Rating: 
Summary: A Definitive Guide to Evolution for lay men
Review: Carl Zimmer wrote a solid account of evolution in the book "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea". The text is accessible to practically all ages. Serious lay men and people with no knowledge of evolution may find the book rewarding and entertaining. Zimmer begins with an elegant life story of Darwin - his family, his voyage on HMS Beagle, his friendship and discussions with other naturalists, publication of Origin of Species and other details. I was particularly interested in how Darwin's theory and ideas were debated at the time. As the book explains, Darwin earned many loyal friends (Thomas Huxley) and bitter enemies (Sir Richard Owen) after publishing his work. Also, Zimmer provides some information on carbon dating and emphasizes its importance as a method and introduces Lord Kelvin and Marie Curie to his readers as well. When Zimmer moves on to discuss genetics and heredity he rightly introduces Gregor Medel. Readers should pay special attention to the evolutionary tree of whales that show a divergence of species that are actual intermediate forms. Due to the compactness of the text I understand that Zimmer was writing under deep constraint, however, I was surprised by the fact that Zimmer only briefly mentions trilobites that surpassed 300 million years of existence during Paleozoic Era and the dinosaurs (150 million years during Mesozoic Era). At times Zimmer presents only one theory when it is known that several theories exist that confirm to the available evidence suggesting there is some favoritism going on. Graphs and illustrations seem to be up to date and are well picked but I wish he included more of these. Visual information is just as valuable as verbal. Zimmer describes several theories that try to account for mass extinctions (90% of species 250 million years ago, the demise of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and other 4 mass extinctions): volcanism and cataclysmic asteroid collisions with earth. Zimmer attributes the mammalian rise to dominance to the mass extinction that happened 65 million years ago. He explains that mammals were no bigger than present day shrews at the time dinosaurs ruled. Only after the extinction could the mammals grow in size unconstrained. Zimmer predicts that future extinctions may be possible but this time it is Homo sapiens that are causing it. He explains that humanity has already left a deep mark on environment through carbon dioxide emissions and deforestation. According to him, we are frustrating the evolution of other plants and animals. If this is thrown out of whack the consequences may be catastrophic. Later on, Carl writes about sexual selection and sexual/asexual reproduction. He explains evolutionary advantage sexually-reproducing animals have over those that reproduce asexually. For describing sexual selection and female choice Zimmer uses old established example of peacock's tail. As we approach Part 4 we are headed into evolution of hominids. I was rewarded by the reconstructions of hominids: Australopithecus afarensis and Homo ergaster. Here Zimmer dwells into the theory of mind, human migrations, hominid interaction, and emergence of modern human behavior, symbolic thinking, and other areas. He gives some clues as to why Neanderthals went extinct about 27,000 years ago. Homo neanderthalensis did not seem to interbreed with Homo sapiens. They left no progeny. Zimmer is clearly a proponent of a theory of sudden emergence of human behavior that arose, according to some anthropologist, as early as 50,000 years ago and led to the use of jewelry, cave paintings and other forms of symbolic expression. I personally sway toward the theory that suggests that modern human behavior arose gradually in Africa without taking any sudden leaps. Recent archeological findings of shell beads dated to about 75,000 years ago and other digs may be suggesting that modern human behavior has existed way before Africans began expanding into Europe in several migration waves. The last chapter deals with the idea of God. Zimmer walks his readers through history of American education and its battle with Darwinism. He explains that Darwinism has historically been abused and used to justify xenophobia, violence, and eugenic polices in Europe. This type of Darwinism was dubbed "Social Darwinism" and left a deep gash on the reputation of Darwinism as a healthy science. Additionally, if you are interested about Intelligent Design movement and Earth Creationists then you will definitely like this chapter. Zimmer finishes off his book splendidly. He portrays Darwin's own battle with his religiosity. Darwin's transformation from a devoted Christian to an agnostic was gradual. Deaths of his loved ones left deep marks on his mentality. At the end Darwin himself succumbed to his illness and passed away in solitude and peace.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!
Review: what an experience... This book has open my mind up to a new world. I feel that I have a much greater knowledge and appreciation of the origins of life and the world around me.
