Lamarck's Revenge: How Epigenetics Is Revolutionizing Our Understanding of Evolution's Past and Present

by Peter D. Ward

Epigenetics upends natural selection and genetic mutation as the sole engines of evolution, and offers startling insights into our future heritable traits.

In the 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described epigenetics to explain the inheritance of acquired characteristics; however, his theory was supplanted in the 1800s by Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection through heritable genetic mutations. But natural selection could not adequately explain how rapidly species re-diversified and repopulated after mass extinctions. Now advances in the study of DNA and RNA have resurrected epigenetics, which can create radical physical and physiological changes in subsequent generations by the simple addition of a single small molecule, thus passing along a propensity for molecules to attach in the same places in the next generation.

Epigenetics is a complex process, but paleontologist and astrobiologist Peter Ward breaks it down for general readers, using the epigenetic paradigm to reexamine how the history of our species―from deep time to the outbreak of the Black Plague and into the present―has left its mark on our physiology, behavior, and intelligence. Most alarming are chapters about epigenetic changes we are undergoing now triggered by toxins, environmental pollutants, famine, poor nutrition, and overexposure to violence.

Lamarck’s Revenge is an eye-opening and provocative exploration of how traits are inherited, and how outside influences drive what we pass along to our progeny.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Evolution, Biology, History, Genetics, Medicine

288 pages, Hardcover

Published August 14, 2018

About the author

Peter Douglas Ward is an American paleontologist and professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle. He has written popular numerous science works for a general audience and is also an adviser to the Microbes Mind Forum.

His parents, Joseph and Ruth Ward, moved to Seattle following World War II. Ward grew up in the Seward Park neighborhood of Seattle, attending Franklin High School, and he spent time during summers at a family summer cabin on Orcas Island.

Ward's academic career has included teaching posts and professional connections with Ohio State University, the NASA Astrobiology Institute, the University of California, McMaster University (where he received his PhD in 1976), and the California Institute of Technology. He was elected as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in 1984.

Ward specializes in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and mass extinctions generally. He has published books on biodiversity and the fossil record. His 1992 book On Methuselah's Trail received a Golden Trilobite Award from the Paleontological Society as the best popular science book of the year. Ward also serves as an adjunct professor of zoology and astronomy.

His book The End of Evolution was published in 1994. In it, he discussed in three parts, each about an extinction event on earth.

Ward is co-author, along with astronomer Donald Brownlee, of the best-selling Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe, published in 2000. In that work, the authors suggest that the universe is fundamentally hostile to advanced life, and that, while simple life might be abundant, the likelihood of widespread lifeforms as advanced as those on Earth is marginal. In 2001, his book Future Evolution was published, featuring illustrations by artist Alexis Rockman.

Ward and Brownlee are also co-authors of the book The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the New Science of Astrobiology Charts the Ultimate Fate of the World, which discusses the Earth's future and eventual demise as it is ultimately destroyed by a warming and expanding Sun.

According to Ward's 2007 book, Under a Green Sky, all but one of the major mass extinction events in history have been brought on by climate change—the same global warming that occurs today. The author argues that events in the past can give valuable information about the future of our planet. Reviewer Doug Brown goes further, stating "this is how the world ends." Scientists at the Universities of York and Leeds also warn that the fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction.

Reviews

[Elentarri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it has interesting information about the role of epigenetics in evolution. Nessa Carey beautifully described the biological functioning of epigenetics in her book The Epigenetic Revolution, but didn't focus on how this effects the evolution of species in any great detail. This book deals with epigenetics and how this effects the genetics and evolution of species, as well as the Theory of Evolution. This book starts off with a history of science focused on Lamarck and Darwin, then a superficial explanation of what epigenetics is and how it works, followed by the effects of epigenetics on evolution, then the history of life (especially focusing on the sudden expansion of life and body forms after the great mass extinctions), then human history from the Ice Age to present times and our possible future (with far too much speculation).

One of the major problems with this book are the exceptionally lengthy run-on sentences, made longer by the really long clauses in parenthesis stuffed within the very long sentences, especially in the first half of the book (the author settles down a bit in the second half of the book). There is also a great deal of repetition with the information, not to mention all the personal opinions and biases (repeated constantly) by the author, all the tangential "stuff" (repeated constantly) about climate warming, pollution, evil parents, great extinction events and their causes, condemnation of other scientists (especially Darwin) because they didn't automatically worship Lamarck (whose ideas are simplified and used as a vehicle in this book), random insertions of irrelevant material, not to mention the political asides. The organisation of the book could also use some assistance and the author jumps all over the place (especially in the first half of the book), and sub-sections just end in the middle of developing an idea (apparently editors are an extinct species). The explanations dealing with epigenetics in general (in the first third of the book) are not particularly clear or coherent, and the run-on, multi-parenthesized (is this even a word?) sentences do not help in understanding this relatively new concept.

