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Almost Like A Whale, The Origin of Species.
In his new book, Steve Jones takes on the challenge of going back to the book of the millennium, Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."Before The Origin, biology was a set of unconnected facts. Darwin made it into a science, linked by the Theory of Evolution, the grammar of the living world. It reveals ties between cancer and the genetics of fish, between brewing and inherited disease, between the sex lives of crocodiles and the politics of Brazil. Darwin used the biology of the nineteenth century to prove his case. Now, that science has been revolutionised and his case can be reargued using the twentieth century's astonishing advances.From AIDS to dinosaurs, from conservation to cloned sheep, bursting with anecdotes, jokes and irresistible facts, "Almost Like a Whale" is a popular account of the science that makes biology make sense. It will catch the millennial mood and tell all those for whom Darwin is merely a familiar name what he really meant. It exposes the Darwinian delusions which try (and fail) to explain human behaviour in evolutionary terms, and, while giving an up-to-date account of our own past, shows how humans are the first species to step beyond the constraints of biology.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Steve Jones
313 books132 followersLibrarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Stephen Jones is a Welsh geneticist and from 1995 to 1999 and 2008 to June 2010 was Head of the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His studies are conducted in the Galton Laboratory. He is also a television presenter and a prize-winning author on the subject of biology, especially evolution. He is one of the contemporary popular writers on evolution. In 1996 his writing won him the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize "for his numerous, wide ranging contributions to the public understanding of science in areas such as human evolution and variation, race, sex, inherited disease and genetic manipulation through his many broadcasts on radio and television, his lectures, popular science books, and his regular science column in The Daily Telegraph and contributions to other newspaper media".
John Stephen Jones is a Welsh geneticist and from 1995 to 1999 and 2008 to June 2010 was Head of the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His studies are conducted in the Galton Laboratory. He is also a television presenter and a prize-winning author on the subject of biology, especially evolution. He is one of the contemporary popular writers on evolution. In 1996 his writing won him the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize "for his numerous, wide ranging contributions to the public understanding of science in areas such as human evolution and variation, race, sex, inherited disease and genetic manipulation through his many broadcasts on radio and television, his lectures, popular science books, and his regular science column in The Daily Telegraph and contributions to other newspaper media".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
July 26, 2014
I really like the idea of Darwin's Ghost, taking and updating Darwin's groundbreaking research, and often showing how relevant it still is, how little of it has actually been disproved. Often people who criticise Darwin haven't actually read On the Origin of Species, and so they have an inaccurate understanding of what he actually said. Steve Jones goes through all of this in quite a lot of detail, giving modern examples and correcting things where Darwin didn't quite get it right.
That thoroughness does make the book pretty hard going, though. The topic doesn't have to be -- I've read another explanation of the early transmission and spread of HIV, for example, which wasn't boring at all (though it had other faults) -- but Jones' writing ends up feeling rather stodgy. I'm completely fascinated by the subject, and reasonably knowledgeable about it, so if I thought that... I don't know what other readers would make of it.
The main effect seems to have been to make me really want to read On the Origin of Species; I'm told that Darwin's prose is quite readable and even interesting, and comparing it to the view of it I got from this book will be interesting.
That thoroughness does make the book pretty hard going, though. The topic doesn't have to be -- I've read another explanation of the early transmission and spread of HIV, for example, which wasn't boring at all (though it had other faults) -- but Jones' writing ends up feeling rather stodgy. I'm completely fascinated by the subject, and reasonably knowledgeable about it, so if I thought that... I don't know what other readers would make of it.
The main effect seems to have been to make me really want to read On the Origin of Species; I'm told that Darwin's prose is quite readable and even interesting, and comparing it to the view of it I got from this book will be interesting.
May 30, 2011
Such an interesting premise, to take the Origin of Species and update it chapter by chapter with what we know now about evolution. I found Jones' prose a bit awkward, though, and really, really wanted at least some line drawings to further illustrate some of the examples he used (e.g., the land-based predecessor of the whale) -- I was headed to the web quite often to try to picture what he was describing. He gave so many great examples and a good tour through the themes, but I had a tough time with the writing style. I loved having Darwin's conclusions at the end, and really did understand them better having been through the rest of the book.
A few favorite lines:
"[T]he new insight that biology gives into our history releases us from the narcissism of a creature that is one of a kind. It shows that humans are part of creation, because we evolved."
And from Darwin himself:
"There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
and "To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings... they seem to me to become ennobled."
A few favorite lines:
"[T]he new insight that biology gives into our history releases us from the narcissism of a creature that is one of a kind. It shows that humans are part of creation, because we evolved."
And from Darwin himself:
"There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
and "To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings... they seem to me to become ennobled."
January 31, 2008
Damn wonderful book, honestly. I started reading it a little before the strike ended and was immediately glad for the little treasure box ofchances to refresh last year's ecology and taxonomy material. You'll find everything in Jones' book; ecology, evolution, genetics, microbiology, bacteriology, history, poetry, logic. Jones' style is wonderfully readable and elegantly addictive but most of all, it's simple and informative with a healthy dash of good, sharp humor. With very, very little mindless judgment to anyone (not even the 'monster' of creationism as so many american scientists are rediculously buzzing about) every argument for and against evolution is well represented, dealt with and explained in deep but not boring details. There wasnt a dull moment in this book and it managed to keep my attention without lapsing into petty anecdotes or meaningless detail scattering. A great, highly recommended book alltogether.
October 27, 2024
I can't put it better than Steve Jones himself does:
In whole, Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated holds up well as pop biology 25 years after its publications. (Ch. XIII, which goes into evo-devo, is excellent.) It is clear and expansive. Jones has his moments of wit and clever relations to history, culture and literature.
Elsewhere, when Jones feels entitled to veer out of field into opinion or historical interpretation, he is deeply narrow-sighted and elitist, wholly blind to systemic factors. More gallingly, he implicitly upholds faulty conceptualizations of evolution he knows, factually, to be wrong.
(The book made its transatlantic migration under the title Darwin's Ghost, exchanging a quirky and apt reference, wholly in character with the work's approach, to something bland which is worse than irrelevant. Thanks, publishing.)
i. And overlong critique of ~4 pages that sent me into hate-reading: Internalized racism & antimicrobial resistance, your friendly neighbourhood civilizational threat. (With bibliography.)
Jones makes the specific claim that 'Africa leads the way' in antibiotic resistance due to irresponsible farming practices, made worse by poverty and (it is strongly implied) ineptitude and lazines: thus "It is easier to add a powder than to clean up a farm, and Kenyan chicken guts are filled with bacteria resistant to tetracycline." The statement seems immediately implausible on several levels: antibiotics cost money and are unlikely to be purchased in bulk by impoverished Kenyan subsistence farmers; not so for the labour of cleaning a chicken coop; it is factory farming, epitomised by the US whose regulatory agencies are chronically handicapped, which requires a robust and ravenous economy and which results in the kind of cramped filthy conditions that necessitate indiscriminate use of antibiotics; and LASTLY, EXCUSE ME, SIR, WHAT THE FUCK.
The only source related within the text itself is Hart and Kariuki's *Antimicrobial resistance in developing countries¹ (listed as "(various authors)" in my edition- wut. actually w h a t.) doesn't say much at all about farming practices, but speaks instead of uncalled-for widespread use, inability to keep to full treatment duration and over-the-counter availability: all problems that are in part about regulation and in part about the systemic struggles of any health system. It's difficult to trace geographical proportions of antimicrobial resistance to verify Jones' claim (the text's phrasing is imprecise, and may mean different measurents, which doesn't help), I certainly wasn't able to find anything definitive quickly. (Could very well be my fault.) Sub-saharan Africa did (and does) indeed show much higher mortality rates due to AMR², but this a faulty proxy measure. The challenge (at least so far) with drug resistance has seldom been that there is literally no medication that a pathogen may respond to. It is, as with many things, a matter of availability and material resources, i.e. global capitalism. (Contrary to Jones' bafflingly idealistic statement on p. 117 that "Antibiotics have become a human right." Darling, have you touched grass?) Affluent countries' health systems are simply much more able to provide exotic and rare mixes of antibiotics in cases of drug resistance.
