By Sean B. Carroll - Into The Jungle: Great Adventures in the Search for Evolution: 1st (first) Edition

by Sean B. Carroll

Into the Jungle invites students to step into the lives of naturalists who followed their dreams, and often risked their lives, to explore the unknown. Each of the nine stories in this brief reader chronicles the dramatic adventures of an influential zoologist, geologist, paleontologist, or geneticist on their path to some of the most important discoveries that have shaped our understanding of how life has evolved. Accessible and engaging, Carroll’s storytelling approach helps students appreciate the physical hardships the featured explorers endured and the obstacles they had to overcome in challenging societal belief systems and initiating paradigm shifts in the scientific community. In reading the tales, students will also come to understand the frequent role of serendipity in scientific discovery.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Evolution, Biology, Nature, History, Biography

Paperback

First published August 7, 2008

About the author

Sean B. Carroll (born September 17, 1960) is a professor of molecular biology, genetics, and medical genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studies the evolution of cis-regulation in the context of biological development, using Drosophila as a model system. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Since 2010, he has been vice-president for science education of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read for school, but was pleasantly surprised that the writing style was more that of a novel instead of a school textbook. The stories were interesting but not what I would generally want to read, which is why I didn’t rate it high.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Into the Jungle is a short book about major discoveries in evolutionary science, written to make the subject accessible to those who are younger or new to the topic. As an adult who deeply regrets giving up too easily on science in high school, this book was perfect for me.

Carroll’s prose is extremely readable, and each chapter uses narrative to guide the reader to the knowledge of how and why different realizations came about. The chapters work very well as a whole text. While each can be enjoyed as a self-contained story, they also build on each other in a way that left me with a much greater understanding and respect for the scientific work required to make discoveries in evolution. Discoveries toward the end of the book would not have been possible without the work of other scientists that came before. Although the last two chapters of the book were a bit more difficult to read due to their discussion of DNA, they were still understandable and enjoyable. And while I finished the book wishing it had been twice as long, the book ends with a long list of resources for further on each topic, providing the reader with a map to more information.

The chapter that had the largest impact on me was Chapter 6: The Day the Mesozoic Died. As a child, I was obsessed with dinosaurs, and remember reading about how the meteorite theory was the theory most accepted for their extinction. I didn’t know until reading this book how recent that theory or the work to support it was! It gave me a moment of pause to think about the work scientists were doing in the 1970s and how it made it into the eager hands of a little girl in the 1990s. I have definitely gained an even deeper appreciation for scientific research and how it shapes our understanding of the world thanks to this book.

I'm going to add some of Carroll's other books to my "to read" list now, since I enjoyed both his writing and this topic so much.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carroll opens the book with a quote from Rudyard Kipling that basically states that one learns history best when it is told in stories. Carroll believes the same is true for science; so in this book he tells the stories of 19th and 20th century scientists and their discoveries. He frames the book around the "search for evolution", and this spans the early naturalists to the modern geologists who are making discoveries that shape our view of life here on Earth.

I especially enjoyed the chapters on Roy Chapman Andrews (whom I knew nothing about, unfortunately) and his excavations in the Gobi Desert in the 1920s and 30s (Andrews appears to be one of the main people that George Lucas used as the basis for "Indiana Jones" character in his movies), and Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer and J.L.B Smith, who identified the coelacanth in South Africa after it was believed to be extinct for 65 million years. (More info - with great photos - about the coelacanth discovery at the NOVA website.

Very accessible style (with the possible exception of the genetics lesson in the Tony Allison/Sickle-Cell Anemia chapter, it gets a bit technical, but it's a short chapter) perfect for a teen audience or an undergraduate class, or anyone who is interested in the lives behind major scientific discoveries.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars might be generous but this book made me really happy and excited about science - so five stars :]

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great readable and relatable book. This tells the stoeies of biological history with excitement! It's not just for a class, this book is readable by all and can be enjoyed by all. I read it for a nice refresher as I've been out of college for a while now, but also didn't want to sit down to my 500+ page text books.

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carroll provides nine stories of naturalists who have made important scientific discoveries while involved in explorations of the natural history of the Earth. Some are more well known than others, in each case the author provides a description of the situation that brought them to make the discovery, and puts the subsequent events in context of scientific development at the time.