If you want to know about epigenetics, read The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey. If you want a book about epigenetics and evolution, wait for someone else to write a more coherent text (maybe one day Nick Lane can cover this topic).

Note: If you found this review long winded, convoluted, with too many parenthesized run-on sentences... well, that's what the book is like.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

The slow progress of Darwinian evolutionary theory seems to be lacking evidence in the fossil record, but a paradigm shift maybe in the offering as epigenetics might explain why evolution happens so fast that potential fossil specimens can’t be put in the strata. Lamarck’s Revenge: How Epigenetics in Revolutionizing Our Understanding of Evolution’s Past and Present by Peter Ward attempts to show that epigenetics should be incorporated into the understanding of current evolutionary paradigm thanks to new evidence thanks to various disciplines.

Ward puts forth that Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described what is now being call “epigenetics” in his explanation of the inheritance of acquired characteristics, but do to unfriendly colleagues and later Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection Lamarck became a scientific laughingstock for over a century and a half. However, Ward states that as DNA became to be understood and brought into consideration in its role in evolution the ideas of Lamarck began to return to study and now needs to be incorporated into the paradigm of the theory of evolution. Ward then goes through the history of life, especially focusing on the sudden expansion of life and body forms after the great mass extinctions, as well as the history of humanity from the Ice Age through today and our possible future.

Unfortunately instead of a straightforward emphasis on Lamarck’s ideas, epigenetics, and how it can be seen in how evolution has progressed for a general audience, Ward decided to hero-worship Lamarck so much and attacking several scientists but particularly Darwin that the first quarter-to-third of the book was slow grind until he finally focused on epigenetics and discussing evolution through that prism. However because of the amount of pages spent deifying Lamarck—Ward literally, though admittedly with sarcasm said Christians should worship Lamarck not God—and demonizing Darwin that Ward had to rush all over the place in explanations about how life evolved and developed while implying assertions without backing them up.

Lamarck’s Revenge while giving this reader a better knowledge about how the history of the world is seen through evolutionary theory, is nothing more than a book by an agenda driven author akin to current political pundits and lowest-class of pop historians. If fact because of Ward’s bias, I don’t even know if my new knowledge is actually accurate but in any case my new limited understanding of epigenetics would have been better served if he had decided to focus on that instead of wasting page space on the deification and demonizing of long-dead scientists. As a general reader I don’t recommend this to others.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program in exchange for an honest review.

[Seth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book isn’t edited for spelling and grammatical mistakes. For example the paragraph starting on page 120 is nearly incomprehensible because of editing errors. “Merger” instead of “meager”. Looks like the book was fed through autocorrect or something. Annoying.

Epigenetics drives evolution during times of stress and Darwinian evolution drives evolution during the vast periods of relative calm. That’s why we see little intermediate links between species in the fossil record because during global catastrophes, epigenetics takes over and speeds up evolution. There, I just saved you a lot of headache reading this mess of a book. Oh and also the author REALLY hates all recreational drugs and environmental pollution. I just can’t believe caffeine causes any epigenetics changes. Also he believes the world is getting more violent despite all statistics to the opposite and believes this violence will dissipate in 2020 for reasons that aren’t really elucidated upon but he keeps asserting. It was probably cut out in an editing error.

Otherwise the topic is interesting but the author also could have used an editor. Off topic, debatable riffs like saying the British press is controlled by the titled aristocracy. Bounced from topic to topic with no segue-way. Random short discussions of history with no relation to anything about epigenetics like a page long outline of British attitudes towards vice in the 17th century for no discernible reason. That’s not epigenetics, just people reacting to life in a politically turbulent country. Just a terrible, totally half-baked book about an interesting topic. Sub-sections just end in the middle of developing an idea. Just needs more proof-reading. Whoever allowed this to go to press should be severely reprimanded.

[Danielle T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmm. There's some nice summary bits in the beginning about what epigenetics is, but even with extensive footnotes I don't feel like there's enough support for the idea that epigenetics was the key to speciation after mass extinction events (though it's an intriguing hypothesis). Many of the footnotes are to news articles rather than the studies described in said articles, and literature cited are sometimes >5 years old (which is understandable given the time it takes to publish a book...but writing in 2014, a 2009 study might not be necessarily cutting edge).

