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In this wonderful book, palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin takes us on a grand history of evolution, demonstrating how the power of progress lies not in the caricature of millions of random changes, but on the way existing structures are constantly repurposed from one use to another - from bones and body segments, to “jumping genes” that move around the genome and are co-opted into new roles, to viruses and bacteria that become absorbed into whole new organisms and allow for
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A book that, through the history of discoveries that have led to identifying the reasons why some species have evolved in a certain way and others have not, seeks to sow the seeds of understanding in the minds of those who, like me, may not remember science very well.
Furthermore, evolutionary biology also provides many keys to understanding evolutionary leaps that probably would not have happened if it weren't for viruses and their DNA. Now I have to go and read the previous book, because the s ...more
Furthermore, evolutionary biology also provides many keys to understanding evolutionary leaps that probably would not have happened if it weren't for viruses and their DNA. Now I have to go and read the previous book, because the s ...more
Fascinating books by scientists of many stripes (biochemists, microbiologists, zoologists, anthropologists, molecular paleontologists, physician-scientists) about genetic deduction of evolution have become a subgenre in themselves in recent years, so by the time I got around to reading Neil Shubin's excellent addition to the genre, the concepts were no longer new but nonetheless fascinating.
Recommended further reading:
Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution by Rebecca Stott
Humaninal: Ho ...more
Recommended further reading:
Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution by Rebecca Stott
Humaninal: Ho ...more
Dec 12, 2020
Harikrishnan Tulsidas
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Jul 27, 2021
Sara
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Nov 14, 2021
John Beckwith Farmer
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Nov 12, 2023
Gogeyi
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Nov 02, 2025
Franziska Koeppen
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