Customer Reviews

Evolution

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is a pretty mature look at evolution, its driving forces, and its ultimate results.
We start at the time of the Chixculub meteorite with a small primate of the species Purgatorium and continue until far far into the future. Readers of Stapleton's Last and First Men will recognize the scope. The style is somewhat, suspiciously so actually, reminicent of the BBC television series' Walking With Dinosaurs, Beasts, and Cavemen. Professor Jack Cohen, well-known and respected, in SF circles, has helped checking the facts. The science is up to 2002 standards. The only recent thing I see missing is the connection between development of language and our loss of thick body hair (this meant that kids could no longer cling on to their mothers, and they had to develop a new way of keeping track of each other).
The rise and fall of humankind is presented in a few snapshots of more or less important moments in our development.
The author makes it clear that it is fiction by adding some highly speculative accounts of tool-using dinosaurs and giant-giant flying dinosaurs.
Baxter has some interesting ideas, like that the advent of true language (subject-verb-object) went hand in hand with the discovery of reasoning and deduction, and, incidentally, with mysticism/religion.
The book is not a brainless praise of development. The theme of the book is one of ultimate doom: when we became truly human (=discovering analysis) we also sowed the seeds of our own destruction. Baxter feels that we reached our apex during the last glaciation, when we still lived in a certain harmony with our surroundings. With the advent of agriculture the book takes on a distinctively more gloomy note. The post-apocalyptic world he describes is truly nightmarish, but, unfortunately, extremely believeable. He gives a nice touch of doom when he lets the Monolith of "2001" fame appear towards the *end* of the book.

At over 640 pages, Evolution-by award winning author Stephen Baxter, a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge and South-Ampton Universities-may not be exactly the sort of light reading one may think to bring to the beach this summer; however, its underling warning for the Human species may be a reminder of that other book concerning beaches.

Evolution is perhaps the most interesting novel I have come across concerning the fate of humanity if we stay on our current course. But, rather than offer the reader the usual, overblown apocalyptic Sci Fi novel, or beating us over the head with a righteous morality play, Evolution takes the scientific route toward offering a subtle but very effective message.

That message: We'd better begin to learn to cooperate as well as we compete or we Homo-Sapiens have already passed our prime.

Evolution begins 65 Million Years ago when the comet which ended the reign of the dinosaurs on Earth was as bright in the sky as the sun. Baxter shows us the "lifestyle" of some of the late Cretaceous reptiles & birds from the "point of view" of the first primates-mousy little fur balls which hid from the thunder lizards by burrowing underground in the forests. Baxter names each animal we encounter-again, as the primates would see them-to give us a sense of the primates' existence and "state of mind"-as simple as some of those early minds were. This interesting technique allows the reader to partly identify with what occurs to these creatures on their road to modernity. We experience what it means to be human by what it meant to be each of these creatures in an ever changing environment.

In essence, Evolution is a story of existence, adaptation, survival and extinction. By the time we get to what we may call modern humanity-around the time of the fall of the Roman Empire-we see how humanity's potential to become more than "just another animal fighting for survival" lies in our ability to cooperate and inhibit our more competitive, territorial and destructive natures. As humans fill the ecosystem like swarms of insects-something Baxter points out drove us away from our primate origins and into a much too complex existence-there needs to be created a new way of living, for the ways of old have depleted the earth's resources, severely altered the atmosphere, polluted the land and water, and sent to their extinction hundreds and thousands of species of animal.

Evolution does what no other such novel has done; it lets you view humanity from the inside. It lets one see from where we came, and spends most of its pages in the deep past so that one has a resonating feel for our biological history. Baxter spends very little time in the present and near future, a time when Earth finally fights back against the human "virus" and humanity collapses upon, and in spite of itself.

The concluding chapters take us 50 to 500 million years into the future to where we learn what life post-humanity might be like. Humans themselves, that is the descendents of the few survivors of the 21st Century, have de-evolved as survival becomes more important than the Big Brained lofty goals and achievements of their ancestors. Indeed, post-humanity primates live in a much healthier ecosystem.

