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[Willtor]

Hey, I could use a good (layman's) book on evolution, in its (relatively) current form. Is "The Selfish Gene" still adequate for this purpose? Is there another, more recent book that someone would recommend?

 

[gluadys]

Hey, I could use a good (layman's) book on evolution, in its (relatively) current form. Is "The Selfish Gene" still adequate for this purpose? Is there another, more recent book that someone would recommend?

I've never read "The Selfish Gene" but I did find "Climbing Mount Improbable" simple and helpful.

For lots of detail, "The Ancestor's Tale" is a good choice, but its much heavier going.

 

[Willtor]

Thanks. At any rate, Dawkins seems like the right way to go?

I'm quickly realizing how inadequate my grasp of evolution is. I only really know it from an engineering standpoint.

 

[Robert the Pilegrim]

Thanks. At any rate, Dawkins seems like the right way to go?

I'm quickly realizing how inadequate my grasp of evolution is. I only really know it from an engineering standpoint.

for a fairly decent intro online you might try:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01

 

[Willtor]

for a fairly decent intro online you might try:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01

This is a good site. Thanks.

 

[relspace]

I did not care for "The Selfish Gene" at all. I thought it more philosophy than science and was disgusted at its ideological rhetoric which I found rather absurd.

But assurances by an acquaintance that the "The Ancestors Tale" was much better, I have picked up a copy, and have read enough to offer my preliminary opinion.

He is definitely an older and wiser writer in this book. He still waxes philosophical at times but it seems more balanced and I did not find the portions which I read to be as offensive as the first book. It is a rather large book and incredibly ambitious trying to date when the human species can claim common ancestors with other species on the planet. I doubt that the scientific support for his claims can be solid. There clearly must be a lot of speculation involved. BUT I actually like that. I get tired of too much insistence on absolute proof and the refusal to take a few leaps of faith and speculate where the evidence leads us.

But all this does not mean that I would reccommend this to a beginner. I have to reccommend something which sticks closer to the science and only the science. Over-reaching speculative works like this, however much I may enjoy and respect its ambition, is not the direction I would point someone who would better profit from a description of the basic theory, an explanation of the role of the theory in biology and the nature of the supportive evidence.

 

[Redneck Crow]

I have read both "The Ancestors Tale" and "The Selfish Gene."

Dawkins forms his opinions based on what evidence is available. Proposed models, speculation, and "what ifs" have their legitimate function in seeking to understand the past from a record which is incomplete or which is there but beyond our capacities to decode at present.

I'll take that over forming a conclusion and trying to twist evidence that doesn't fit to back one's conclusion or sweeping it under the rug.

Dawkins tosses a number of asides into his work directed at Christians who blindly insist that Genesis is scientifically correct. They are well deserved deprecations. If I, as a Christian, am disgusted by some YECs who insist that I sweep away evidence that contradicts their position on how life was formed, Dawkins must find such dishonesty equally frustrating and doubly revolting.

 

[Willtor]

I bought the Ancestor's Tale, but I haven't gotten a chance to look at it, yet. I'm working on my thesis, and I'm trying to get a completed compiler compiler to my prof before he goes to Austria for the summer.

Thanks for the recommendations, all. I have read a lot more about biological evolution online since I initially made this post, so I feel like I have a better handle on it than I did.

 

[Redneck Crow]

You'll like it. In addition to discussing how lines of descent of life are thought to have occurred, it's actually a good read! My friend tao turned me on to this one. He usually picks winners, and this was no exception.