Brian's review
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
by Richard Dawkins (Goodreads author!)
Brian's review
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins (Goodreads author!)
Brian's review
rating:
bookshelves:
science
recommended for: Creationists
I've been a fan of Dawkins for a while solely based on interviews, but this is the first of his books I've actually read. It works its way backwards through the evolutionary tree, detailing how all living things are related - how a stranger on the street, your dog, your house plant, bacteria and you are all distant cousins. It's a fascinating read, technical enough if you're interested, but not so much so that it's threatening to the non-science minded. It's broken into various "tales" - "The Howler Monkey's Tale", "The Hippo's Tale", "The Blind Cave Fish's Tale" - a la Chaucer - which makes the size of the book a bit less daunting. Best of all, it's excellent ammunition for the next time you find yourself in a debate with someone arguing for "intelligent design."
