Customer Reviews
A brilliant and easy to read guide to the evidence for evolution - By: Mr. W. D. Runacre, 02 Oct 2008 
When I first bought this book I thought that it would only cover the fossil evidence. How wrong I was, it covers everything!
I've read quite a few books on evolution &in many ways this is the best yet. Coming from a non-scientific background I found it easy to read & understand. The good, clear writing is ably assisted by the many diagrams & pictures used to illustrate the evidence, & Prothero definitely succeedsin his aim of showing that the evidence for evolution is overwhelming.
In the course of the text Prothero takes us through all of the arguments used by those who oppose evolution, & he very clearly shows why they are wrong.
I cannot recommend this book enough, it has been both a pleasure to read & a great educational tool too.
Evolution - The Works - By: J. Taylor, 18 Aug 2008 This book astounded me with quality from start to finish. Here we have a guy that really knows his field (paleontology), seems to understand many others & can communicate ideas superbly.
Prothero does talk hard evidence, of which he provides plenty of varied examples. He also understands when to stop elaborating & provides many good references for individual subjects; there is an absolute minimum of repetitionin around 350 large pages.
The pages themselves are lavishly illustrated & I found the cartoon humour very amusing. I read this book over 9 days & found the individual topics were highly relevant to the main subject.
As for subject matter, this book is about evidence for biological evolutionin the light of creationist denial of the same. Prothero was brought up amongst all of this. As somebody who can read the scripturesin greek, he cannot be accused of biblical ignorance, rather the other way around: I thought Prothero developed a compelling arguement that the creationistsin charge of leading their movement are simply ignorant of real science (because they don't do any), preferring instead to quote carefully selected out of date sources, rather than put their claims to falsifiable tests. The rest follow these teachings with sincere trust.
This book would make a good companion to 'the making of the fittest' by Sean B Carroll for a genetic perspective, or 'the ancestors tale' by Richard Dawkins for the zoological works.
Evolution: The Fossils Say `Yes' To It And `No' To Creationism, Including Intelligent Design - By: John Kwok, 08 Aug 2008 "Evolution: What the Fossils Say & Why It Matters" is the best book I have ever read emphasizing the importance of the fossil record as the indisputable "facts" of biological evolution, documenting the history of life on Planet Earth. Its publication is long overdue, & yet, remains quite timely, when major publishers like Simon & Schuster have mistakenly published sterling examples of mendacious intellectual pornography like Michael Behe's "The Edge of Evolution". Indeed, Prothero's book ought to be viewed as the one that demolishes forever, Behe's inane assertion (which he had expressedin a private e-mail reply to me that I've posted elsewhere here at Amazon.com) that the fossil record is irrelevant, claiming that the "truth" will be found only at the molecular level (More than anything else, that terse comment from Behe merely demonstrates his profound ignorance & understanding of the fossil record. Incidentally, Prothero refers to Behe as an "Intelligent Design creationist".). It also demonstrates the absurdity of creationist claims from the likes of Behe's Discovery Institute colleagues Paul Nelson, Jonathan Wells, & Geoffrey Simmons, among others, that the fossil record does not have "transitional forms". Indeed, as Prothero clearly shows his readers again & again, the history of life on our planet is replete with "transitional forms" documenting the evolutionary transitions from fish to tetrapods, from terrestrial carnivorous dinosaurs to flying birds, from primitive ungulate mammals to whales, & from apes to mankind. He also stresses the relevance of the fossil record to other aspects of evolutionary biology, noting its relevance with respect to molecular - as well as comparative anatomical - data. All of this is toldin clear, concise, & persuasive, prose that often reaches the same literary heights attained by Prothero's mentor & friend, the late Stephen Jay Gould; without question this splendid book ought to be regarded as among the finest published last year.
Prothero's book is also a superb guide to the history & - regrettably - ever-present danger posed by Intelligent Design advocates & other creationists. The first three chapters emphasize the profound intellectual differences between valid mainstream science like contemporary evolutionary biology & pseudoscientific religious nonsense like "scientific" creationismin all of its flavors, especially Intelligent Design. Prothero offers a detailed look at the scientific methodin the very first chapter, comparing & contrasting it with creationism (He also provides a superb introductory guide too to the writing of the Judeo-Christian Old Testament.). The second chapter is an in-depth exploration of creationism, tracing its rootsin early 20th Century American Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity, and, of course, describing the emergence of Intelligent Design & its zealous promotion by the Discovery Institute, the Seattle, Washington-based "conservative" think tank (However, much to my amazement, he does not emphasize sufficiently, the important work done by philosopher of science Barbara Forrest & biologist Paul Grossin their book "Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design"in exposing the Discovery Institute's crypto-Fascist agenda for a future United States. Yet, to his credit, he does acknowledge that agenda by referring to its infamous "Wedge Document" while noting the Discovery Institute's deceitful promotion of Intelligent Design at the expense of valid mainstream science like contemporary evolutionary biology.). Finally,in Chapter Three, Prothero exposes both the intellectual inanity of "Flood Geology" & the popular creationist pastime of "quote mining"; the latter, a practice that's still popular with Discovery Institute Senior Fellows Michael Behe, William Dembski & Jonathan Wells.