Evidence seems to support the common sense assumption that antimicrobial resistance would be less prevalent among less developed (and, importantly, more isolated from global trade) domestic animal industries.³
i.ii. Sharing (DNA) is Caring.
Something that is, coincidentally, really important when speaking about drug resistance are plasmids (to summarize: packets of conveniently ring-shaped DNA which bacteria can emit into and absorb from the environment in certain circumstances, which Jones as well as everyone who has as much as poked their head in a biolab in the last 50 years is intimately familiar with, because this forms the basis of much experimental methods and practically all of our bioengineering, and it is the reason, for example, we don't have to juice the pancreases of dead pigs anymore in order to make insulin) WHICH JONES DOES NOT TALK ABOUT. Oh he does eventually mention plasmids, a digression and an iffy analysis a modern TB outbreak later, comparing them with venereal diseases, representing them as parasitic. Yet, reading Chapter IV someone who doesn't know better may be left with a thorough misunderstanding and the overall impression that bacterial genetic diversity is limited to cheesing biochemical RNG. Nevermind conjugation. Nevermind that, fundamentally, bacteria defy our definitions of species. Don't worry, though, the anecdote about the colouration of pepper moths, the one that pops up in every book about evolutionary biology, will be returned to several times.
i.iii. AIDS, or: EXCUSE ME, SIR, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
On multiple occasions, Jones touches on the AIDS pandemic. His treatment of the history of the AIDS epidemic, in particular its early rapid spread in coastal gay male communities, felt... off. His representation rings... off. In underlining human social capacity to change as a determining factor outside of evolution, he picks the matter up as an example again. He starts with For the first few years of after the outbreak, the gay community was in denial. There is a particular kind of senselless ignorance to pain and systematic faults that leads one to write a sentence like that, as if "denial" wasn't a crime of conscience simultaneously perpetrated by the highest echelons of governmental power.
ii. Red in tooth and claw; the price of metaphor.
As zoologist Richard Lewontin is careful to remind us in "The Corpse in the Elevator", his seminal essay on metaphor in science*:
In a work of popular science, the stakes are different, but perhaps higher; what is risked by a choice of metaphor is the very future of a discipline, the unspoken assumptions of the next generation of students, the tone of headlines and the goals of grant-givers and policy-makers. Jones continually reifies the metaphor of the zero-sum, hyperindividualized battle - to a somewhat ridiculous extent. We often misunderstand the meaning of 'fitness under natural selection', we are told - but Jones certainly won't be showing you how anytime soon.
iii.As much as it pains me to hand out this recommendation, Richard Dawkins does (iirc) a much better job in all his pop sci ouvre of unveiling the self-evident logic of natural mechanisms and warning against anthropomorphization (choice of title for The Selfish Gene notwithstanding.)
iv.Darwin's own meticulous, careful writing possesses a clear elegance despite its Victorian trapping - Almost Like a Whale's full embrace and thorough quotation of it gave me the reason and opportunity to read some of it, and that was a treat.
But, idk, a tenured geneticist should have done better.
For my own book I can make but one claim: it is the least original of its decade.
In whole, Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated holds up well as pop biology 25 years after its publications. (Ch. XIII, which goes into evo-devo, is excellent.) It is clear and expansive. Jones has his moments of wit and clever relations to history, culture and literature.
Elsewhere, when Jones feels entitled to veer out of field into opinion or historical interpretation, he is deeply narrow-sighted and elitist, wholly blind to systemic factors. More gallingly, he implicitly upholds faulty conceptualizations of evolution he knows, factually, to be wrong.
(The book made its transatlantic migration under the title Darwin's Ghost, exchanging a quirky and apt reference, wholly in character with the work's approach, to something bland which is worse than irrelevant. Thanks, publishing.)
i. And overlong critique of ~4 pages that sent me into hate-reading: Internalized racism & antimicrobial resistance, your friendly neighbourhood civilizational threat. (With bibliography.)
Jones makes the specific claim that 'Africa leads the way' in antibiotic resistance due to irresponsible farming practices, made worse by poverty and (it is strongly implied) ineptitude and lazines: thus "It is easier to add a powder than to clean up a farm, and Kenyan chicken guts are filled with bacteria resistant to tetracycline." The statement seems immediately implausible on several levels: antibiotics cost money and are unlikely to be purchased in bulk by impoverished Kenyan subsistence farmers; not so for the labour of cleaning a chicken coop; it is factory farming, epitomised by the US whose regulatory agencies are chronically handicapped, which requires a robust and ravenous economy and which results in the kind of cramped filthy conditions that necessitate indiscriminate use of antibiotics; and LASTLY, EXCUSE ME, SIR, WHAT THE FUCK.
The only source related within the text itself is Hart and Kariuki's *Antimicrobial resistance in developing countries¹ (listed as "(various authors)" in my edition- wut. actually w h a t.) doesn't say much at all about farming practices, but speaks instead of uncalled-for widespread use, inability to keep to full treatment duration and over-the-counter availability: all problems that are in part about regulation and in part about the systemic struggles of any health system. It's difficult to trace geographical proportions of antimicrobial resistance to verify Jones' claim (the text's phrasing is imprecise, and may mean different measurents, which doesn't help), I certainly wasn't able to find anything definitive quickly. (Could very well be my fault.) Sub-saharan Africa did (and does) indeed show much higher mortality rates due to AMR², but this a faulty proxy measure. The challenge (at least so far) with drug resistance has seldom been that there is literally no medication that a pathogen may respond to. It is, as with many things, a matter of availability and material resources, i.e. global capitalism. (Contrary to Jones' bafflingly idealistic statement on p. 117 that "Antibiotics have become a human right." Darling, have you touched grass?) Affluent countries' health systems are simply much more able to provide exotic and rare mixes of antibiotics in cases of drug resistance.
Evidence seems to support the common sense assumption that antimicrobial resistance would be less prevalent among less developed (and, importantly, more isolated from global trade) domestic animal industries.³
i.ii. Sharing (DNA) is Caring.
Something that is, coincidentally, really important when speaking about drug resistance are plasmids (to summarize: packets of conveniently ring-shaped DNA which bacteria can emit into and absorb from the environment in certain circumstances, which Jones as well as everyone who has as much as poked their head in a biolab in the last 50 years is intimately familiar with, because this forms the basis of much experimental methods and practically all of our bioengineering, and it is the reason, for example, we don't have to juice the pancreases of dead pigs anymore in order to make insulin) WHICH JONES DOES NOT TALK ABOUT. Oh he does eventually mention plasmids, a digression and an iffy analysis a modern TB outbreak later, comparing them with venereal diseases, representing them as parasitic. Yet, reading Chapter IV someone who doesn't know better may be left with a thorough misunderstanding and the overall impression that bacterial genetic diversity is limited to cheesing biochemical RNG. Nevermind conjugation. Nevermind that, fundamentally, bacteria defy our definitions of species. Don't worry, though, the anecdote about the colouration of pepper moths, the one that pops up in every book about evolutionary biology, will be returned to several times.
i.iii. AIDS, or: EXCUSE ME, SIR, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
On multiple occasions, Jones touches on the AIDS pandemic. His treatment of the history of the AIDS epidemic, in particular its early rapid spread in coastal gay male communities, felt... off. His representation rings... off. In underlining human social capacity to change as a determining factor outside of evolution, he picks the matter up as an example again. He starts with For the first few years of after the outbreak, the gay community was in denial. There is a particular kind of senselless ignorance to pain and systematic faults that leads one to write a sentence like that, as if "denial" wasn't a crime of conscience simultaneously perpetrated by the highest echelons of governmental power.
ii. Red in tooth and claw; the price of metaphor.
As zoologist Richard Lewontin is careful to remind us in "The Corpse in the Elevator", his seminal essay on metaphor in science*:
"The price of metaphor is eternal vigilance."
In a work of popular science, the stakes are different, but perhaps higher; what is risked by a choice of metaphor is the very future of a discipline, the unspoken assumptions of the next generation of students, the tone of headlines and the goals of grant-givers and policy-makers. Jones continually reifies the metaphor of the zero-sum, hyperindividualized battle - to a somewhat ridiculous extent. We often misunderstand the meaning of 'fitness under natural selection', we are told - but Jones certainly won't be showing you how anytime soon.
iii.As much as it pains me to hand out this recommendation, Richard Dawkins does (iirc) a much better job in all his pop sci ouvre of unveiling the self-evident logic of natural mechanisms and warning against anthropomorphization (choice of title for The Selfish Gene notwithstanding.)
iv.Darwin's own meticulous, careful writing possesses a clear elegance despite its Victorian trapping - Almost Like a Whale's full embrace and thorough quotation of it gave me the reason and opportunity to read some of it, and that was a treat.
