false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170655912m/66792.jpg 66792 11 Following up his cosmic Manifold series, Stephen Baxter peers back on a more prosaic history in the worthy yet uneven <I>Evolution</I>. The book is nothing less than a novelization of human evolution, a mega-Michener treatment of 65 million years starring a host of smart, furry primates representing <I>Homo sapiens</I>'s ancestry. Each stage of our ancestry is represented by a character of progressively increasing intelligence, empathy, and brain size, who must survive predation and other perils long enough to keep the natural-selection ball rolling. While Baxter carefully follows some widely accepted theories of evolution--punctuated equilibrium, for instance--he also strays from the known in postulating air whales and sentient, tool-wielding dinosaurs. And why not? There's nothing in the fossil record to contradict his musings about those things, or about the first instances of mammalian altruism and deception, which he also lets us observe. From little Purga, a shrewlike mammal scurrying under the feet of ankylosaurs, all the way through Ultimate, the last human descendant, Baxter adds drama and a strong story arc to our past and future. But he spends too much time on details of the various prehumans' lives, which can become repetitive: fight, mate, die, ad infinitum. And readers eager for a science-fictional adventure will only find satisfaction in the posthuman chapters at the end. Despite these flaws, <I>Evolution</I> grips the attention with an epoch-spanning tale of the random changes that rule our genetic heritage. Recommended. <I>--Therese Littleton</I> 2117008 book 2002 Evolution total:238|5:68|4:91|3:54|2:19|1:6| 238 910 349 36 2 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 05:30:57 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 07:51:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Mar 21 16:43:06 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 21 23:50:40 -0700 2008 I haven´t seen anything better regarding the origins of intelligence. You will recognize...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sat Nov 10 07:00:03 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 10 07:04:26 -0800 2007 4 1 false true Fri Jan 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 19 06:44:12 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 23 10:20:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 15:24:59 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 19:55:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Apr 04 14:06:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 14:20:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 21 20:43:54 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 20:47:26 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 27 16:27:28 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 23 22:27:10 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 27 16:27:28 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jul 24 22:49:38 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 23:00:13 -0700 2008
I made this book required reading for a course I taught, Introduction to Human Evol...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 02 20:06:13 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 20:08:43 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Wed May 13 03:55:49 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 03:58:57 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 23 08:21:38 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 08:22:47 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 16:38:36 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 21:13:05 -0700 2009
Yeah, I liked it.]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 07 11:53:26 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 15:03:04 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Sep 24 05:02:16 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 24 05:10:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 19:19:28 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 13 13:55:58 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jul 02 19:26:49 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 19:35:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Apr 22 20:11:12 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 20:14:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jan 29 17:36:12 -0800 2009 Fri Sep 04 09:32:09 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 17:00:38 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 07 12:39:37 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=66792