Evolution serves two major purposes, in my opinion. One, it allows the ordinary novel reader (as opposed to readers of scientific journals or books), a chance to learn about both evolutionary theory, and what it means to be human, in a way they may never have otherwise. Also, it serves as a warning. All species live only for so long, and then become extinct; it often depends on how well they can adapt to Earth. If not for the Asteroid of 65 Million years ago, the Dinosaurs might still be around today. But mammals inherited the Earth, and in particular, one unique primate. How long can we survive? That depends on how well we adapt to Earth. So far, we have tried to make the Earth adapt to us, and we are failing miserably; we need to change our strategy.

And Baxter offers a way.

The lead character in the chapters dealing in the near future-Joan Useb-says at a conference of international scientists, that human culture, which had once been so profoundly adaptive, had become maladaptive. The solution she explains is within us already.. it is a primate solution.

(Useb) "Life isn't just about competition ... it's also about cooperation, interdependence. Our global society is becoming so highly structured that it is becoming something akin to a holan: a single composite entity. We have to learn to think of ourselves in that way. We have to build on the other half of our primate natures-the part that isn't about competition and xenophobia. Human interdependence comes from our deepest history. Now, without anybody planning it, we have engulfed the biosphere ... And we have to learn to manage it together."

I received this book as a gift and did not have high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Baxter manages to novelise very effectively the course of evolution through billions of years, which is no mean achievement. The book is fact-based, though of necessity it does spin some extravagant speculation from those facts, and in a few places those speculations are less than convincing, such as the prehistoric Neanderthal shanty town outside the Homo Sapiens village.

Baxter writes about science in a very eloquent and engaging way. Where he consistently shows weakness is when he is writing dialogue. This led me to skip through the stilted Roman chapter.

That said, the later chapter about the British soldiers in an empty future England was quite haunting, and I really liked the way he consistently found low-key but satisfying conclusions to the various evolutionary vignettes.

A book that geniunely throws fresh perspective on the evolution of life. I'm glad I read it.

A refreshing, very well researched book. I enjoyed it greatly. With only one quibble. He depicts us as successfully depositing a Neumann probe on Mars, just before our civilisation collapses. The probe replicates itself. Its descendents undergo machine evolution, subject to much the same forces as biological evolution. Eventually the robots dismantle Mars and have some kind of rocket drive that lets them wander. This is just a minor subplot; the book concerns itself mostly with Earth.

But the way he wrote the fate of Mars seemed strongly ominous. If the robots could dismantle it, and has rockets, surely Earth would be a natural destination for some of them? It is the closest planet to Mars, for one. Sheer proximity, and the fact that there are a plethora of robots and that we are surveying geological time spans would ensure this. (Somewhat akin to Saberhagen's Berserkers.) Subsequent chapters never follow up. This I found very implausible, given his premises.

On an unrelated note: The fate of Mankind is indeed shown as depressing. Am I reading too much between the lines? Or is there an unstated advocacy for human space travel? For the colonisation of other worlds? Nowhere are these explicitly stated, apart maybe from the abovementioned robot probe to Mars. And that did not involve human travel. But by presenting a possible depiction of our fate if we do not get off this globe, is Baxter trying to say this?

Anyone who is a fan of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" and also veers toward science fiction in reading habits should tackle "Evolution."

I don't use the word "tackle" lightly. In fact, it's a bit of a slog. At nearly 600 pages, most of which deal with non-speaking animal species, this book takes a little patience. It is definitely NOT a "page-turner." I would suggest reading it a chapter at a time, then giving oneself time to digest it.

Like "2001," this book deals with nothing less than the evolution of our species, where we were, and where we are going. There are a few reasons why I think this novel is important:

1: At a time when various religious groups are rattling their sabers and DEMANDING that Biblical Creationism be taught in public schools, it's a good time for rational adults to have a good grasp of what evolution is and isn't. This book offers a much greater understanding of the geological, meteorological, and biological forces that guide both the diversifying and extinction of species.

2: This novel serves notice that the human species is in an increasingly precarious position, largely of our own making. Environmental degradation, the threat of nuclear war, political and religious extremism, our reluctance to even address overpopulation, and the increasing vulnerability of our electronic infrastructure, all seem to spell a disaster waiting to happen. There are characters in "Evolution" who perceive this and who hope to avert catastrophe. Will they succeed?