But, idk, a tenured geneticist should have done better.
May 25, 2021
This read was more of a nostalgia trip for me. I took an evolution course in undergrad and inherited this book from the professor, who I respect greatly and admire. His notes were in the margins and made for great insight into his reactions, which was fun.
That being said, I don’t think I learned anything new per se from this book that I haven’t seen before. Not that I expected to. There were new examples I found fascinating, and the author did a good job of explaining Darwin’s experiences and conclusions and drawing parallels to more modern cases. I would have given this book more stars but I felt that the author used rather stuffy language at times (not very easy to read, but still understandable). By this I mean that what he could have said in more easily-understandable language was said long-winded and it made me quite bored at some instances. This caused the book to be a slow read for me. I’ve read other science non-fiction books and been more impressed with their accessibility than this one, which is the basis for my review.
Still a good read!
That being said, I don’t think I learned anything new per se from this book that I haven’t seen before. Not that I expected to. There were new examples I found fascinating, and the author did a good job of explaining Darwin’s experiences and conclusions and drawing parallels to more modern cases. I would have given this book more stars but I felt that the author used rather stuffy language at times (not very easy to read, but still understandable). By this I mean that what he could have said in more easily-understandable language was said long-winded and it made me quite bored at some instances. This caused the book to be a slow read for me. I’ve read other science non-fiction books and been more impressed with their accessibility than this one, which is the basis for my review.
Still a good read!
October 16, 2012
I found this a fascinating book that took my mind to whole new realms. More than anything, it was the concept of time. I still can't grasp the evoluntary calendar with those beginning that made us: a 100 million years ago (the Archaeopteryx) and then that birds came from the family of dinosaurs to more or less their present state 65 million years ago and that: "Some of the first evidence of our own ancestors is a line of two million year old footprints left as two upright primates strolled across an Alrican plain coasted with soft volcanic dust, topped, and looked to the East." Or that: "the emperor of the eye is much the same in mannals and insects, although these groups shared an ancester a billion years ago."
December 18, 2023
My first DNF of the year. It was simply not what I thought and super boring. Would not recommend, there are so many better science books out there, don’t waste your time with this one. There are some interesting insights but it’s not enough
February 6, 2009
In this book, the author (Steve Jones, a leading evolutionary biologist) attempts a re-do of Drawin's Origin of the Species, featuring, in the place of Darwin's material, a summary of some of the more recent evidence of evolutionary biology.
Some of this is very interesting. My favorite is the material on the HIV virus in the Introduction. Jones explains in fascinating detail how HIV has morphed into several different branches, now known as HIV 1-A, 1-B, 1-C 1-D, 1-D, and HIV-2 (with several branches of HIV-2 as well). The HIV-1 strains appear most often in European and other first-world homosexuals; the HIV-2 strains appear most often in African heterosexuals. Several promising antiviral treatments have foundered on the deft ability of the virus to quickly morph into another variant form that is largely resistant to the earlier treatment. Also compounding the medical challenges is the indisputable fact that HIV evolves within a single host, so that medications that initially are effective later are ineffective.
In other chapters, Jones gives a survey of many other recent discoveries, ranging from the Antarctic perch whose stomach enzymes have evolved into a blood antifreeze, to the evolution of the eye, which has independently evolved roughly 50 times, as evidenced by the fact that humans and many other mammals have a blind spot, where nerves merge before heading to the rear of the eye, and yet other animals have a much better design that avoids the blind spot.
If the book has a weakness, is that the author's attempt to include so many details becomes a bit tedious. It's too bad that it doesn't conclude with the same fascination as it begins with.
Some of this is very interesting. My favorite is the material on the HIV virus in the Introduction. Jones explains in fascinating detail how HIV has morphed into several different branches, now known as HIV 1-A, 1-B, 1-C 1-D, 1-D, and HIV-2 (with several branches of HIV-2 as well). The HIV-1 strains appear most often in European and other first-world homosexuals; the HIV-2 strains appear most often in African heterosexuals. Several promising antiviral treatments have foundered on the deft ability of the virus to quickly morph into another variant form that is largely resistant to the earlier treatment. Also compounding the medical challenges is the indisputable fact that HIV evolves within a single host, so that medications that initially are effective later are ineffective.
In other chapters, Jones gives a survey of many other recent discoveries, ranging from the Antarctic perch whose stomach enzymes have evolved into a blood antifreeze, to the evolution of the eye, which has independently evolved roughly 50 times, as evidenced by the fact that humans and many other mammals have a blind spot, where nerves merge before heading to the rear of the eye, and yet other animals have a much better design that avoids the blind spot.
If the book has a weakness, is that the author's attempt to include so many details becomes a bit tedious. It's too bad that it doesn't conclude with the same fascination as it begins with.
September 14, 2016
Evolution, says author Steve Jones at the beginning of his further reading section, attracts the best science writers. I hope he's not including himself in that pantheon because his writing in this update of, and expansion on Darwin's "Origin of Species" is devoid of enthusiasm and almost entirely lacking in humour. I'm not saying it isn't well researched, or informative, or well reasoned, or even exhaustive in its coverage of the subject... but it's a real slog.
Yeah, yeah, I get that it's science writing, but this ain't no textbook. And evolution is a fascinating subject. Somehow in this book, Jones has contrived to produce something far less than fascinating. It goes on and on and on, labouring each point to the extreme, such that my attention soon started to wane, and I'd find I was missing an important connection somewhere.
So I'm probably being a bit harsh, giving this two stars, because I can't fault its factual content, just the writing itself. I appreciate this is a big subject that's tough to tackle, but I felt it could have been done much better, and in the end I couldn't wait to finish it.
Yeah, yeah, I get that it's science writing, but this ain't no textbook. And evolution is a fascinating subject. Somehow in this book, Jones has contrived to produce something far less than fascinating. It goes on and on and on, labouring each point to the extreme, such that my attention soon started to wane, and I'd find I was missing an important connection somewhere.
So I'm probably being a bit harsh, giving this two stars, because I can't fault its factual content, just the writing itself. I appreciate this is a big subject that's tough to tackle, but I felt it could have been done much better, and in the end I couldn't wait to finish it.
April 13, 2013
Walking in another author's footsteps is a very shaky approach and, as much as I wanted to like this book I ended up being very disappointed.
First, using the structure and even whole extracts of Darwin's book mixed with his own words, Steve Jones leaves us with the unpleasant feeling of reading here a poor cut-and-paste between two authors having completely different style of writing. Such lack of balance is a killer for the coherence of the whole -try to imagine Darwin struggling to explain his theory to you while, Steve Jones is constantly cutting him! It is, above all, a real pain to go through as Steve Jones, unfortunataly is quite a bad writer. He's not engaging. I found him dry at times and, worst for a book that could serve as an introduction to such a topic he is very confusing. Besides, is the added chapter about human evolution (Darwin didn't deal with the subject in 'The Origin of Species') really necessary?
Sadly then, as far as I am concerned Jones lost his gamble.
First, using the structure and even whole extracts of Darwin's book mixed with his own words, Steve Jones leaves us with the unpleasant feeling of reading here a poor cut-and-paste between two authors having completely different style of writing. Such lack of balance is a killer for the coherence of the whole -try to imagine Darwin struggling to explain his theory to you while, Steve Jones is constantly cutting him! It is, above all, a real pain to go through as Steve Jones, unfortunataly is quite a bad writer. He's not engaging. I found him dry at times and, worst for a book that could serve as an introduction to such a topic he is very confusing. Besides, is the added chapter about human evolution (Darwin didn't deal with the subject in 'The Origin of Species') really necessary?
Sadly then, as far as I am concerned Jones lost his gamble.
