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Books : The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution |
List Price: $16.95Amazon.com's Price: $10.91 You Save: $6.04 (36%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 576.8
EAN: 9780618619160
ISBN: 061861916X
Label: Mariner Books
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 688
Publication Date: September 02, 2005
Publisher: Mariner Books
Studio: Mariner Books
Sales Rank: 15362
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
With unparalleled wit, clarity, and intelligence, Richard Dawkins, one of the world's most renowned evolutionary biologists, has introduced countless readers to the wonders of science in works such as The Selfish Gene. Now, in The Ancestor's Tale, Dawkins offers a masterwork: an exhilarating reverse tour through evolution, from present-day humans back to the microbial beginnings of life four billion years ago. Throughout the journey Dawkins spins entertaining, insightful stories and sheds light on topics such as speciation, sexual selection, and extinction. The Ancestor's Tale is at once an essential education in evolutionary theory and a riveting read.
Amazon.com Review:
Just as we trace our personal family trees from parents to grandparents and so on back in time, so in The Ancestor's Tale Richard Dawkins traces the ancestry of life. As he is at pains to point out, this is very much our human tale, our ancestry. Surprisingly, it is one that many otherwise literate people are largely unaware of. Hopefully Dawkins's name and well deserved reputation as a best selling writer will introduce them to this wonderful saga.
The Ancestor's Tale takes us from our immediate human ancestors back through what he calls ‘concestors,’ those shared with the apes, monkeys and other mammals and other vertebrates and beyond to the dim and distant microbial beginnings of life some 4 billion years ago. It is a remarkable story which is still very much in the process of being uncovered. And, of course from a scientist of Dawkins stature and reputation we get an insider's knowledge of the most up-to-date science and many of those involved in the research. And, as we have come to expect of Dawkins, it is told with a passionate commitment to scientific veracity and a nose for a good story. Dawkins's knowledge of the vast and wonderful sweep of life's diversity is admirable. Not only does it encompass the most interesting living representatives of so many groups of organisms but also the important and informative fossil ones, many of which have only been found in recent years.
Dawkins sees his journey with its reverse chronology as ‘cast in the form of an epic pilgrimage from the present to the past [and] all roads lead to the origin of life.’ It is, to my mind, a sensible and perfectly acceptable approach although some might complain about going against the grain of evolution. The great benefit for the general reader is that it begins with the more familiar present and the animals nearest and dearest to us—our immediate human ancestors. And then it delves back into the more remote and less familiar past with its droves of lesser known and extinct fossil forms. The whole pilgrimage is divided into 40 tales, each based around a group of organisms and discusses their role in the overall story. Genetic, morphological and fossil evidence is all taken into account and illustrated with a wealth of photos and drawings of living and fossils forms, evolutionary and distributional charts and maps through time, providing a visual compliment and complement to the text. The design also allows Dawkins to make numerous running comments and characteristic asides. There are also numerous references and a good index.-- Douglas Palmer
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
An interesting science FICTION journey based on no reality but Dawkins' own childish fantasies.
You'd think he'd look at the fossil record before writing a book like this.
Rating:  -
I can't exactly say that this is the best biology book ever because of, um, The Origin of Species, but if you're not a scientist by trade, this is *the* book to read about evolution. Yes, Dawkins is the guy who goes on Bill Maher and calls religious people idiots, but trust me on this: there's very little of that in this book. I don't think there's any of it, actually. It just explains the fascinating ways that evolution works by using the examples of individual species, present and past. In that ... Read More
Rating: -
Specifically, is it wrong that I'm using this book for the third time as bedtime reading material and am actually staying up later than I should? This enormous, densely written tome would seem at first to be a monumental bore, but I find it a compelling read time and time again!
The metaphor of the whole of modern life, meeting up and converging on that time when all life was one, gives a slight understanding to how complex evolution has been, and how much time it has taken. The fact ... Read More
Rating: -
I've always loved Dawkins books, so when my son had this on his wish list at birthday time, even though I'd already spent all of my alloted birthday money (and more!), I had to add this one!
I'm glad I did. He's told me how much he enjoyed it, and that, afterall, is the whole point of a gift, giving something the receiver will enjoy.
Of course, now I want the book, but it will have to wait a while. I still have 5 birthdays and Christmas to buy for before there's unspoken for cash in my wallet!
Rating:  -
"The Ancestor's Tale," Richard Dawkins's engaging look into the reverse-chronology of evolution, is based upon Chaucer's "Cantebury Tales;" we get various chapters revolving around certain organisms (or, rather, the earliest common ancestor of the modern-day organism), most chapters featuring a "tale" that deals with some aspect of evolution.
"Tale" is not perfect, though it is helped out by the fact that Dawkins readily admits his book isn't perfect. If he's uncertain of who came first in his ... Read More
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