Darwin's Ghost: The Origin of Species Updated - Softcover

Jones, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385259093 ISBN 13: 9780385259095

Publisher: Doubleday Canada, 2001

Synopsis

In Darwin's Ghost, Steve Jones has taken on the exciting challenge of rewriting the book of the millennium: Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. Before The Origin, biology was a set of unconnected facts, but Darwin made it into a science, linked by the theory of evolution (the grammar of the living world). Darwin used the biology of the nineteenth century to prove his theory. Now, using the astonishing advances of the twentieth century, Steve Jones reargues the case. His "new version" of The Origin is a bold and fascinating tour of evolution's wonders, revealing ties between cancer and the genetics of fish, between brewing beer and inheriting disease, between the sex lives of crocodiles and the politics of Brazil.

About this title

Review

Biologists have a dirty little secret: While practically everyone knows of The Origin of Species (and owes much to it), almost nobody has read it. Geneticist Steve Jones wants to make the arguments contained in that great text accessible to modern audiences, and succeeds with the delightful Darwin's Ghost. Approximating the structure of Darwin's opus, Jones uses the original chapter headings and summaries as a scaffolding to build an up-to-date demonstration of the power of a few simple ideas. Heredity, variation, and natural selection are all you need to infer evolution over time, and now that Jones can fill in the gaps in Darwin's pre-Mendelian understanding of genetics, the case becomes airtight.

More than a polemic, though, Darwin's Ghost is nearly as pleasurable a read as its ancestor--one suspects that part of Jones' mission is to inspire today's readers to turn back to the grand but humble Origin of Species. While he may not be able to quite match Darwin's vast erudition or hawk's eye for detail, he still makes the theory of evolution shudder and breathe on the page. Dog breeding, mass extinctions, and weird fossils of tiny elephants all march to his drumbeat and--just when you least expect it--return to the main point that all living things share a common ancestor. Whether you're one of the elite who's had the pleasure of Darwin's literary company or you'd like a taste of what you're missing, Darwin's Ghost will bring the spirit of the great man back into your world of ideas.--Rob Lightner

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday Canada
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0385259093
• ISBN 13: 9780385259095
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 416