Scan barcode
mollieblack78's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.0
Sexism, there are some inherent issues in the metaphor used throughout the book, “ppl who think plants are conscious are insane”, used a lot of other analogies as well (like so many), and the last few chapters didn’t really tie into the main theme of the book (mount improbable), he also referenced his other book “the blind watchmaker” so many times, and also constantly used computer programs and coding to illustrate natural selection but idk why he couldn’t just explain natural selection in natural terms instead of linking it to computers (which in his programs used artificial selection, not true natural selection)
octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
Extremely clear and very interesting exploration of how evolutionary change is a result of small useful changes built up over time. And when it's laid out like this it reads like clear common sense - apart from the last chapter, which repeats "fig" and "wasp" so very bloody often that both terms begin to lose all meaning, like when you spend too much time looking at a single word and the shape of it turns alien. But that's a small quibble, when placed against the chapter on the development of the eye. At near 60 pages, it's by far the longest chapter in here, but it's also the absolute highlight of the entire book. At first glance (ha, I know) the eye seems such a complex organ to have developed, and though I know that it's a product of evolution like all other organs, I couldn't have made the first guess of how the intervening stages developed. Well now I understand the basics at least, and isn't science marvellous? (Yes, even the figs.) It's fair to say this book requires some effort, but such effort is well-rewarded I think.
More...