This book is designed for beginners who are new to evolution and the origins of life on earth.
the book walks you through fascinating subjects that you could not think of in your wildest dreams: example, did you know that whales and dolphins were once land mammals. Even Today whales still have remants such as a hip bone and tiny hind legs only a few inches long.
This book is long and very time consuming but if you have a alot of time and a GREAT thrust for knowledge this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: The Triumph of an idea over what? - the facts?
Review: If you read the blurb in the official Amazon review you will see that it says the author "treats the religious beliefs of creationists with respect, while firmly insisting that the scientific evidence against their position is too compelling to ignore".
Hmmm - interesting, but quite untrue, and herein lies a tale.
The production and distribution of non-fiction books relies on a certain degree of trust between the author and the prospective reader. Here's the deal - I'll buy and maybe get around to reading your book if you've done good research and don't just make stuff up. The last chapter, on Creation Science and on the related but independent Intelligent Design movement, is polemical and biased in the extreme, but more importantly constitutes a substantial misrepresentation of the facts. Consider these examples:-
1) Zimmer quotes the problems creation scientists have with the Cambrian explosian - a portion of the fossil record which, if read chronologically, suggests the sudden development of all major body types in what would be an uncomfortably short period of time for evolutionary theory. Zimmer dismisses their concerns in part by pointing to rocks that are dated as older which lie underneath the Cambrian rocks. This completely misses a major point that scientists who do not accept evolution tend to make - that dating mathods are based on assumptions, often about uniform rates of decay that are at best unprovable and at worst suspect, but either way unscientific. This is such a major point of Creation Science that for Zimmer to miss referring to it at this critical point raises the question of how well he understands what he is criticising.
2) Zimmer suggests that creation scientists will be happy to tell you how many people were on earth at any given point of time over the last 6,000 years, dates the pyramids to 4,500 years ago, and says that creation science says there were only 600 people on earth at the time, and divided across the planet, this would give you about 6 people in Egypt to build the pyramids. That would indeed be ridiculous - but creation scientists don't in fact say that - he has two arguments mixed up. They say on the one hand that the rate of growth in human population tends towards a more recent history than evolutionary timescales. That does not mean there were only 6 people in Egypt when the pyramids were built - it means that if evolutionists accepted the same concept of uniform rates of change in population in the same way they accept them for radiometric dating that population trends would suggest a later start to the human race that anyone who believes in evolution would be happy with. Those creations scientists who are bible believers would also probably point to the tens of thousands of each and every tribe of Israel who left Egypt after forcd labour in the book of Exodus as a pretty big hint that maybe the pyramids were built by more than 6 people. Zimmer appears to have concocted a paper tiger - pokcing fun at a theory that creation scientists do not in fact hold. It is unclear who he has refuted, but clear he has embarassed himself.
3) Zimmer presents Intelligent Design as the latest underhand trick by the dark forces of creationism, but neither Creation Scientists not those who are active in Intelligent Design see themselves as being in the same camp. Zimmer refuses to treat seriously an innovative scientific enterprise, and misses the clear differences between Creation Science and Intelligent Design. Yes, they both deny atheistic evolution - but these theories have considerable differences between them. Intelligent Design could (but does not necessarily) accept that evolution happened and was guided by either God or aliens - creation science would have no real evolution at all - just minor changes known as speciation.
4) Zimmer seems more happy to talk about creation scientists who are engineers, rather than to acknowledge the contribution of those with PhDs in biology, biochemistry, physics, astronomy and a number of other disciplines. This builds into a tendency to dismiss those who don't accept evolution as if they are automatically unqualified to question it, which is the ultimate problem of scientific hubris, and represents the need for science to relarn (again) the lessons of paradigm shift.
My point here is not to argue whether evolution, creation science or intelligent design is true - but simply to state that the treatment of the last two in this book is of sufficiently poor quality that it calls into question the author's competence in representing this subject area, and therefore undermines the trust that a reader needs to have to take the author seriously on anything he says about evolution itself.
Rating:
Summary: A marvelously entertaining and important book
Review: I got this book (having seen some of the PBS series) to see whether it could be readily recommended to non-scientists with whom I've gotten into discussions about evolution (I'm a developmental biologist). Although much of this was not "new" information to me it still made gripping and delightful reading.
