"Evolution: A View from the 21st Century" is the first book with an accurate depiction of evolutionary processes. To my knowledge, it has not been possible to buy a book that gave you the whole story. Most mechanisms described here were first discovered decades ago. Yet until now, few people knew anything about them.
This book describes:
-"Natural Genetic Engineering" refers to cells' innate ability to re-organize their genomes in response to hundreds of kinds of inputs. This is the star of the show. Not natural selection.
-Horizontal Gene Transfer, cells exchanging segments of DNA to instantly gain new features;
-Inter-species hybridization - new species form when unlikely mates cross from two different species;
-Symbiogenesis, when separate organisms physically merge to form a new species;
-Epigenetics, shaping heredity without altering the DNA sequence;
-Whole Genome Duplication - DNA doubling to expand "hard drive space" and make room for novel features.
Others have grasped at these mysteries with varying degrees of success. "The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma" by Kirschner and Gerhart note how evolution re-uses the same components and processes. But they fall short of recognizing how this is done.
Suzan Mazur's "The Altenberg 16: An Exposé of the Evolution Industry" offers a kaleidoscope of evolutionary ideas but doesn't reach a conclusion. Fodor's "What Darwin Got Wrong" makes good on its title but offers no alternative. Margulis' and Sagan's "Acquiring Genomes" offers a vital puzzle piece, Symbiogenesis, but could have gone much further.
Most popular books and many college textbooks gravely misrepresent the driving forces behind adaptation as random and accidental. This is tragic, because real-world evolution is awe inspiring in its sophistication, elegance and order.
"Evolution: A View from the 21st Century" succeeds where others failed. Shapiro delivers volumes of of evidence for his 'third way' - a tested alternative to both Creationism and Darwinism. This new model is a fundamental revision to evolutionary theory. It answers the questions raised by these other authors. Yet you'll find not a trace of anxiety or polemic.
Interesting insights include the following:
* As cells divide, two separate error detection & correction mechanisms repair DNA copying errors in real time. This reduces the intrinsic error rate of 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 1 billion. Impressive.
* The Hox complex ("Hox Gene") directs growth and body symmetry in fruit flies. Its activity is amplified in mammals and the exact same code directs vastly more complex growth patterns in humans.
* "As evolution proceeds, so does evolvability": As organisms rise in sophistication, their evolutionary feats become more impressive and take less time. Cells re-use and re-combine existing systems in new ways. This is opposite of what we might expect if evolution were random.
* Shapiro shovels dirt on gradual random adaptations. Changes are often rapid and almost never random; the cell militantly guards against copying errors. He says periods of mass extinction are followed by episodes of new developments because organisms must respond fast to changing ecosystems.
* Organisms are intrinsically teleological. They behave much like human engineers. He suggests they may be sentient.
* He notes that physicists and other outsiders bring a level of open-mindedness to evolution that biologists have forbidden for 100 years. (One of my clients is a biotech company in Tel Aviv. The founder says only in the last 5-7 years have large numbers of people from Computer Science begun to pursue genetics. Thankfully, the tide is beginning to turn.)
* 1162 references buttress his case with volumes of published papers.
* Companies and universities commit resources to research programs that do not produce instant gratification. Contrary to those who deny teleology, Shapiro says organisms are similarly forward-looking, having purposes beyond the present. He says viruses appear to play a role in this, generating novelties which other organisms later adopt.
I liked the concluding chapters. They counter prohibitions that have crippled evolutionary research for the last 50 years. He suggests that many fields, from technology to economics, stand to benefit from evolutionary research. He's being modest. We can learn far more from cells than they can learn from us.
Shapiro resists temptation to spar with his opponents. There's not a hint of ad hominem; those who deserve to be ignored are simply not mentioned. Instead of hearing arguments, you witness unswerving commitment to further the aims of science. He's a gentleman through and through.
I do have some cautions. This is not an easy read and the dense material isn't supported by graphics. (The online supplement does include some illustrations). Informed lay people will appreciate this book, but it's squarely aimed at biology professionals. If you're a lay person without a biology background, feel free to skip the hard core technical content.
That said, you'll still get a better understanding of evolution's toolbox from the 50 pages you do read than in almost any other book available. If you're serious about evolution, the whole 150 pages is worth the effort.
No one can accuse Shapiro of operating on the fringe; he himself discovered transposition in bacteria decades ago. All is scrupulously documented. The book is endorsed by several world-class biologists including Lynn Margulis, Sydney Altman and Carl Woese.
Like his mentor Barbara McClintock, Shapiro has made an immense contribution to evolutionary biology. It's hard to imagine that traditional neo-Darwinism can survive the onslaught much longer. James A. Shapiro might someday be regarded as one of the great researchers of our time. May his tribe increase.
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- Evolution: A View from the 21st Century. Fortified.PaperbackFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Friday, Jan 3
Top reviews from other countries
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Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on February 18, 2019
Un must nella libreria di un libero pensatore
- G. GervaisReviewed in Canada on December 28, 2014
A breath of fresh air.
- iain@dataworld.co.ukReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 26, 2012
Darwin is gone, at long, long last
