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The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals Paperback – January 13, 2000

by Simon Conway-Morris (Author)

20 customer reviews

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In The Crucible of Creation, paleontologist Simon Conway Morris describes the marvelous finds of the Burgess Shale--a fantastically rich deposit of bizarre and bewildering Cambrian fossils, located in Western Canada.
Conway Morris is one of the few paleontologists ever to explore the Burgess Shale, having been involved in the dig since 1972, and thus he is an ideal guide to this amazing discovery. Indeed, he provides a complete overview of this remarkable find, ranging from an informative, basic discussion of the origins of life and animals on earth, to a colorful description of Charles Walcott's discovery of the Burgess Shale and of the painstaking scientific work that went on there (as well as in Burgess collections held at Harvard and the Smithsonian), to an account of similar fossil finds in Greenland and in China. The heart of the book is an imaginative trip in a time machine, back to the Cambrian seas, where the reader sees first-hand the remarkable diversity of life as it existed then. And perhaps most important, Conway Morris examines the lessons to be learned from the Burgess Shale, especially as they apply to modern evolutionary thinking. In particular, he critiques the ideas of Stephen Jay Gould, whose best-selling book Wonderful Life drew on Conway Morris's Burgess Shale work. The author takes a fresh look at the evidence and draws quite different conclusions from Gould on the nature of evolution.
This finely illustrated volume takes the reader to the forefront of paleontology as it provides fresh insights into the nature of evolution and of life on earth.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Conway Morris] does a good job of bringing [the Burgess animals] to ....The centerpiece...is a description, authoritative and readable, of the animals themselves."--The New York Times Book Review

"This book is precise but entertaining, it tells a great story and manages to be informative at all levels.... An exhilarating ride through modern palaeontology and evolutionary biology."--New Scientist

About the Author

Simon Conway Morris is Professor of Paleontology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, England, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in Cambridge.

Product details

Paperback: 276 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press (January 13, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0192862022
ISBN-13: 978-0192862020
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 20 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #812,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #184 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Fossils
- #370 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Paleontology
- #4908 in Books > Science & Math > Evolution

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Tough start but well worth the effort

April 1, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I got the impression from the previous reviewers that this book had a great deal of negative energy focused on refuting Gould's "Wonderful Life". But overall I didn't get that; it seems like a fairly reasonable and balanced disagreement with Gould's conclusions. But I haven't read their later fracas so perhaps I don't read with the bias of knowing the true relationship...

Certainly the first chapter was tough going just in his writing style (I skipped the glossary), I'm sure I missed things throughout and he actually mostly lost me on the trilobite head shape analysis. But overall, a very interesting discussion of the creatures and how evolution might have been working during that strange time.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

Burgess Shale message.

August 29, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Exhaustive and detailed perspective on the the still lively debate on evolutionary biology (SJ Gould versus convergent evolution).

One person found this helpful

April 29, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The book was in great condition. Thank you.

One person found this helpful

The real science of the Burgess Shale fossils

September 16, 2018

Format: Paperback

I am a retired biology prof and this is my field of expertise. This is the best book to buy if you are interested in the implications for evolution of the Burgess Shale fossils. Stephen Jay Gould's "Wonderful Life" is better known. Steve Gould (who I met) is more of a dramatist who proposes unconventional explanations, but his ideas often do not correspond to what the solid science says. Simon Conway Morris in this book provides a more up-to-date view of the issues and considers Gould's ideas in the context of the science as widely understood. It is fairly straightforward science at a "Scientific American" level. The illustrations nicely support the science. Morris was heavily involved in the field work of collection and description of the Burgess Shale fossils and the subsequent description and interpretation of their evolutionary relationships - more so than was Steve Gould. Two other sites with similar fossils (one in China and one in Greenland) are also described and integrated with the interpretations.

One person found this helpful

A customer

Another interpretation of the nature of history...

July 1, 1999

Format: Hardcover

...based on the Burgess shale fauna. If you liked "Wonderful Life" then this is a book for you. Conway Morris is at his best describing the animals of the Burgess shale and similar sites around the world, in particular the newer interpretations that have occurred since Wonderful Life was published.
Conway Morris takes a diametrically opposite view to S.J. Gould on the implications of the Burgess shale - perhaps mainly due to the Religious and political views he expresses strongly in this book. Perhaps this antagonism forces Conway Morris into adopting the extreme view that "while contingency exists it is unimportant." Here his arguments are at their weakest, and are far from convincing. The chapter on quantitative measurements of disparity and convergence is fascinating (the book is almost worth getting for this alone - I wish it were longer). It is clear that the data is not yet of sufficient quality to quantify the degree both random events and more conventional evolutionary pressures constrain the history of life, but that it may soon be.
Add this book to your collection alongside Wonderful Life!

10 people found this helpful11 people found this helpful

Evolution's workbench

September 6, 2000

Format: Paperback

Readers have a choice to consider here; attend a senior evolutionary biology course, or spend an intense bit of time studying Conway Morris' glossary introducing this book. Either way, press on to the text, rich rewards await your persistence. Conway Morris offers a memorable account of assessing the fossil evidence of one of biology's more striking finds. The Burgess Shale's disclosure of fossilized soft-bodied creatures is a captivating story, one which was not, contrary to the views of many, fully resolved by Stephen Gould's account.
So much attention has been given to the grandeur of the dinosaurs, other eras of importance in life's pageant have too often been overlooked. The Cambrian era described so vividly by Conway Morris was a time when evolution's processes were already well under way. His account, partially supporting Walcott's original descriptions, is based on hard, reflective investigation and reassessment of the fossil evidence. Using techniques unavailable in Walcott's day, Conway Morris and his colleagues delicately pieced together a new picture of how the Cambrian life forms looked and how they must have lived. His imaginative use of 'time travel' to depict these creatures is a fine innovation in reporting science. He's to be commended for stimulating thinking about evidence.
While Conway Morris doesn't write with Gould's more florid style, his presentation has presented us with a much more valuable account. Gould spends too much time disparaging Walcott's lack of effort in analyzing the shale. Gould's advocacy of 'contingency' as an evolutionary mechanism supporting his misleading 'punctuated equilibrium' thesis is rightly assaulted by Conway Morris. Conway Morris, by focussing on strong scientific work, demonstrates that flighty contentions cannot replace solid scientific analysis. He provides the reader with a stirring account of the research leading to the reassessment achieved by his team. The result is a solid, highly readable account of the Burgess finds. This book is a fine replacement for the only work we've had available on this topic.

12 people found this helpful13 people found this helpful

Crucible of Creation

November 26, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Can't beat the subject and this book provides a nice counter to the late Stephen Jay Gould's opus "Wonderful Life."

One person found this helpful

Alan R. Holyoak

A real insider's view of early metazoan paleoecology

May 14, 1999

Format: Hardcover

Morris presents an excellent overview of the history of the discovery and subsequent work on the Burgess Shale, as well as ideas about the the life and times of early metazoan life. I am glad to see that not everyone agrees with Gould's interpretations of early life -- not that I disagree with Gould, it's just that it's healthy to have multiple informed opinions about the rise of animal diversity. I found the photographs and figures of Burgess Shale and Burgess Shale-like faunas to be top-notch, as are the discussions of other fossil bearing formations that are of the same vintage as the Burgess Shale. This book is a good read for anyone interested in the Cambrian explosion, though I have to admit that the mental imagery of the time-travelling submersible didn't hit the mark for me. Still, this book is well worth one's time.

7 people found this helpful8 people found this helpful

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