February 7, 2014
This was an extremely thorough reworking of the Origin of Species for a modern audience, compiling new evidence to support Darwin's original claims. Although I appreciate what was attempted here, and the amount of material brought together was amazing, overall I found it almost overwhelming, so dense with detail. Also, as someone quite familiar with evolutionary biology, I didn't find anything really new or surprising here. I would recommend it for someone with an interest in evolution who perhaps hasn't had much exposure to this sort of material in the past. I think it would be perfect for students approaching these topics for the first time.
November 19, 2016
This book provides an exception account of the natural world. Like Darwin's original account, this is written is brilliant clarity. It is an important text for evolutionary biology students as well as anyone who is interested to hear Prof. Jones's account. The book follows the original scheme that Darwin had set in the Origin. You can feel the raw power of natural selection within these pages and I could not keep it down until forced to do so. Yet there is so much to be known in the natural world which is truly exciting when combined with what is already known. Prof. Jones sets the scene very well. A truly gripping read and Highly recommended read.
June 4, 2015
How quickly science evolves. This book was first published in 1999 so I'm reading it 16 years later. It's an update on Darwin's Origin of Species, and what's interesting is that the author follow's Darwin's organizational structure and divides each chapter into the first section, a modern update, and the second, excerpts from the original chapter. It's interesting to see Darwin's writing style, because, let's admit it, very few of us are actually going to sit down and read Origin of Species today. I've labored through sections, and long story short, people don't write like that anymore. There are different medias that allow you to make your point, the monopoly of the written word has passed, and we seem to place an emphasis on briefly making your point (160 characters or less) and exchanging ideas in rapid fire. In Darwin's time, it was different. There was more of an emphasis on writing through responses to any imaginable objection to your main point. If you made a point, you were expected to devote the next several pages to defending that point before moving to the next. Literature from his era reflects the same kind of writing.
Enough about the evolution of writing. Is this book worth reading? You will learn a lot about evolution and animals. That's fun. But if you're in the market for that kind of book I happen to find Evolution, Triumph of an Idea by Zimmer to be a much more interesting introduction to the idea of evolution than this book. There may be some bias since I read the book first, but Triumph is more up to date and I think has a more engaging writing style. That being said, there is still plenty of learning you can soak up from this book. Since I've rambled enough I'm going to just make a list of cool facts from this book:
AIDS - AIDS is an example of evolution in hyper speed.
Testicles are "convenient bags" but not all mammals take advantage of the approach. Whales and hippos have testicles inside their bodies.
The amount of ejaculate produced is related to how familiar you are with a partner.
Naked mole rats have a crazy, stress filled colony structure due to bullying of males. They are bullied so much by mature males and females that they do not reach puberty, and these "eunuch" males do all the busy work in the colony. They also resemble the human male sexual organ, according to some (disclaimer, the author of this book sticks to the science, not the speculative asethetics, of the naked mole rat).
The amount of gravity in the atmosphere influences the size of animals on earth. More oxygen to burn, bigger animals (like dinosaurs).
Cooperation and social group size influenced our evolution and the size of our brains.
Superior genes can get quashed by environment, a beneficial environment can buoey crap genes. It's not really nature vs. nurture, and nature + nurture.
Quotes
If two individuals - viruses or whales - can blend their genes to make young with elements from each, they belong to the same species. If they cannot, they are distinct.
Whales are hippos may not resemble each other nowadays, but retain some hints of kinship...both are hairless, neither can sweat and their males each keep their testicles inside the body rather than in a convenient bag. 25
Animals, as they become domestic, enter an uncertain domain between the real and the artificial....In the Middle Ages pigs were tried and hanged for murder, and only forty years ago a female rhinoceros was elected, by a large majority, to the Sao Paulo City Council. In an equivalent confusion today, a third of all dog owners are happy to identify their pet as closer to their heart than is anyone else in their household. 28
Darwin noted with disapproval how the people of Tierra del Fuego would devour their old women rather than their dogs in times of shortage. 34
Elephant keepers have the most dangerous job of all - more so than the police, with one keeper in six hundred killed each year. 49
It pays a male [mammal] who mates with a female for the first time to make a lot of sperm to flood out an earlier donation. As a result, ejaculates with a new partner are several times larger than those produced for a familiar mate. 103
Evolution often faces the mountaineer's dilemma. Few peaks are a straight slog upwards to the summit. Instead, a climber has to lose some of his hard-won gains by crossing a valley before he can reach the next high point. 159
For most of the time, natural selection must act as a policeman rather than as an architect. 177
Evolution favors teamwork, not through goodwill but because of increased efficiency in multiplying DNA. 207
[Naked Mole Rats] In spite of the dangers of childbirth, the queen (and her favored males) live for many years. So do the workers, if they are kept alone, in a zoo. In the colony, most die young. Their lives are full of stress - not just because of the snakes and the digging, but because they are bullied by the queen and her partners. So intense is the social pressure that the hormones needed for sexual development are shut down. An animal removed from the community at once becomes mature, with a puberty that lasts a week. 212
Five hundred million years ago the air had twenty times as much carbon dioxide as it contains now. This led to a natural 'greenhouse effect' which was reversed two hundred million years later when the level of the gas dropped. Oxygen, too, has swung between extremes. Twice as much of the gas as today allowed the growth of enormous plants, of spiders the size of a book, and of scorpions a foot long. A later bust led to the development of aerial reptiles such as Quetzalcoatuls, with wings forty feet across. Oxygen's abundance allowed many animals to burn energy at a rate great enough to persuade them into the air. In today's attenuated atmosphere, nothing so large could carry the burden of gravity. 306
The world is divided by politics, but it is united by genes; and our variation under nature is more confined than that of any comparable creature. 414
Social life, too, needs gray matter to tell who is who and how to treat the neighbors. Comparative anatomy hints at the past. The bigger the group, the more complex the society. The size of the brain fits that of the community, with a relationship much better than anything to do with what a particular species eats. Society, not shopping, swelled our heads. 422
Enough about the evolution of writing. Is this book worth reading? You will learn a lot about evolution and animals. That's fun. But if you're in the market for that kind of book I happen to find Evolution, Triumph of an Idea by Zimmer to be a much more interesting introduction to the idea of evolution than this book. There may be some bias since I read the book first, but Triumph is more up to date and I think has a more engaging writing style. That being said, there is still plenty of learning you can soak up from this book. Since I've rambled enough I'm going to just make a list of cool facts from this book:
AIDS - AIDS is an example of evolution in hyper speed.
Testicles are "convenient bags" but not all mammals take advantage of the approach. Whales and hippos have testicles inside their bodies.
The amount of ejaculate produced is related to how familiar you are with a partner.
Naked mole rats have a crazy, stress filled colony structure due to bullying of males. They are bullied so much by mature males and females that they do not reach puberty, and these "eunuch" males do all the busy work in the colony. They also resemble the human male sexual organ, according to some (disclaimer, the author of this book sticks to the science, not the speculative asethetics, of the naked mole rat).
The amount of gravity in the atmosphere influences the size of animals on earth. More oxygen to burn, bigger animals (like dinosaurs).
Cooperation and social group size influenced our evolution and the size of our brains.
Superior genes can get quashed by environment, a beneficial environment can buoey crap genes. It's not really nature vs. nurture, and nature + nurture.
Quotes
If two individuals - viruses or whales - can blend their genes to make young with elements from each, they belong to the same species. If they cannot, they are distinct.