3: This book makes a compelling case that we can no longer afford to keep all our eggs in one basket ... That is, the survival of our species and our Advancing Modern World depends on spreading outward. I know there have been many disagreements in the forum over the merits of space exploration. I for one have always been a strong supporter of the space program, not that I expect to see Moonbase Alpha or humans walking on Mars in my lifetime. But as human beings we are in a unique position to fully understand the forces that threaten us. We differ from animals in that we are able to perceive things not only as how they are and how they were, but how they might be. Resigning ourselves to stay on this planet and this planet only puts us, in my humble opinion, at an evolutionary dead-end.

"Evolution" will certainly not be every reader's cup of tea. But if you think as fondly as I do of the Advancing Modern World (as so optimistically portrayed in "2001"), this book serves as a much-needed reality check.

Stephen Baxter gives us a epic tale, to show mankind where it came from and where it might be going. Starting over 65 million years ago he paints us a picture of our evolution, making sure to detail each and ever major point along the pathway where earlier primates had to make a choice. As he follows our DNA, from tiny primates, to tree-climbing apes, to tool making hominids and finally to early man, he shows us what problems we faced, how we solved them and how that shaped our body and mind.

By doing so he also shows, with no forgiveness or pity, just how dangerous and ruthless we could be, even before we invented atomic bombs and machine guns. Soon we're are in the year 2031 and people realize that we need to change. NOW, not in a couple years, not in a few decades, but RIGHT NOW.
After 2031 humans continue to evlove, along side fast breeding rats, jumping rabbits, flexible pigs, hungry goats, some developing new ways of life or returning to old designs that have tested true over the millions of years. But all the animals and plants are fighting for their rightful place on the aging Earth. The latter part of the book is in fact very much like a mixture of Dougal Dixon's two books, "Man After Man" and "After Man", where complex relationships form between the new animals and plants, sometimes more complex than just the simple predator and prey relationships. Even mankind splits up into different forms, some which work better than others.
The book is based on rock hard science, with fantastic ideas of the author's own mixed in. It is sometimes funny, sometimes tragic and always imaginative.
Yet it is also a warning. We might already be too late to change ANYTHING.

I found Stephen Baxter's work after discovering he had written a sequel to HG Wells's "The Time Machine" called "The Time Ships". I read and loved it immensely. If any of you are fans of The Time Machine, then you have to read the sequel, especially if you like modern hard sci-fi.

But, onto "Evolution". This is not a novel in any sense of the word. This is a series of stories connected by the thread of evolution. Baxter anthropomorphizes pre-historic creatures - rodent-like mammals, early apes, Homo erectus, as well as future devolved primates in an attempt to show the progression and subsequent demise of humanity from its earliest spark to its dying embers. There's little plot outside of the concept of primates and then mankind evolving, and mankind and then primates dying out along with the rest of life on a New Pangaea Earth as the Sun heats up to where life is no longer possible. My biggest complaint here is that Baxter has the Sun heating up in much less time than the 5-10 billion years that scientists currently estimate it before it goes nova. (edit 9/21/09 - I've now read estimates that state 3-5 billion years.)

Baxter takes great liberties in his telling of the evolutionary tale, from species that may or may not have existed (since he seemed to be OK speculating about creatures like dinosaurs that can make tools, or sky-whales, I'd like to see what he could conceive in order to write about Pannotia or Rodinia), to character motivation. The pre-historical geological stuff reads accurately (at least, as accurately as far as an average layman like myself can tell), but mammals' development of things like rational thought, speech, comradery, allegiance, etc. are all speculative. But that's OK. It's sci-fi, not sci-fact!

The question is, does it read well?

Well, I liked most of it. The pre-humanoid primate stuff was better than I thought it'd be. The "caveman" chapters were good, too. Rome, eh, I didn't care much for that. The post-apocalyptic chapters were interesting, if simply to see Baxter's vision of where we're headed. He also throws in a red herring of self-replicating machines (See Saberhagen's "Berzerker" or Hogan's "Code of the Lifemaker") but doesn't do anything with it, save a brief appearance by one of the machine's descendants towards the end of the book that serves little purpose. This doesn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the book, though.

Not every author is going to fit everyone's preferred style, but Baxter suits my tastes just fine. I'm going to pick up more from him.