The next two chapters comprise an excellent introduction to the history & science of evolutionary biology & the theory & practice of cladistic systematics. In Chapter Four, Prothero discusses the history of evolutionary biology, tracing its intellectual roots from the ancient Greeks to Lamarck, Darwin, & those biologists who became the "architects" of the Modern Synthesis Theory of Evolution (also known as the so-called "Neo-Darwinian Synthesis", since it merged population genetics with paleontology, biogeography, ecology & systematics). He also discusses some of the current controversiesin contemporary evolutionary biology, beginning with evolutionary developmentaly biology, better known as "Evo - Devo", and, ending, of course, with punctuated equilibrium, noting how often it has been twisted & bent out of shape by creationists of all stripes, who have excelled onlyin "quote mining" from the published scientific & popular publications written by Stephen Jay Gould & Niles Eldredge; the two American invertebrate paleobiologists responsible for "punk eke". In Chapter Five, Prothero offers an especially lucid account of the theory & history of cladistic systematics, emphasizing its importance as a tool for studying both Earth's current biodiversity & its history of life.
In "Part II Evolution? The Fossils Say YES!", Prothero gives us a whirlwind tour of the history of life on Planet Earth, emphasizing major episodesin the history of life on Planet Earth, beginning with the origin of life, & culminating with the emergence of mankind. In Chapter Six, Prothero offers clear, persuasive evidence for the relative easein creating life from inert organic compounds, brushing aside creationist arguments to the contrary. He debunks the outdated notion of a "Cambrian Explosion" - which remains popular with creationists, including Intelligent Design advocates -in Chapter 7, observing that the fossil record points to instead, a "Cambrian Slow Fuse", involving the gradual diversification of hard-part skeletonized fauna over the span of eighty million years, from the Late Precambrian through early Ordovician. He discusses the emergence of tetrapods from limbless fishin Chapter 10, the rise of early amniotes (which includes the reptiles, birds & mammals)in Chapter 11, & the evolution of flightin avian dinosaursin Chapter 12, demonstrating the existence of countless "transitional forms". Further chapters are devoted to the origin of whales (Chapter 14) & humans (Chapter 15), & thus, offer a terse, but still thorough, glimpse, at the history of life on this planet. Prothero's coverage is so superb, that I am surprised by his all too brief references to mass extinctions, especially when their very existence ought to raise ample questions about an Intelligent Designer & his ability to "design" life that is extinction resistant.
In the final chapter of his book (Chapter 16), Prothero makes a truly compelling argument explaining why creationism is a clear & present danger, not only to American education, but indeed, the very survival of the United States too. He quotes from an extended excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, describing creationist Ken Ham's indoctrination of young school children against evolution, conjuring up - at least for me - an image of Adolf Hitler's infamous Nuremberg Nazi Party rallies. He blames the advent of creationism since the late 1950s for fostering scientific illiteracy among Americans, & noting that this threatens our future economic success as we compete with other, better educated, countries like thosein Europe & East Asiain a global economy increasingly dominated by science & technology. He also argues persuasively that denial of evolution is harmful to our health & well being, graphically illustrating this point by reminding us of the unsuccessful 1984 baboon to human heart transplant by a creationist Loma Linda University surgeon. Prothero's dire warning is a message I have read before, especially from Niles Eldredge, but here, Prothero's remarks are most compelling, & ones that ought to be heeded by all (Not surprisingly, Prothero compares & contrasts current denial of evolution with that of global warming, & finds obvious parallels with both.).
An Excellent Deployment of Scientific Data - By: Nick Candoros, 31 Jul 2008 The initial ambition of the book is quite a tall order: To present,in a concise, well structured & all inclusive way, the overwhelming evidence for the existence of Evolutionin the Natural World, as developed by Darwin & confirmed through the continuous & arduous research by thousands of scientists for the last 150 years.
The material evidence itself is vast, since it covers hundreds of millions of years & innumerable families of creatures, from simple single-celled organisms to complex living beingsin many animal lineages. The author repeatedly laments the constrictions of space imposed by the book, which forces him to focus onlyin some "key" groups & their evolutionary history, while mercilessly abandoning a wealth of valuable fossils & the arguments for the nature & process of Evolution they offered.