The stories are of:
- Charles Darwin and his voyage in the Beagle leading to his theory that evolution is driven by natural selection
- Alfred Wallace whose travel in Indonesia and investigation of Wallace's Line, lead to his realization of natural selection
- Henry Walter Bates who travelled throughout the Amazon, eventually understanding mimicry as evidence of natural selection in nature
- Eugene Dubois who, in travels to Java, discovered the first remains of Java Man, later to become Homo erectus
- Roy Chapman Andrews whose travels to northern China resulted in finds of the first dinosaur eggs and small Cretaceous mammals
- Luis and Walter Alvarez whose investigation of the iridium content of the geological K-T boundary lead to the identification of the Chicxulub asteroid event
- Margorie Courtenay-Latimer who while investigating fishing catches in east Africa, found the first Coelacanth - thought to have been extinct for 65 million years
- Tony Allison whose investigations into sickle cell and malaria lead to the first example of evolution of specific genes
- A number of investigators that discovered that ice fish have eliminated the use of red blood cells for oxygen transport, in response to the cold water temperatures of Antarctica

[Jason Pryde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an undergraduate text book loaned to me by a budding biologist. Thus, it is written in compact chapters with review questions to test the readers comprehension of the material. Very intimidating at my late age. Yet the narrative and topics were surprisingly accessible. Much like the Lewis Thomas books, the author gives a historical background to some particular discovery, all relating in some way to the theories surrounding evolution.
Science related non-fiction reading provides a refreshing challenge to absorb material without (or at least with less of) the constant filtering of possible political or philosophical bias. It also provides occasional elements of surprise such as how some harmless snakes “mimic” the color patterns of poisonous snakes. Another interesting observation was the dramatic distinction in fauna across the 22 mile gap between Bali and Lombok islands, monkeys on one and kangaroos on the other.
You’ll have to read it to find out why.

[Zhelana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was more interesting than it had any right to be. i mean, I've read a zillion books on evolution in the past few years, and so I generally know the story of how it was discovered, and i have a whole degree in anthropology, so i certainly know about Australopithecus. And yet this book managed to have all new facts by trying to make the people involved with this research into people instead of just their body of work. It shared journals and letters of them talking about their voyages and losing years worth of work in a ship wreck. Then it turned to more recent research and managed to share details about things I thought I knew that I had never understood before. So this was really good and really interesting.

[Lin F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has shortened versions of chapters that appear in other Sean B Carroll books. I didn’t realize this when I bought it. Six of the nine chapters are adapted from his book Remarkable Creatures. This book was set up as a textbook, with questions at the end of each chapter, but was still an engaging read and in the story-telling mode that Carroll uses in all his science books.

[Kelsey McKenna Brownfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read it for my college BIO class. Okay.

[gabs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated it. Just read this because I had to for my bio class.

[august Shank · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED. Good book for bio nerds like myself

[Jordan Moore]

might as well track books I have to read for school

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to different players in the history of evolution science. Each chapter was focused on an individual or group of people who helped make a big leap in the science. The book of course started with Darwin. That material I've seen covered in many other books. It was nice to learn more about Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-disvocerer of evolution. I wish the chapter on him would have been much longer but at least I have titles to books Wallace wrote now. All the chapters were a bit too brief for me. But the discussion questions at the end of each chapter would be a good resource for any instructor in the natural science. The other valuable resource of this book was the list of further reading on all the subjects presented.

I had heard most of the tales told in this tome before. But this text would be good for anyone who wants to learn a lot about evolution and our progress in the knowledge of it who does not have a strong background in natural sciences.

[DD T · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of stories of the scientists who have contributed to the study of evolution. Of course it begins with Charles Darwin but then ends with Ditlef Rustad. My two faves are: how Margorie Lattimer found the once-thought extinct coelacanthe and how Tony Allison figured out the evolutionary path of Sickle Cell Anemia. And the one that surprised me the most was the icefish discovered by Ditlef Rustad. A quick read.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the way this book was structured. It didn't feel like a textbook or like a science book at all. It simply told the stories of several real biologists and scientists and their amazing research and journeys to uncover the truths of the world. The writing was simple to understand and fun to narrate in my mind. The photos and journal entries were also interesting and enlightening on the actual text on the page. I'd really like to read more from these scientists and by Carroll.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally thought this would be quite boring but I learned a lot from it. It presented information in more of a captivating way than a plain narrative. It got to the point and facts without giving every detail of the separate naturalists lives making it an easier read despite some of it's too elaborate descriptions of events.

[Jo-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sean Carroll is an excellent storyteller. I enjoyed reading the various stories he put together to describe the adventures in search of evolution. He is able to bring to life science in a manner that is very accessible and interesting. This is the second book by this author that I have read. I will certainly be reading more.

[Sherry Tamone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that my friend Ginny passed to me and even though i was not really on the mood for non fiction, I read it. Great writing and a nice progression from Darwin and natural history to gene evolution

[Carina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short stories talking about a lot of the key players in evolutionary science. Mostly approachable, though some took a little more effort (and that was with a background in Biology). Enjoyable nonetheless.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining, and you get some insights both into evolutionary biology and into the characters of some of the people who have worked in the field.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but the first part was a little too elementary for me, and the last part was way too technical. I...liked the part in the middle?

[Grimmcookies · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good read.

[Kalee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when authors write history like they are telling a story. Into the Jungle is one of those books that is so full of adventure and humor, you can't put it down!

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting