Climbing Mount Improbable 8/18/97 Edition

by Richard Dawkins (Author), Lalla Ward (Illustrator)

97 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0393316827

ISBN-10: 9780393316827

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A brilliant book celebrating improbability as the engine that drives life, by the acclaimed author of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker.

The human eye is so complex and works so precisely that surely, one might believe, its current shape and function must be the product of design. How could such an intricate object have come about by chance? Tackling this subject―in writing that the New York Times called "a masterpiece"―Richard Dawkins builds a carefully reasoned and lovingly illustrated argument for evolutionary adaptation as the mechanism for life on earth.

The metaphor of Mount Improbable represents the combination of perfection and improbability that is epitomized in the seemingly "designed" complexity of living things. Dawkins skillfully guides the reader on a breathtaking journey through the mountain's passes and up its many peaks to demonstrate that following the improbable path to perfection takes time. Evocative illustrations accompany Dawkins's eloquent descriptions of extraordinary adaptations such as the teeming populations of figs, the intricate silken world of spiders, and the evolution of wings on the bodies of flightless animals. And through it all runs the thread of DNA, the molecule of life, responsible for its own destiny on an unending pilgrimage through time.

Climbing Mount Improbable is a book of great impact and skill, written by the most prominent Darwinian of our age.

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Editorial Reviews

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How do species evolve? Richard Dawkins, one of the world's most eminent zoologists, likens the process to scaling a huge, Himalaya-size peak, the Mount Improbable of his title. An alpinist does not leap from sea level to the summit; neither does a species utterly change forms overnight, but instead follows a course of "slow, cumulative, one-step-at-a-time, non-random survival of random variants"--a course that Charles Darwin, Dawkins's great hero, called natural selection. Illustrating his arguments with case studies from the natural world, such as the evolution of the eye and the lung, and the coevolution of certain kinds of figs and wasps, Dawkins provides a vigorous, entertaining defense of key Darwinian ideas.

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Without question, Richard Dawkins is the most brilliant and compelling propagandist of Darwin today. -- Michael Schrage, Wired magazine

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Product details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 8/18/97 edition (September 17, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780393316827
ISBN-13: 978-0393316827
ASIN: 0393316823
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 97 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #257 in Books > Science & Math > Evolution > Organic
- #563 in Books > Science & Math > Reference
- #1241 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Genetics

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F Sabella

Yes, Evolution Builds Complex Structures!

February 3, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

You should read this book if you are interested in learning how complex biological structures could have developed through evolution.

Writing a review of this book is fraught with danger given the strong emotions that surround the concept of evolution. From reading other reviews, it appears that, not surprisingly, reviewers are somewhat polarized in favor of Dawkins (and evolution) or against Dawkins (and likely against or skeptical of evolution). I am impressed by the fervor of some reviews, and so I think Dawkins was successful in getting his points across. A problem with reading a book like this is that it really is impossible to read it without its implicit argument for evolution, and, while this is obvious, such an overriding argument detracts somewhat from the purpose of the book: to demonstrate that an unguided mechanism (evolution) can produce over many years increasingly complex biological structures.

I argue that an emotional response should be put aside in evaluating the value of the ideas in the book. Dawkins is really just saying that it does not take design or any other sort of divine intervention for an evolutionary process to come up with a wing or an eye. He argues that such biological structures can be, and were, developed over a very long time as a result of evolutionary processes, and presents several examples to support his arguments. These examples are very interesting and presented in a more or less topical fashion. Dawkins cannot necessarily go into more extensive detail since that would require a much longer book - his light treatment of the science may be prompting some of the criticism that the book does not have the depth of more serious science writing.

I think this book is important since it builds a foundation for arguing the science behind evolution. Dawkins cannot necessarily write this book (and his other books) without an implicit opposition to myth-based theories of creation, since to support evolution at all necessarily argues against many of the concepts running through religion. Thus, this book is going to annoy a lot of people. Dawkins ideas are valid nonetheless, and his arguments are sound enough to push back against the various ID and other myth-based creationist theories. He might strengthen his arguments if he did not take jabs at creationists and just stuck to the science, but he has his opinions and I find them amusing.

I recommend this book because it is written by an intelligent evolutionary biologist who presents some fascinating biology in the course of demonstrating that evolution, in fact, works to develop complex structures.

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artgolfer

There's always more...

August 13, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

to be learned about evolution. The details of how it has worked and continues to work are astonishing. And Richard Dawkins tells these events wonderfully. It's true you have to "dig in" because this isn't necessarily light reading but, if you're willing to go deep and get involved, the journey is pretty spectacular.

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Hassan

Another Brilliant Book!!!

November 25, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Dawkins has a beautiful mind and an incredible ability to break down a complex topic into a simpler form.
Evolution does not scale large cliffs, it takes smaller steps along the path of Mount Improbable.
Step by step an eye can be evolved without the need for a Creator.
Step by step any form of life can take the gradual path of Mount Improbable to achieve a mind boggling complexity yet without the need for any God.

"...from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Charles Darwin

And this book takes you through the complexity of life, step by step, to the top of Mount Improbable without the need for a Designer.

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Garrett Mccutcheon

An interesting follow-up to The Blind Watchmaker

March 14, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Once again Dawkins employs his talent for clear, insightful explanations and examples of evolution at work. This book is a follow-up to The Blind Watchmaker, and Dawkins attempts to answer some of the questions that readers may have had after reading it.

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Charles J. Dubats

Important, well stated

January 9, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Like The Selfish Gene, this book gets the important thesis stated elegantly in the first few chapters. The rest of the book gives detail issues and nuances that are mainly useful if you want to debate with a creationist. If you want to have a thoughtful discussion with a creationist, get professional help NOW.

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Kindle Customer

Review of Climbing Mount Improbable

September 13, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I give Mount Improbable 4 stars. The sentences were straightforwardly and honestly written. That's enough to praise any writer. The grammar in the sentences was a pleasure to follow.

The subject matter was not easy. But many tiny metaphors -- alongside the big Mt. Improbable one -- with repeated explanations, and lots of drawings were very helpful.
When Dawkins dropped the big Mt. Improbable metaphor and started using another main one -- the natural history museum with endless corridors of shells, and with other endless meanderings sometimes jutting out from the main corridors' sides -- the reading got really tough. Tough yes, but Dawkins' stories were always fascinating and made exciting.
The evolution of the eye was a wonderful and believable story, but I'm afraid the last one about the fig was too hopelessly complicated for me to follow.
I was surprised that Dawkins ended his book with the big Mt. Improbable metaphor. He had stopped using it halfway through the book.

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Rotinter1941

Climbing Mount Improbable

September 30, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I initially started to read this book on holiday, and had to leave it behind. Fascinated enough to buy my own from Amazon on home return. On many subjects, Richard Dawkins is controversial, but his very careful explanation about how spiders build their webs in the chapter 'Silken Fetters', is brilliant. I was able to follow every part, and was enraptured. I now am constantly looking for spider's webs in order to study the very detail he described. I even filmed two spiders fighting for dominance of a web, just as he describes! Worth buying, just for this chapter alone. With such detailed information, I'll probably now read the rest of the book!

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Morné Smuts

Five Stars

May 12, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Excellent as usual with his work.
Well worth reading.
Elegant arguments and explanation.

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