Whales are hippos may not resemble each other nowadays, but retain some hints of kinship...both are hairless, neither can sweat and their males each keep their testicles inside the body rather than in a convenient bag. 25
Animals, as they become domestic, enter an uncertain domain between the real and the artificial....In the Middle Ages pigs were tried and hanged for murder, and only forty years ago a female rhinoceros was elected, by a large majority, to the Sao Paulo City Council. In an equivalent confusion today, a third of all dog owners are happy to identify their pet as closer to their heart than is anyone else in their household. 28
Darwin noted with disapproval how the people of Tierra del Fuego would devour their old women rather than their dogs in times of shortage. 34
Elephant keepers have the most dangerous job of all - more so than the police, with one keeper in six hundred killed each year. 49
It pays a male [mammal] who mates with a female for the first time to make a lot of sperm to flood out an earlier donation. As a result, ejaculates with a new partner are several times larger than those produced for a familiar mate. 103
Evolution often faces the mountaineer's dilemma. Few peaks are a straight slog upwards to the summit. Instead, a climber has to lose some of his hard-won gains by crossing a valley before he can reach the next high point. 159
For most of the time, natural selection must act as a policeman rather than as an architect. 177
Evolution favors teamwork, not through goodwill but because of increased efficiency in multiplying DNA. 207
[Naked Mole Rats] In spite of the dangers of childbirth, the queen (and her favored males) live for many years. So do the workers, if they are kept alone, in a zoo. In the colony, most die young. Their lives are full of stress - not just because of the snakes and the digging, but because they are bullied by the queen and her partners. So intense is the social pressure that the hormones needed for sexual development are shut down. An animal removed from the community at once becomes mature, with a puberty that lasts a week. 212
Five hundred million years ago the air had twenty times as much carbon dioxide as it contains now. This led to a natural 'greenhouse effect' which was reversed two hundred million years later when the level of the gas dropped. Oxygen, too, has swung between extremes. Twice as much of the gas as today allowed the growth of enormous plants, of spiders the size of a book, and of scorpions a foot long. A later bust led to the development of aerial reptiles such as Quetzalcoatuls, with wings forty feet across. Oxygen's abundance allowed many animals to burn energy at a rate great enough to persuade them into the air. In today's attenuated atmosphere, nothing so large could carry the burden of gravity. 306
The world is divided by politics, but it is united by genes; and our variation under nature is more confined than that of any comparable creature. 414
Social life, too, needs gray matter to tell who is who and how to treat the neighbors. Comparative anatomy hints at the past. The bigger the group, the more complex the society. The size of the brain fits that of the community, with a relationship much better than anything to do with what a particular species eats. Society, not shopping, swelled our heads. 422
July 9, 2025
Very interesting book that took Darwin’s Origin of Species book and followed its content with contemporary narrative and scientific updates. It was a recommended read for my 9th grade daughter I ended up also reading as a summer read 😎
January 18, 2014
This is an updating of the "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin published in 1859.
The book has a particularly gripping beginning in its sections on the AIDS virus, and on the domestication of animals. The most moving section was that in which he examined how the relics of different species vanish over time, just as the relics of the First World War were already disappearing. This brought into perspective the insignificance of human life “sub specie aeternitatis”.
However, the structure of the book was disappointing. There were lots of holes, and great leaps between subjects. Although it started strongly, it soon became disjointed. The details were indeed striking, but were often not related to the conclusions. The book lacked the rigour of the scientific approach. We noted with amusement one reviewer’s conclusion that, of the books that rewrote great books, this was the best – surely damning it with faint praise given the paucity of books in that category.
Some wondered if following Darwin’s original had acted as a straitjacket, which explained some of the structural weaknesses, given the difference of contemporary interests and issues from the nineteenth century. On the other hand, it was clear from the muddled and repetitive introduction that Jones could not write in a logical sequence. Perhaps it was his awareness of this weakness that had attracted him to following a predetermined structure. But, while Jones seemed incapable of developing an argument, the sections of the original quoted showed that Darwin was much more effective.
The author’s smart, glib persona was all-pervasive, and – suitable as it might be for television - was not attractive in this context. The egotism displayed in the introduction - "To rewrite 'The Origin of the Species' is more than most biologists would dare" - hit the wrong note right at the outset. There was a lot of flag-waving in the book, and enjoying showing how clever he was. Jones was famous a populariser of science, but he seemed to be an attention-seeker, a showman...
This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/
The book has a particularly gripping beginning in its sections on the AIDS virus, and on the domestication of animals. The most moving section was that in which he examined how the relics of different species vanish over time, just as the relics of the First World War were already disappearing. This brought into perspective the insignificance of human life “sub specie aeternitatis”.
However, the structure of the book was disappointing. There were lots of holes, and great leaps between subjects. Although it started strongly, it soon became disjointed. The details were indeed striking, but were often not related to the conclusions. The book lacked the rigour of the scientific approach. We noted with amusement one reviewer’s conclusion that, of the books that rewrote great books, this was the best – surely damning it with faint praise given the paucity of books in that category.
Some wondered if following Darwin’s original had acted as a straitjacket, which explained some of the structural weaknesses, given the difference of contemporary interests and issues from the nineteenth century. On the other hand, it was clear from the muddled and repetitive introduction that Jones could not write in a logical sequence. Perhaps it was his awareness of this weakness that had attracted him to following a predetermined structure. But, while Jones seemed incapable of developing an argument, the sections of the original quoted showed that Darwin was much more effective.
The author’s smart, glib persona was all-pervasive, and – suitable as it might be for television - was not attractive in this context. The egotism displayed in the introduction - "To rewrite 'The Origin of the Species' is more than most biologists would dare" - hit the wrong note right at the outset. There was a lot of flag-waving in the book, and enjoying showing how clever he was. Jones was famous a populariser of science, but he seemed to be an attention-seeker, a showman...
This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/
January 16, 2019
I read "The Origin of Species " twice in my life and read and reread sections of it through out my days. The second concentrated reading was of the annotated version from Harvard. I confess I have never read it as well as it demands and deserves. Darwin writes well. He forms his arguments carefully. However, the context of his work differs for us.
Darwin wrote at the beginning of evolutionary studies though predecessors set up what he achieved. The book is a product of the moment Darwin wrote (over several years). Because we don't come at the subject as freshly as did Darwin, the book is like returning to the path he was cutting through presuppositions, new suppositions, and raw data. He quotes references and deals with foundational sources about which we are not as clear as Darwin was but we also bring insight we did not and could not have had while he wrote.
Professor Steve Jones is a gifted scholar who refocuses and reargues Darwin for our time. He writes well, clearly, and to the point. The summary page to the Goodreads reference is excellent. I won't repeat that summary other than to say he gives his readers general scientific frameworks for understanding not only Darwin but also how the science has advanced since 1859.
This is not the only supplementary study one needs to read. Other ghosts to Darwin are those who preceded him.We need and have a fine work on that. We also have incisive studies on the emergence of the theoretical bases of his thinking.
Off the top of my head, I ought to mention Rebecca Stott's "Darwin's Ghosts" as an important introduction to the Jones work. Also one ought to read Ernest Mayr, especially his book for laypeople "What Evolution Is".Even Stephen Jay Gould's large and discursive "The Structure of Evolutionary Theory" is important for a revisionist take on the topic. Professor Jone's book deserves a better review than what I struggle to write. All the works mentioned here are part of exciting intellectual history.
Darwin wrote at the beginning of evolutionary studies though predecessors set up what he achieved. The book is a product of the moment Darwin wrote (over several years). Because we don't come at the subject as freshly as did Darwin, the book is like returning to the path he was cutting through presuppositions, new suppositions, and raw data. He quotes references and deals with foundational sources about which we are not as clear as Darwin was but we also bring insight we did not and could not have had while he wrote.
Professor Steve Jones is a gifted scholar who refocuses and reargues Darwin for our time. He writes well, clearly, and to the point. The summary page to the Goodreads reference is excellent. I won't repeat that summary other than to say he gives his readers general scientific frameworks for understanding not only Darwin but also how the science has advanced since 1859.
This is not the only supplementary study one needs to read. Other ghosts to Darwin are those who preceded him.We need and have a fine work on that. We also have incisive studies on the emergence of the theoretical bases of his thinking.
Off the top of my head, I ought to mention Rebecca Stott's "Darwin's Ghosts" as an important introduction to the Jones work. Also one ought to read Ernest Mayr, especially his book for laypeople "What Evolution Is".Even Stephen Jay Gould's large and discursive "The Structure of Evolutionary Theory" is important for a revisionist take on the topic. Professor Jone's book deserves a better review than what I struggle to write. All the works mentioned here are part of exciting intellectual history.
April 24, 2016
I have read the original Origin, The Beagle and The Descent of Man, plus a number of Darwin biographies as Darwin is my all time scientific hero. This book was on my wishlist for Christmas 2014. It sat on my shelf almost a year before I made a determined effort to read it and yet has still taken me 6 months to read. I've read 16 other books so far this year, including Milton's Paradise Lost, in itself a difficult read. Why?
The subject matter is fascinating and the early sections citing HIV as a microcosm of evolution particularly interesting, especially as my Black Swan version was published in 2001. The juxtaposition of what Darwin postulated and what we then (1999) knew is a thought provoking tool.