In novel form, Baxter presents here what everyone should understand, our origins, wrote in an interesting and entertaining way, in contrast to textbooks that are often wrote in a dry, academic style. Beautifully written, Baxter traces our mammalian past, beginning with a small primate Baxter named Purga, living in the time of the dinosaurs, and then on up to the present time and into the future as well. Each chapter is a story about an animal(s), and how it has evolved and interacts with others and it's environment. These stories are fascinating indeed, little glimpses into our primate past, and how evolution has shaped us into what we are now through the relentless selection process. As millions of years pass after the great extinction event caused about 65 million years ago by a great comet (most likely), each story is about an animal or groups of animals as they become more and more human.

Mammals in later times entered into group living to help ensure their survival, the corresponding social dynamics did spurr the development of larger and more complex brains, eventually giving rise to full consciousness. Baxter did a great job here, as everywhere in this novel, and his illustration of the concept of deceit as a by-product of consciousness was brilliant.

At least one other reviewer speculated as to what message Stephen Baxter is trying to get across to us. One reviewer wrote that perhaps the message is that if we don't master spaceflight and get off this planet we will de-evolve into lower life forms. Well, mabe, but even though I am a supporter of our space program I think perhaps not. I believe the primary message is to dramaticize the 'fact' of evolution to the general public with a well written and informative novel, teaching the fundamentals in an entertaining way, a refreshing breath of rational thought. Indeed, in our world there are many influences pulling us this way and that, the vast majority are not worthy or rational, Baxter seems to me to be trying to counter this. We live in a society where the vast majority of people are incapable of true independent thought, lead around by our so-called 'leaders' who themselves are largely incapable of independent thought, as they were put in power by the ignorant masses in the first place. The recent movie FAHRENHEIT 9-11 is a great expose' on this. In my own community there are even people who believe that the Earth is only about 6000 years old and that the extinction of the dinosaurs was aided from hunting by humans!!! I know this sounds harsh, and it is, I believe Baxter's primary message in this novel is to get through to at least a few people with the truth about our past, that our time is but a snapshot in a vast era of billions of years, and that, if you believe Baxter to the fullest, we are just animals, however intelligent, imbedded in an ecosystem as we always have been. Baxter also covers the emergence of 'belief' systems due to evolutionary advantage, and our propensity for them, well done here also.

Sometimes, after finishing a book, I am left with a feeling that I wasted my time having read it. You will not have that feeling after reading this book. This book would make a great movie, if anyone would dare to, in the conservative age in which we live.

I'm pleased to see that Baxter's book has earned such high ratings. It's little known, but it's one of the most remarkable books of the past decade. It deserves to be read.

It's not a comforting book, which is perhaps why it's not a best seller. On the other hand it's entertaining, even to the very end of the end. It's profoundly educational, without being didactic. If you read this book carefully, you'll understand natural selection and evolution in a new and deep way. If I were teaching an undergraduate class in introductory biology I'd make this a required text.

Like all of Baxter's books it's also a rich source of ideas. Do you think there's only been one self-aware, sentient, animal in all of evolutionary history? Baxter will make you wonder about that. In retrospect, it seems rather unlikely that we're the first to think about past, future and fate -- though we are probably the first and last to drain the earth of fossil fuels. He deals with that too.

Memorable. Educational. Disturbing. Hardly an inviting description, but it is very readable, quite entertaining, and certainly unforgettable. You can read some escapist fiction (escape from what?!) and feel you're being scholarly as well.

This book consists of 2 parts, not very well related to each other. The first part, covering 15 out of 19 chapters and about three quarters of the pages deals with human evolution, starting 65 million years ago and ending in the Rome of 482 A.D. Each stage presets characters of progressing intelligence, their struggle to survive and to adapt to an ever changing set of environmental characteristics. There is a similiar book by Bjorn Kurten „Dance of the Tiger". This one deals with the encounter between Homo Neandertalis and modern man. Both Baxter and Kurten are scientists and both have done their homework well to stay within the limts of what is scientifically possible. This is hard core science fiction at its best.

The second part of the book, set into the future, is a disappointment. This is another doomsday story comparable for example to Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz". It differs, because mankind never recovers from the nuclear winter. Mankind degenerates progressively to the intelligence level of australopithecus and then the apes. This is in itself a fascinating idea. Unfortunatly Baxter considers this as a given, and never bothers to explore the mechanisem behind the degeneration process. The remaining 4 chapters thus are pretty meaningless. They lack the scientific background, which make the first 15 chapters so enjoyable.

This is an important book and high on my recommentation list. I would suggest however to stop reading after chapter 15. This review is based on the Ballantine Paperback edition.