I think the greatest value of this book is its synthesis and connection of information from many different fields into a whole that should be highly entertaining reading even for those who don't generally enjoy such topics...Whales with feet, fish with antifreeze, why the descendants of black plaque survivors have greater HIV resistance today...the anecdotes are fascinating, the science should be required knowledge for everyone alive today. Now we have the ability to trigger a mass extinction on this planet, to wipe out much of the biodiversity generated over vast gulfs of time, to alter climate and habitat worldwide. We have the ability to do good as well, to uncover cures for once deadly diseases, to alleviate starvation through higher food production. Evolution lies at the center of literally all that we have been, are now doing, and will become as a species.
Given what was not known in Darwin's day, it is perhaps remarkable how well the theory of evolution has held up. Darwin drew his conclusions about evolution almost exclusively from the morphology of existing creatures. Radiographic techniques to define the age of the earth and calculate the age of fossilized remains did not exist, our understanding of chromosomes and genes as carriers of inherited information was not yet present, little of the fossil record we now have was existent.
Now a host of disciplines (biochemistry, developmental biology, molecular genetics, paleontology, geology, etc.) have and will continue to confirm Darwin's theory in spades and to use the information to manage many critical aspects of our modern lives. We can comb the genomes of bacteria, viruses, mice and men trying to understand the basis of human disease and the underpinnings of the remarkable diversity on our planet. We can look at the common genetic blueprint driving formation of many structures in mice, men, and fruit flies. We have genetic data to place ourselves on a family tree with all other living creatures. And we drive the evolution of many creatures each day, through both our intentional and unintentional behaviors.
Evolution is too important a concept to be left to scientists. Hopefully this book will help all wonder at and appreciate how evolution has and will continue to shape the diversity of life and the pattern of our own lives.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting fairy tale, file under fiction....
Review: How could such nonsense of a THEORY be presented as fact? In todays society we choose to believe the lie. The lie of evolution. I use to be an advocate of this, until I decided to non-boiasedly reserch both evolution and creationism and intelligent design, and science, the very thing evolution depends on for evidence, has debunked rather than validate a theory that has been used to justify hitler's actions in the holocaust. Sorry not enough evidence to support such a theory. If anyone can show any evidence for evolution, go for it, you won't find any.
Rating:
Summary: A true triumph indeed!!
Review: Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea is a book that I recommend to anyone and everyone. It tells the story of evolution, how it came to be, and how it has changed and, indeed, evolved since its conception by Darwin. Using science to back up evolution, it clearly and concisely demonstrates that evolution is indeed the gold-standard of sorts when it comes to explaining how everything from the human eye to the chichilids of Lake Victoria have evolved and continue to do so.
If anyone has any doubts what so ever about the theory of evolution, this book is a must-read. Buy it, check it out at your library, just make sure that you read it. Doing so will enlighten you to the world of science, while amazing you at the ingenuity of our natural world. We are a product of evolution, just lake every other living thing on the planet. This is the #1 book I site whenever I talk about evolution with friends, family, and classmates. All one has to do is talk about Lake Victoria in Africa, explain the wonders that have occured there (and the horrible destruction of biological diversity which is occuring today) to amaze, astound and enlighten any and everyone on evolution.
What a triump it truely is! What a triumph!!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!
Review: what an experience... This book has open my mind up to a new world. I feel that I have a much greater knowledge and appreciation of the origins of life and the world around me.
This book is designed for beginners who are new to evolution and the origins of life on earth.
the book walks you through fascinating subjects that you could not think of in your wildest dreams: example, did you know that whales and dolphins were once land mammals. Even Today whales still have remants such as a hip bone and tiny hind legs only a few inches long.
