Customer Reviews

Evolution: An Introduction

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I agree with the other reviewer in that it would certainly be beneficial to listen to some of stearn's lectures on youtube before buying. The book is definitely for someone committed toward achieving a higher understanding of biological mechanisms. I should warn though that this book requires a great amount of time to understand, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The author does an exceptional job of getting his point across.

I bought this book after listening to about half of Mr. Stearns' 36 lectures on evolution which are available free through iTunes U as one of the Open Yale courses. My hope is that some of the illustrations that Mr. Stearns is using in his lectures (which a listener cannot see), will be in the textbook. If you, like me, are not a biologist, you might want to dip your toe in the water by listening to the lectures before tackling the book. I am very impressed with both.

This book has been a joy to read for a variety of reasons, but I must agree that it takes time to grasp all of the concepts presented, and prospective reader ought to have a devoted interest in the subject--I would not recommend this book as an introduction of any kind. Based on the depth and complexity of the information this book contains, I would recommend it for a senior undergraduate level course, or even a graduate level course.

Here's the thing: Even though the title states that this is an introduction to evolution, you really need to have some foundational understanding of biology, statistics, geology, genetics, and chemistry in order to fully grasp everything Stearns and Hoekstra are saying. They do a fantastic job of defining terms, sometimes more than once throughout the text, and all of the highlighted terms can be found in the glossary in the back, but many other terms from the subjects listed are not readily defined and assume the reader knows them already. Luckily, they do include an appendix on genetics if you need a refresher.

But what I love most about this book, despite its difficulty (I've had to read some passages multiple times), is the depths to which it dives in terms of details. I'm reminded of a child constantly asking "Why? Why?" every time something is explained, and Stearns/Hoekstra continue to answer those "why's."

The contents of the book are logically organized, and the subheadings read almost like vignettes; Stearns/Hoekstra use numerous, concrete examples to illustrate the concepts they present, and the content itself is chunked in a more organic rather than linear fashion. They ask questions, and proceed to answer them, or explain why they can't. They provide a wide variety of perspectives and theories concerning evolutionary research. Because of this organization, not a single portion of the book is dull or boring--it's simply packed with information.

Overall, I very highly recommend this book as a definitive text on evolution, as long as readers are aware of the need for basic knowledge in a variety of life science subjects, and are willing to spend a great deal of time reading and rereading. This book is well worth the effort, and I never thought there could be so much to learn about evolution!

This is the main textbook that Prof. Stearns uses for his course on Evolutionary Biology, which can be found on the Open Yale website. The 36 lectures there can be downloaded and watched in conjunction with reading his textbook. I have found Prof. Stearns to be a great lecturer, able to make his complex subject matter easy to be understood by someone like myself who is not a biologist. His textbook is a great complement to the lectures as it also is written in a clear and understandable fashion. Used together, this textbook and the Open Yale lectures provide a wonderful opportunity for self-education for anyone really interested in learning more about the fascinating subject of evolution and its current scientific status.

No, the is not an easy read that you browse through while seated at 20,00 feet. If you do take the effort to read this book you will find it immensely rewarding. The author explains how evolution allows us to see our connection with the entire universe.