But he has chosen well. The moments of Earth's evolutionary history he examines closely & the species selected for each & every one of them, present ample & undisputable proof for the way the Natural World evolves, creating the wealth & beauty of prehistoric & modern ecosystems. Again & again, a veritable avalanche of data, from an immensely rich fossil record worldwide, is used,in an objective, well-structured, scientific way,in order to demonstrate that Evolution exists & works more or less according to Darwinian principles.
The book strives for scientific cold-blooded objectivity & an adherence to provable & well-established facts. Nevertheless it has a militant character, since the author aims to utterly discredit the creationist view of the world, with its narrow-minded interpretation of physical reality. And he clearly means business, since his arguments,in every chapter, are akin to concentrated artillery fire, against the unrelenting attacks of the opposite side to all things scientific which do not agree with their strict beliefs.
To an educated European like myself, the sole fact that such a wealth of scientific evidence for the existence of Evolution, is not enough proof by itself, but has to be deployed as an army against a fundamentalist ideology, feels me with a mixture of amusement & dread. The later because this whole conflict takes place within a supposedly free, democratic, fully developed & powerful nation as the USA. So, for all our sakes, the book, apart of very well written & pleasurably educating, is criticalin the positions it defends & the thorough way it does it.
Will this book prove effective? - By: Stephen A. Haines, 24 Jul 2008 A society driving an eminent scientist to produce a book such as this isin need of some serious reflective thinking. The UK has as much need for that as the author's US audience. Prothero's account is not the first such investigation of the clash of science & superstition, but it ranks as one of the most thorough & revealing. Although this is a work of science, it is also a campaign manifesto. The author is eager to expose the fallacies of "Christian" creationism & the duplicitous methods used to foster it. The account may appear stridentin some places, but it's too well researched - at many levels - & too well written to dismiss it as purely polemical. Above all, it's a needed work, deserving serious attention.
Evolution, he declares forthrightly, is real. The fossils support itin too many ways to be subjected to doubt. Those who try to erode the idea or dismiss the evidence are mistaken, misdirected & often maliciousin their methods. Let there be no uncertainty, the panorama of life is there to see. There are many ways of confirming how animal life has varied over time & Prothero takes us through the analysis tools used to assess the evidence. Radiometric dating should be well understood by now, but creationists still find ways to attempt to challenge it. We learn about taxonomy & cladistics, one of the more arcane aspects of fossil analysis. Molecular analysis, what DNA can tell us about the past is, of course, the fastest growing fieldin palaeontology.
These tools, applied to the fossils & the environment they were found in, establish the relationships demonstrating that challenging evolution is a meaningless enterprise. Still, the challengers continue to emerge. Prothero's prime targetin his account is Duane Gish. The Institute for Creation Research. Gish, who seems to have been around at least since the Noachean Flood, still plods the lecture circuit, where Prothero demolished his presentation at least once. Prothero notes that ICR publications, & Gish's lecture presentations are, at best two decades behind what real research has revealed. Prothero is scathing about those who can write of palaeontology without even gotten their hands dirty doing field work. Even creationism's illegitimate offspring, "Intelligent Design", fares no betterin the author's hands. If a "designer" was involvedin prompting evolution, It botched the job. Why so many forms of wings, for example, when one or two would suffice? Wings & hands are physically related through what palaeontologists call "homology". As Prothero ably demonstrates, adaptations of similar bone arrangements through time produced wings & handsin various animals. Creationists, who continue to call for "missing links" want the entire process lined outin exquisite detail. That's not likelyin the worldin which fossils form.
Prothero then describes the emergence of early life. His discussion of the Cambrian Period - once referred to as the "Cambrian Explosion" - & its precursor "The Garden of Ediacara" makes an excellent read. He goes on to the value of invertebrate fossils, most notably the formenifera,in showing the slow, but discernable progress of life over time. Vertebrates, who form the beginnings of our own body plan with a backbone, brain & vision systems, are well depicted. In "The Great Leap Upward", he explains how some of those vertebrates learned to live on land. The lobe-finned fishes led the way, & the recent find of Tiktaalikin Canada, gives much information on how they did it. More significant is the revelation of what body plan changes could lead to dinosaurs, primates, & us.
In his conclusion, "Why Does It Matter?", the author answers the questionin two ways. First, he castigates his fellow "Christians" for using deceit & deceptionin thinking they are reinforcing their faith by deluding others about the validity of evolution. The story of the roots of who we are is too important to dismiss or take lightly. Such tactics must be kept out of classrooms - particularlyin the US where Constitutional strictures apply [lucky US!]. Most important of all, he urges, the movement is creating a scientifically illiterate population. In a highly competitive technological world, such a condition bodes ill. Denial of evolution, he notes, reaches into domestic realms such as health care & agriculture. Allowing ideologues influence into the political realm is liable to result bad decisions with long-term effects. How to avoid such ill-considered eventualities? The place to start is here, by reading this book carefully, shedding as much as possible preconceived notions about life & how it works. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
