I start the book up.

Why You Should Read This Review

If you have an elementary (basic) grasp of evolution, this book will go into detail about the process -- citing scientific facts, fossil discoveries, etc.

My one criticism of the book is not in the content but in some of the creative choices made in the reading of the book -- in particular the narrator's choice to do an English accent when reading quotes by Charles Darwin. Most of the passages quoted are long and the narrator tends to slip in and out of some kind of English accent. It would have been preferable for the narrator to keep reading consistently in his native accent.

If you can bear the occasional jolt of the narrator's less-than-convincing English accent, you just might learn a lot from this book.

Good overview of evolution

This is a good overview of evolutionary theory. The narrator did a good job. I would recommend to anyone interested in biology or any science.

Great Book

The book is excellent, well written and full of fascinating information that is presented in a very easy to understand manner. I enjoyed the book immensely.

However, someone needs to re-record this with a different narrator. The narrator adopts a very fake British accent when he's quoting Darwin. It's terrible and so bad it literally makes me cringe. I had to fast forward over much of it because it was so incredibly bad.

Very clear and well explained.

Just to fill in my fifteen words…. I wish the reader would have used the term “Homo” rather than H. Sapiens or H. Erectus.

Excellent

Rooted in science, Gives a clear account of what evolution is and the science behind

Great Read for a layman interested in real science

The title should be "Why Evolution Is True, and why Intelligent Design is Creationism in Disguise"

Fantastically written book (narration can be bette

Would you consider the audio edition of Why Evolution Is True to be better than the print version?

No, print version still probably better as I did not have the accompanying PDF handy as I listened to check the referenced figures.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Why Evolution Is True?

The easy to understand and seamless description of the human fossil evidence

What three words best describe Victor Bevine’s performance?

Subpar Accent Imitation

Any additional comments?

A book for anyone who believe in evolution, but simply wants to have a good complete picture of the various evidence that make it as close as it can be to a Scientific fact, than a theory (as the author spends a good bit of the first chapter explaining).

I can't recall ever doubting evolution myself; however, I always wondered what I will have to say if an instance ever comes where I need to highlight or describe why evolution is true.. well luckily I found this book and it is a fantastic source on this topic, explaining in detail the many aspects that prove evolution. These range from vestigial biological features (why is there evidence of leg bones in whales?), the genetic code record (how many proteins in different species can still be traced to common ancestral ones), and of course most convincingly: the fossil record!

Highly recommended