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satyridae's review
4.0
Fabulous. This explication of macroevolution is dense but very clear. There are passages that simply sing. Zimmer is getting to be one of my very favorite science writers. If you have any interest in cetaceans, you should read this book. Highly recommended.
Here's a bit I loved:
"The seeds of a more surprising redemption of some of Haeckel's ideas came from the work of a mathematician named Alan Turing. Scientists who live on the harsh, lifeless plains of the physical sciences sometimes look at biology as a vacation spot - a lush green island they can visit, make a few groundbreaking discoveries, then head back to the quantum steppes. After all, they say to themselves, if you know the laws of electrons and protons, if you can solve differential equations, you already know how Life works. Most of these scientists barely get off the plane before they discover that they were wrong - that biology's island paradise is a sweet-smelling swamp - and they either sink out of sight or catch the next flight out. But a few, such as Alan Turing, have managed to discover some original biological principles."
Here's a bit I loved:
"The seeds of a more surprising redemption of some of Haeckel's ideas came from the work of a mathematician named Alan Turing. Scientists who live on the harsh, lifeless plains of the physical sciences sometimes look at biology as a vacation spot - a lush green island they can visit, make a few groundbreaking discoveries, then head back to the quantum steppes. After all, they say to themselves, if you know the laws of electrons and protons, if you can solve differential equations, you already know how Life works. Most of these scientists barely get off the plane before they discover that they were wrong - that biology's island paradise is a sweet-smelling swamp - and they either sink out of sight or catch the next flight out. But a few, such as Alan Turing, have managed to discover some original biological principles."
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