Sadly, as another review said, the writing is difficult to stay with and, whilst there are many striking observations throughout, these are interspersed between larger dull blocks of prose.
I am glad I read it and wouldn't dissuade other readers but, be warned, it will at times be a hard slog.
The subject matter is fascinating and the early sections citing HIV as a microcosm of evolution particularly interesting, especially as my Black Swan version was published in 2001. The juxtaposition of what Darwin postulated and what we then (1999) knew is a thought provoking tool.
Sadly, as another review said, the writing is difficult to stay with and, whilst there are many striking observations throughout, these are interspersed between larger dull blocks of prose.
I am glad I read it and wouldn't dissuade other readers but, be warned, it will at times be a hard slog.
Want to read
October 2, 2016#
NC
Own in hardback.
FS: "Two of the worst of all lines of English poetry, written in 1799 by John Hookham Frere: The feather'd race with pinions skim the air - Not so the mackerel, and still less the bear!"
LS: "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law or gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being involved."
NC
Own in hardback.
FS: "Two of the worst of all lines of English poetry, written in 1799 by John Hookham Frere: The feather'd race with pinions skim the air - Not so the mackerel, and still less the bear!"
LS: "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law or gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being involved."
March 31, 2010
A look at The Origin of Species from the vantage point of modern science. Lots of interesting facts, even if some, but not many, slightly dated already- the book was published 10 years ago. All in all, a huge affirmation of Darwin’s work and his achievements.
One complaint. Even though the book is interesting, the style is sometimes convoluted. It doesn’t have the organization, clarity and reading ease of Dawkins’ books.
3.5/5
One complaint. Even though the book is interesting, the style is sometimes convoluted. It doesn’t have the organization, clarity and reading ease of Dawkins’ books.
3.5/5
March 24, 2018
A great idea. To take each chapter of Darwin's book and to re-write it with all the benefit of 21st century science. Full of fascinating facts that slightly overwhelms. The structure of Darwin's book may not be the best as the book becomes very hard to follow. It ends up being more a book to dip into than to read from start to finish. Very impressive however.
October 20, 2012
a fantastic way to take the fog out of reading about and understanding Darwin's theories of evolution. a modern take on brilliant (and proven) concepts, using parallels that you can visualize and absorb.
June 28, 2015
A tremendous slog. The prose is mind numbing. Writing like this us why people won't read scientific books. Somebody needs to slap the editors for not clarifying the text.
August 12, 2019
Darwin's argument, much advanced
Darwin had his bulldog in Thomas Henry Huxley, and perhaps his pit bull in Richard Dawkins, and now he has his ghost in the person of Steve Jones who avers that Darwin's "spirit is on every page" of this eminently readable book. It would be hard to argue with that since the chapter by chapter plan of Jones's book closely follows Darwin's and many of the examples of evolution at work are elaborations on Darwinian themes. As Jones tells us in the Historical Sketch that begins his book, what Darwin was at pains to accomplish in The Origin of Species (1859) was to make "a bold statement of the idea of evolution" while at the same time produce "a work of persuasion as to how it took place."
Darwin knew that the persuasion would be the hard part. Now more than a hundred and fifty years later, many people are still not persuaded, perhaps the vast majority of people. In his introduction Jones notes that, according to an opinion poll taken in 1991, a hundred million Americans believe that "God created man pretty much in his present form at one time during the last ten thousand years." So Jones too has his work cut out for him. Although his lively prose is perhaps more accessible to a modern reader than Darwin's Victorian cadences, he, like Darwin, will reach only a very small minority of the human race. That's a shame since Jones's arguments and evidence for the veritable fact of evolution are overwhelmingly powerful and impossible to deny. They are also fascinating to read. Some examples:
So powerful is the process of evolution that zoos, human institutions that attempt to preserve threatened species, cannot. Instead the animals evolve within the constraints of their new environment and become (eventually) altered versions of their wild ancestors (p. 36).
On the differentiation of sex cells into sperm and egg, Jones writes, "Long ago...sex cells were all the same size and fused to make an embryo... Then self-interest made an appearance and one partner moved to making smaller but more abundant cells. He (for such was, from that moment, his gender) might have hungry young, but there were more of them" (pp. 81-82)
On the "Cambrian Explosion": "...a failure of the geological record rather than of the Darwinian machine. Its radical new groups reflect not a set of exceptional events, but something more banal: the first appearance of animals with parts capable of preservation" (p. 207)
Professor Jones does not limit himself strictly to observations on evolution. His erudition includes references and allusions to literature, classic and modern, notably Shakespearean, where the grave digger from Hamlet makes an appearance in order to further our knowledge of the decomposition of buried bodies. Jones is particularly strong on using knowledge from other disciplines to illustrate the process of evolution. He notes, for example, that a new Hawaiian island, "to be named Loihi" is "under construction" and due to "break the surface in thirty thousand years" (p. 262) On page 287, we learn that there is a fresh water lake beneath the Antarctic ice that scientists want to drill into "in the hope of finding yet another universe of life." On page 231 we are reminded that four hundred million years ago our year was four hundred days long, the evidence coming from the growth rings of corals.
Part of the illuminating power of this book is in the effective use of metaphor and analogy. Thus a new island rising out of the ocean is compared to a new born child, waiting to be invaded by flora and fauna, grasses and/or bacteria, as the case may be. Or, on page 307, junk DNA is compared to "the letters in a word, still retained in the spelling, but become useless in the pronunciation." Twice Jones refers to species becoming nonsexual as "abandoning their males," an expression that sheds stark light on the nature of sexuality. Sometimes Jones decorates his text with sly, humorous asides, as on page 237 where he is discussing grape varieties he notes that "Britain has an Anything but Chardonnay club." Or on page 294 where he makes the observation that our brain has become "so elaborate as--so far--to be unable to understand itself."
The only weakness of this book--and perhaps it is not a weakness at all--is the conversational tone that contrasts somewhat with Darwin's laboriously cast sentences as he oh, so carefully advanced his argument. Jones knows that the argument is long past the point of being overwhelming. What is really needed is a greater acquaintance with the argument by a larger public. Jones's lively tome, packed with fascinating information, is a small, but welcome step in that direction.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Understanding Evolution and Ourselves”
Darwin had his bulldog in Thomas Henry Huxley, and perhaps his pit bull in Richard Dawkins, and now he has his ghost in the person of Steve Jones who avers that Darwin's "spirit is on every page" of this eminently readable book. It would be hard to argue with that since the chapter by chapter plan of Jones's book closely follows Darwin's and many of the examples of evolution at work are elaborations on Darwinian themes. As Jones tells us in the Historical Sketch that begins his book, what Darwin was at pains to accomplish in The Origin of Species (1859) was to make "a bold statement of the idea of evolution" while at the same time produce "a work of persuasion as to how it took place."
Darwin knew that the persuasion would be the hard part. Now more than a hundred and fifty years later, many people are still not persuaded, perhaps the vast majority of people. In his introduction Jones notes that, according to an opinion poll taken in 1991, a hundred million Americans believe that "God created man pretty much in his present form at one time during the last ten thousand years." So Jones too has his work cut out for him. Although his lively prose is perhaps more accessible to a modern reader than Darwin's Victorian cadences, he, like Darwin, will reach only a very small minority of the human race. That's a shame since Jones's arguments and evidence for the veritable fact of evolution are overwhelmingly powerful and impossible to deny. They are also fascinating to read. Some examples:
So powerful is the process of evolution that zoos, human institutions that attempt to preserve threatened species, cannot. Instead the animals evolve within the constraints of their new environment and become (eventually) altered versions of their wild ancestors (p. 36).
On the differentiation of sex cells into sperm and egg, Jones writes, "Long ago...sex cells were all the same size and fused to make an embryo... Then self-interest made an appearance and one partner moved to making smaller but more abundant cells. He (for such was, from that moment, his gender) might have hungry young, but there were more of them" (pp. 81-82)
On the "Cambrian Explosion": "...a failure of the geological record rather than of the Darwinian machine. Its radical new groups reflect not a set of exceptional events, but something more banal: the first appearance of animals with parts capable of preservation" (p. 207)
Professor Jones does not limit himself strictly to observations on evolution. His erudition includes references and allusions to literature, classic and modern, notably Shakespearean, where the grave digger from Hamlet makes an appearance in order to further our knowledge of the decomposition of buried bodies. Jones is particularly strong on using knowledge from other disciplines to illustrate the process of evolution. He notes, for example, that a new Hawaiian island, "to be named Loihi" is "under construction" and due to "break the surface in thirty thousand years" (p. 262) On page 287, we learn that there is a fresh water lake beneath the Antarctic ice that scientists want to drill into "in the hope of finding yet another universe of life." On page 231 we are reminded that four hundred million years ago our year was four hundred days long, the evidence coming from the growth rings of corals.
