Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Paperback]

Brian Charlesworth (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192802518 | ISBN-13: 978-0192802514 | Publication Date: August 21, 2003 | Edition: 1

This book covers the crucial role of evolutionary biology in transforming our view of human origins and relation to the universe, and its impact on traditional philosophy and religion. Furthermore, it explains the most important basic findings and procedures in the area, and how it has developed since the first publications of Darwin and Wallace 150 years ago.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Charlesworth is Royal Society Research Professor at the Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, and President of the Society for the Study Evolution. His research is mainly in evolutionary genetics, applying classical and molecular genetics to the study of evolution and natural variation. He is author of Evolution in Age-Structured Populations (CUP, 2nd edn. 1994) Deborah Charlesworth is Professor in the ICABP at Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the evolution of plant breeding systems, including how they avoid inbreeding, and work on sex chromosomes and self-incompatibility.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (August 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192802518
• ISBN-13: 978-0192802514
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent summary of current knowledge, November 6, 2005

By 

Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

It is a sign of the times that the authors on occasion take a defensive attitude to their subject. Creationism, for whatever reason, has proved remarkably adaptive and, strange as it may seem, evolutionary biologists still feel obliged to painstakingly lay out the evidence for evolution per se, rather than just discuss its mechanisms or trace its history.

The Charlesworths do a good job of this, albeit in a rather dry, academic style that may not suit readers that just want a light, readable introduction to the basic principles of evolution.

The book contains a fairly heavy dose of microbiology, as the authors go to some lengths to detail the biological functions underlying heredity and evolution. This is useful revision for readers with high school science, but tough going for the complete beginner. Similarly, the style is plain and succinct but never light or breezy. This is not a dummy's guide.

Evolution theory took a spectacular wrong turn in the latter part of the 20th century with the emergence of the idea that selection acts only at the gene level, a view popularized by Dawkins's The Selfish Gene. This bizarre notion gained a considerable following and was the subject of a heated dispute between Dawkins and Gould that ended only with the latter's death. Thankfully, sanity has been restored and it is now once again recognized that selection can take place at any level, and it is refreshing to see the Charlesworths, in this book, stating unequivocally (p 74) that there can be selection at species level and at other levels (p 73). Interestingly, there is an extract from a very favorable review by Dawkins of this book, on the back cover. Did he skip pages 73 and 74 or has he at last seen the light?

This series is prone to typos and the mutant printing gene has not been bred out of this particular book. Figure 19 is a monumental example. It is printed in landscape rather than portrait mode, effectively sideways (you'd have to see it to understand) thus leaving half the page blank and half the figure missing. The birds and mammals are therefore cruelly pruned from the tree of life. OUP really should get a grip.

Look elsewhere if you want a true introductory text, but select this if you want an excellent summary of the current state of knowledge of evolution and its underlying biological processes.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is a book about genetics, June 2, 2010

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Luis (Arizona) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

For someone who was expecting a discussion of evolution from a "macro", "peleontological" or even "arquelogical" perspective this "introductory" book came as a surprise. My critique is not about the quality of the book, but about focus: the authors completely miss the point by focusing the discussion on genes, proteins, DNA, biochemistry etc. The fact that it was Dawkins, and not O Wilson or Gould, who gave a praise to the book should serve as a warning. Note that there is nothing wrong to use genetic explanations to supplement an argument regarding evolution, but the book appears to do the opposite: a discussion of the biochemical mechanics of inheritance with supplementary comments regarding other evolutionary pressures. Again, if you wish to understand evolution from a micro-, biochemical, genetic perspective, then this is the book for you! Otherwise, you will be waisting your money. Finally, for something along a real discussion of evolution check out Wood's "Human Evolution" from the same series (it also uses genetics, but only to support the argument!).

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, September 14, 2009

By 

Gustaf Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

I approached this book with the best intentions, but was disappointed. It's too hard and dry for an interested layman, and probably too short for anyone actually studying the subject. The ideal reader may be a professional in a science related to the subject matter (such as medicine) who needs to get up to speed with it. Despite its size, it's not a quick and easy read for a layman, and it's definitely not the kind of science book you put in the hands of a creationist.

I understand that writing about evolution is not easy, because it rests on so many other things in biology (molecular biology, embryology, morphology, and so on), plus many things from other sciences. But my idea of an introductory text is that you bring the reader up to speed with what the reader needs to know to understand the material. You shouldn't need to have knowledge equivalent to a biology student to understand a book with this title.

I have no doubt that the authors are good scientists, but there are better pop-science authors in this field.