This book is long and very time consuming but if you have a alot of time and a GREAT thrust for knowledge this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: As interesting as evolution itself
Review: Wow, I have to say this is the first book I read of Carl Zimmer, he really impress me. The book is graphically wonderful, it has lots of pictures and some sketches that support the text. You can almost read it as a textbook, but this one is much more interesting. The way Zimmer states the plot (which of course is history, not fiction) and how he explains the current states of affairs (considering herbicides, plaguicides, genetic modified food, etc.) and its impact in ecology is that of a first class novelist. He covers almost every aspect of evolution you can imagine, so he cleverly responds (almost telepathically) to the interior questions nurtured while reading the text. Superb, I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Definitive Guide to Evolution for lay men
Review: Carl Zimmer wrote a solid account of evolution in the book "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea". The text is accessible to practically all ages. Serious lay men and people with no knowledge of evolution may find the book rewarding and entertaining. Zimmer begins with an elegant life story of Darwin - his family, his voyage on HMS Beagle, his friendship and discussions with other naturalists, publication of Origin of Species and other details. I was particularly interested in how Darwin's theory and ideas were debated at the time. As the book explains, Darwin earned many loyal friends (Thomas Huxley) and bitter enemies (Sir Richard Owen) after publishing his work. Also, Zimmer provides some information on carbon dating and emphasizes its importance as a method and introduces Lord Kelvin and Marie Curie to his readers as well. When Zimmer moves on to discuss genetics and heredity he rightly introduces Gregor Medel. Readers should pay special attention to the evolutionary tree of whales that show a divergence of species that are actual intermediate forms. Due to the compactness of the text I understand that Zimmer was writing under deep constraint, however, I was surprised by the fact that Zimmer only briefly mentions trilobites that surpassed 300 million years of existence during Paleozoic Era and the dinosaurs (150 million years during Mesozoic Era). At times Zimmer presents only one theory when it is known that several theories exist that confirm to the available evidence suggesting there is some favoritism going on. Graphs and illustrations seem to be up to date and are well picked but I wish he included more of these. Visual information is just as valuable as verbal. Zimmer describes several theories that try to account for mass extinctions (90% of species 250 million years ago, the demise of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and other 4 mass extinctions): volcanism and cataclysmic asteroid collisions with earth. Zimmer attributes the mammalian rise to dominance to the mass extinction that happened 65 million years ago. He explains that mammals were no bigger than present day shrews at the time dinosaurs ruled. Only after the extinction could the mammals grow in size unconstrained. Zimmer predicts that future extinctions may be possible but this time it is Homo sapiens that are causing it. He explains that humanity has already left a deep mark on environment through carbon dioxide emissions and deforestation. According to him, we are frustrating the evolution of other plants and animals. If this is thrown out of whack the consequences may be catastrophic. Later on, Carl writes about sexual selection and sexual/asexual reproduction. He explains evolutionary advantage sexually-reproducing animals have over those that reproduce asexually. For describing sexual selection and female choice Zimmer uses old established example of peacock's tail. As we approach Part 4 we are headed into evolution of hominids. I was rewarded by the reconstructions of hominids: Australopithecus afarensis and Homo ergaster. Here Zimmer dwells into the theory of mind, human migrations, hominid interaction, and emergence of modern human behavior, symbolic thinking, and other areas. He gives some clues as to why Neanderthals went extinct about 27,000 years ago. Homo neanderthalensis did not seem to interbreed with Homo sapiens. They left no progeny. Zimmer is clearly a proponent of a theory of sudden emergence of human behavior that arose, according to some anthropologist, as early as 50,000 years ago and led to the use of jewelry, cave paintings and other forms of symbolic expression. I personally sway toward the theory that suggests that modern human behavior arose gradually in Africa without taking any sudden leaps. Recent archeological findings of shell beads dated to about 75,000 years ago and other digs may be suggesting that modern human behavior has existed way before Africans began expanding into Europe in several migration waves. The last chapter deals with the idea of God. Zimmer walks his readers through history of American education and its battle with Darwinism. He explains that Darwinism has historically been abused and used to justify xenophobia, violence, and eugenic polices in Europe. This type of Darwinism was dubbed "Social Darwinism" and left a deep gash on the reputation of Darwinism as a healthy science. Additionally, if you are interested about Intelligent Design movement and Earth Creationists then you will definitely like this chapter. Zimmer finishes off his book splendidly. He portrays Darwin's own battle with his religiosity. Darwin's transformation from a devoted Christian to an agnostic was gradual. Deaths of his loved ones left deep marks on his mentality. At the end Darwin himself succumbed to his illness and passed away in solitude and peace.
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