Part of the illuminating power of this book is in the effective use of metaphor and analogy. Thus a new island rising out of the ocean is compared to a new born child, waiting to be invaded by flora and fauna, grasses and/or bacteria, as the case may be. Or, on page 307, junk DNA is compared to "the letters in a word, still retained in the spelling, but become useless in the pronunciation." Twice Jones refers to species becoming nonsexual as "abandoning their males," an expression that sheds stark light on the nature of sexuality. Sometimes Jones decorates his text with sly, humorous asides, as on page 237 where he is discussing grape varieties he notes that "Britain has an Anything but Chardonnay club." Or on page 294 where he makes the observation that our brain has become "so elaborate as--so far--to be unable to understand itself."
The only weakness of this book--and perhaps it is not a weakness at all--is the conversational tone that contrasts somewhat with Darwin's laboriously cast sentences as he oh, so carefully advanced his argument. Jones knows that the argument is long past the point of being overwhelming. What is really needed is a greater acquaintance with the argument by a larger public. Jones's lively tome, packed with fascinating information, is a small, but welcome step in that direction.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Understanding Evolution and Ourselves”
February 17, 2023
Steve Jones, the author of "Darwin’s Ghost", says that he never met "a biology undergraduate who has read "The Origin of Species".” Considering the stature it already has in the biological world, the absence of attention to Darwin’s theory of evolution is quite concerning. To bring attention to the relevance of the theory throughout history, he takes on the composition of this compact yet slow book.
In the book's opening sections, Jones clarifies his intentions with this book. He does not focus on himself or the work he has done but solely focuses on Darwin’s "The Origin of Species.” He gives the readers a brief overview of the rich and packed history of Darwin’s theory of evolution while pointing out specific details that he later speaks about from a modern perspective. For most readers, this section will be the most exciting section of the entire book as it is well-paced and well-balanced, as opposed to the latter sections of the book, which are relatively repetitive and highly packed.
Each of the following chapters is organized in a way that resembles one another. As mentioned before, Jones’ main intention in this book is to highlight the significance of the underappreciated virtual foundation of evolutionary biology. As so, it pays homage to the original book by following a similar writing structure. The only evident difference between Jones’ version and Darwin’s version is the era of focus. As I found out later after doing further research on the book, Jones, other than the introduction and the interlude, uses Darwin’s literary style but adds variation by giving modern examples and using modern evidence.
The most memorable examples include the variation of HIV AIDS, the domestication of dogs, and the indirect sharing of characteristics like diet, culture, etc. When Jones shares his thoughts on “variation,” he comments on the diversity of AIDS. Though this concept of variation was thoroughly explained by Darwin himself, Jones adds a layer of modernity that is backed up with newly conducted research and history that had yet to happen when "The Origin of Species" was written. Jones gives a brief history of AIDS and people’s efforts to fight against it. “Every virus, from London to San Francisco, gained its resistance with the same mix of four mutations at different points in its genome,” says Jones to prove the existence of variation among species using Ritonavir which was introduced in the mid-1990s.
In the first chapter, Jones extends his observations on variation by looking through the lens of domestication. By giving a highly relatable example, a household dog, Jones successfully illustrates what variation means under the laws of domestication. He says that compared to wolves and foxes, dogs’ direct ancestors, dogs are more submissive and have distinct physical characteristics that distinguish them. He says that this is due to numerous generations of domestication that prioritized submissive puppies.
In chapter five, Jones mentions the effects of use and disuse in evolution. He states that some genes develop more than others due to environmental factors. He extends upon this point for clarification in which he says that many offspring contain characteristics of their parents, not due to genetics but because of environmental factors like diet and the need to migrate. This was very interesting because of how obvious the statement seemed, yet I had the misconception that things like stoutness were caused due to genetics and not a similar lifestyle.
As a high school student reading this book for the first time, I did not have as good of an experience reading this book as some others may have had. Though I learned much about Darwin’s "The Origin of Species," the book was not very enjoyable. The book's contents were highly educational and genuinely entertaining, but the writing style was not optimal. It felt like I was reading a research paper that could have easily been a well-flowing story. I understand that it follows a pre-determined structure, but if I had written this book, I would have been more creative with the writing structure and would make it more appealing to a younger audience.
In the book's opening sections, Jones clarifies his intentions with this book. He does not focus on himself or the work he has done but solely focuses on Darwin’s "The Origin of Species.” He gives the readers a brief overview of the rich and packed history of Darwin’s theory of evolution while pointing out specific details that he later speaks about from a modern perspective. For most readers, this section will be the most exciting section of the entire book as it is well-paced and well-balanced, as opposed to the latter sections of the book, which are relatively repetitive and highly packed.
Each of the following chapters is organized in a way that resembles one another. As mentioned before, Jones’ main intention in this book is to highlight the significance of the underappreciated virtual foundation of evolutionary biology. As so, it pays homage to the original book by following a similar writing structure. The only evident difference between Jones’ version and Darwin’s version is the era of focus. As I found out later after doing further research on the book, Jones, other than the introduction and the interlude, uses Darwin’s literary style but adds variation by giving modern examples and using modern evidence.
The most memorable examples include the variation of HIV AIDS, the domestication of dogs, and the indirect sharing of characteristics like diet, culture, etc. When Jones shares his thoughts on “variation,” he comments on the diversity of AIDS. Though this concept of variation was thoroughly explained by Darwin himself, Jones adds a layer of modernity that is backed up with newly conducted research and history that had yet to happen when "The Origin of Species" was written. Jones gives a brief history of AIDS and people’s efforts to fight against it. “Every virus, from London to San Francisco, gained its resistance with the same mix of four mutations at different points in its genome,” says Jones to prove the existence of variation among species using Ritonavir which was introduced in the mid-1990s.
In the first chapter, Jones extends his observations on variation by looking through the lens of domestication. By giving a highly relatable example, a household dog, Jones successfully illustrates what variation means under the laws of domestication. He says that compared to wolves and foxes, dogs’ direct ancestors, dogs are more submissive and have distinct physical characteristics that distinguish them. He says that this is due to numerous generations of domestication that prioritized submissive puppies.
In chapter five, Jones mentions the effects of use and disuse in evolution. He states that some genes develop more than others due to environmental factors. He extends upon this point for clarification in which he says that many offspring contain characteristics of their parents, not due to genetics but because of environmental factors like diet and the need to migrate. This was very interesting because of how obvious the statement seemed, yet I had the misconception that things like stoutness were caused due to genetics and not a similar lifestyle.
As a high school student reading this book for the first time, I did not have as good of an experience reading this book as some others may have had. Though I learned much about Darwin’s "The Origin of Species," the book was not very enjoyable. The book's contents were highly educational and genuinely entertaining, but the writing style was not optimal. It felt like I was reading a research paper that could have easily been a well-flowing story. I understand that it follows a pre-determined structure, but if I had written this book, I would have been more creative with the writing structure and would make it more appealing to a younger audience.
January 28, 2022
I remember finding this vaguely unsatisfactory back when it was new, and I'm afraid I still do (with the additional caveat that I suspect the 'new science', e.g. the section on AIDS, is now somewhat dated as well - although the concept of tracing the genesis of different sub-strains of AIDS was very interesting). The author doesn't seem to be clear about his audience: at several points he seems to be under the impression that he is addressing and converting an audience of evolution sceptics, who are highly unlikely to be reading this book in the first place and wouldn't have got that far into the text if they had. Potential readers are really not likely to be doubting the very existence of evolution (and outside the United States, they're about as common as flat-earth believers), and anyone who is actually interested in the subject would expect any explanatory justification to take place at the very beginning of the volume...
The conceit of basing the book on Darwin's Origin doesn't really work out for me either, neither in the cases where the author uses the conclusions and chapter prefaces of Darwin's chapters to sandwich his own greatly different content, nor in the cases where he has spliced whole phrases of Darwin into his own prose (yes, the 19th-century prose does stick out uncomfortably). It's an ingenious idea to link the two books - and of course it's a selling-point for this one, actively billed as "an updated Origin of Species - but the execution in practice doesn't live up to the concept. It would have worked better if the author hadn't attempted to be quite so literal about it.
There is some interesting material in here, though I don't know how well it necessarily stands up to more recent science (which is to say that I actually don't know, but have a vague impression that discoveries have been made). But Jones is no Dawkins, and he doesn't always have the knack of holding the reader's attention. I'm left, as before, with the feeling that a better book could have been somehow made out of the same starting concept.
The conceit of basing the book on Darwin's Origin doesn't really work out for me either, neither in the cases where the author uses the conclusions and chapter prefaces of Darwin's chapters to sandwich his own greatly different content, nor in the cases where he has spliced whole phrases of Darwin into his own prose (yes, the 19th-century prose does stick out uncomfortably). It's an ingenious idea to link the two books - and of course it's a selling-point for this one, actively billed as "an updated Origin of Species - but the execution in practice doesn't live up to the concept. It would have worked better if the author hadn't attempted to be quite so literal about it.
There is some interesting material in here, though I don't know how well it necessarily stands up to more recent science (which is to say that I actually don't know, but have a vague impression that discoveries have been made). But Jones is no Dawkins, and he doesn't always have the knack of holding the reader's attention. I'm left, as before, with the feeling that a better book could have been somehow made out of the same starting concept.
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March 5, 2023Darwin’s Ghost: The Origin of Species is a book written by renowned geneticist and evolutionary biologist Steve Jones that expands on Charles Darwin’s original theory of evolution. It incorporates new findings in the fields of science, and most importantly, through mendelian genetics after Darwin’s book was published.
The book starts with a brief summary of Darwin’s Life and then dives into the research that was done since the publication of “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. He describes speciation, behavior, ecology, and genetics. It is challenging to summarize all the content of the book since it covers such a wide range of topics. Still, some interesting points include the importance of genetic variation and how human activities are threatening such diversity, the complexity of speciation, the impact of human evolution on forming today’s society, the role of randomization in evolution resulting in surprising genetic mutations, and the importance of conservation of the ecosystem and preserving biodiversity.
Some of the strengths of the book include the clarity with which Jones presents complex scientific concepts, which is the exact opposite of Darwin’s original theory of evolution. Darwin mainly uses long sentences and paragraphs along with archaic language, making it difficult for the reader to understand. What stands out about Jones’ book is its ability to not oversimplify the matter as it maintains a scientific approach throughout. Another strength is its focus on practical applications of the theory of evolution. He discusses how the principles can be applied to real-world problems, including the development of new antibiotics and the eradication of invasive species.
Overall, Darwin’s Ghost: The Origin of Species by Steve Jones is a highly informative book and an update to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, it will be of interest to anyone who is curious about the evolution of the natural world.
The book starts with a brief summary of Darwin’s Life and then dives into the research that was done since the publication of “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. He describes speciation, behavior, ecology, and genetics. It is challenging to summarize all the content of the book since it covers such a wide range of topics. Still, some interesting points include the importance of genetic variation and how human activities are threatening such diversity, the complexity of speciation, the impact of human evolution on forming today’s society, the role of randomization in evolution resulting in surprising genetic mutations, and the importance of conservation of the ecosystem and preserving biodiversity.
Some of the strengths of the book include the clarity with which Jones presents complex scientific concepts, which is the exact opposite of Darwin’s original theory of evolution. Darwin mainly uses long sentences and paragraphs along with archaic language, making it difficult for the reader to understand. What stands out about Jones’ book is its ability to not oversimplify the matter as it maintains a scientific approach throughout. Another strength is its focus on practical applications of the theory of evolution. He discusses how the principles can be applied to real-world problems, including the development of new antibiotics and the eradication of invasive species.
Overall, Darwin’s Ghost: The Origin of Species by Steve Jones is a highly informative book and an update to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, it will be of interest to anyone who is curious about the evolution of the natural world.
June 8, 2023
Good book but very dated by this point, very sexist and male leaning. I would write a longer review, but there are far better books out there that talk about evolution. Darwin opened the gates for modern science and stepping away from untrue stories of creation. The whole books is jumbled, you can tell the author is trying to be Darwin when he’s not. He jumps from example to example, flexing his knowledge of facts, but ultimately losing the reader and never really quite getting to the point. He focuses solely on male experience and male aspects of species, talking in depth of penises at one point but the completely ignores the complexity of the female experience. There is only one consideration, true of Darwin, survival of the fittest. There is already scores of research suggesting pleasure and seeking ease as a dominating factor for evolution. This book is good for the time it came out - 1999. But it is now outdated tremendously. Highly suggest reading more current books of evolution, unless you’re a man who likes his ego stroked that the male experience is the only reason for evolution.
January 13, 2023
Not a good read !
I found "Darwin's Ghost" (my first attempt to learn more about Darwin and recent progress on his evolution theory) rather difficult to read. Certain fragments are very interesting and even shocking to the layman (just for example: Earth's history, details about bacterias, ants, bees and behavior of cuckoos and other birds/animals). And OK, I understand: there is no charity in Nature, everything comes down to DNA, its mobility, exchange, transmittance, etc.(meaning DNA science is a key in today's research on evolution). However I had to struggle quite often over many sections of this text. Swamped by chaos of too many examples, "Darwin's Ghost's" huge disadvantage is a lack of 'Glossary of Scientific Terms' - a MUST for any popular science book!
I found "Darwin's Ghost" (my first attempt to learn more about Darwin and recent progress on his evolution theory) rather difficult to read. Certain fragments are very interesting and even shocking to the layman (just for example: Earth's history, details about bacterias, ants, bees and behavior of cuckoos and other birds/animals). And OK, I understand: there is no charity in Nature, everything comes down to DNA, its mobility, exchange, transmittance, etc.(meaning DNA science is a key in today's research on evolution). However I had to struggle quite often over many sections of this text. Swamped by chaos of too many examples, "Darwin's Ghost's" huge disadvantage is a lack of 'Glossary of Scientific Terms' - a MUST for any popular science book!
March 4, 2019
1997'de yazılan ve 2004'ten beri kitap rafımda okunmayı bekleyen bir kitaptı. Artık genetik alanında yüksek lisans yapıyorum, bu kitabı anlayacak kapasiteye geldim diyerek sonunda okuyabildim. Maalesef bu kitap için geç kalmışım. İçerisindeki bilgilerden bazıları artık günümüzde geçerliliğini kaybetmiş bilgiler ve kitapta bilinmediği söylenen şeylerin çoğu da artık keşfedildi. Keşke 2004'te okuyabilseydim seni.
Yine de 1997'ye göre yorumlarsak, Türlerin Kökeni kitabında o zaman için Darwin'in içini dolduramadığı boşlukları Steve Jones doldurmaya çalışmış, o yıla kadarki gelişmeleri ekleyerek teoriyi güncellemiş ve bence çok da iyi yapmış. Yine de Türlerin Kökeni kadar başarılı bulmadım.
Yine de 1997'ye göre yorumlarsak, Türlerin Kökeni kitabında o zaman için Darwin'in içini dolduramadığı boşlukları Steve Jones doldurmaya çalışmış, o yıla kadarki gelişmeleri ekleyerek teoriyi güncellemiş ve bence çok da iyi yapmış. Yine de Türlerin Kökeni kadar başarılı bulmadım.
October 7, 2025
Jones reevaluates Darwin's points in his book 'the Origin' on evolution and natural selection with revised modern insights. He structures the chapters like Darwin's, and summarizing Darwin's points, then adding his arguments based on modern data. He uses anecdotes and examples of organisms in each chapter to emphasize his points which is an interesting insights to gain knowledge in a wide range of animals.
I thought personally it was a bit wordy and hard to understand. I understand that it was an academic book, I guess I'm not at the point where I can understand such high level academia.
I thought personally it was a bit wordy and hard to understand. I understand that it was an academic book, I guess I'm not at the point where I can understand such high level academia.
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