The last third is a list of factors that might be affecting our epigenome, and while there's recent studies to indicate the possibility of such, it starts to creep towards fearmongering. In the epilogue, Ward complains about the blowback he got for saying that stress from the 2016 election among other things would affect us epigenetically- while that could be likely, he quipped it without evidence so I don't think he's the wronged party there. As scientists, we should be careful and make assertions if they can be backed up by evidence- otherwise it's just noise.

[Stan Prager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of: Lamarck’s Revenge: How Epigenetics is Revolutionizing Our Understanding of Evolution’s Past and Present, by Peter Ward
by Stan Prager (6-19-20)

If you have studied evolution inside or outside of the classroom, you have no doubt encountered the figure of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the discredited notion of the inheritance of acquired characteristics attributed to him known as “Lamarckism.” This has most famously been represented in the example of giraffes straining to reach fruit on ever-higher branches, which results in the development of longer necks over succeeding generations. Never mind that Lamarck did not develop this concept—and while he echoed it, it remained only a tiny part of the greater body of his work—he was yet doomed to have it unfortunately cling to his legacy ever since. This is most regrettable, because Lamarck—who died three decades before Charles Darwin shook the spiritual and scientific world with his 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species—was actually a true pioneer in the field of evolutionary biology that recognized there were forces at work that put organisms on an ineluctable road to greater complexity. It was Darwin who identified this force as “natural selection,” and Lamarck was not only denied credit for his contributions to the field, but otherwise maligned and ridiculed.
But even if he did not invent the idea, what if Lamarck was right all along to believe, at least in part, that acquired characteristics can be passed along transgenerationally after all—perhaps not on the kind of macro scale manifested by giraffe necks, but in other more subtle yet no less critical components to the principles of evolution? That is the subject of Lamarck’s Revenge: How Epigenetics is Revolutionizing Our Understanding of Evolution’s Past and Present, by the noted paleontologist Peter Ward. The book’s cover naturally showcases a series of illustrated giraffes with ever-lengthening necks! Ward is an enthusiast for the relatively new, still developing—and controversial—science of epigenetics, which advances the hypothesis that certain circumstances can trigger markers that can be transmitted from parent to child by changing the gene expression without altering the primary structure of the DNA itself. Let’s imagine a Holocaust survivor, for instance: can the trauma of Auschwitz cut so deep that the devastating psychological impact of that horrific experience will be passed on to his children, and his children’s children?
This is heady stuff, of course. We should pause for the uninitiated and explain the nature of Darwinian natural selection—the key mechanism of the Theory of Evolution—in its simplest terms. The key to survival for all organizations is adaptation. Random mutations occur over time, and if one of those mutations turns out to be better adapted to the environment, it is more likely to reproduce and thus pass along its genes to its offspring. Over time, through “gradualism,” this can lead to the rise of new species. Complexity breeds complexity, and that is the road traveled by all organisms that has led from the simplest prokaryote unicellular organism—the 3.5-billion-year-old photosynthetic cyanobacteria—to modern homo sapiens sapiens. This is, of course, a very, very long game; so long in fact that Darwin—who lived in a time when the age of the earth was vastly underestimated—fretted that there was not enough time for evolution as he envisioned it to occur. Advances in geology later determined that the earth was about 4.5 billion years old, which solved that problem, but still left other aspects of evolution unexplained by gradualism alone. The brilliant Stephen Jay Gould (along with Niles Eldredge) came along in 1972 and proposed that rather than gradualism most evolution more likely occurred through what he called “punctuated equilibrium,” often triggered by a catastrophic change in the environment. Debate has raged ever since, but it may well be that evolution is guided by forces of both gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. But could there still be other forces at work?
Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance represents another so-called force and is at the cutting edge of research in evolutionary biology today. But has the hypothesis of epigenetics been demonstrated to be truly plausible? And the answer to that is—maybe. In other words, there does seem to be studies that support transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, most famously—as detailed in Lamarck’s Revenge—in what has been dubbed the “Dutch Hunger Winter Syndrome,” that saw children born during a famine smaller than those born before the famine, and with a later, greater risk of glucose intolerance, conditions then passed down to successive generations. On the other hand, the evidence for epigenetics has not been as firmly established as some proponents, such as Ward, might have us believe.
Lamarck’s Revenge is a very well-written and accessible scientific account of epigenetics for a popular audience, and while I have read enough evolutionary science to follow Ward’s arguments with some competence, I remain a layperson who can hardly endorse or counter his claims. The body of the narrative is comprised of Ward’s repeated examples of what he identifies as holes in traditional evolutionary biology that can only be explained by epigenetics. Is he right? I simply lack the expertise to say. I should note that I received this book as part of an “Early Reviewers” program, so I felt a responsibility to read it cover-to-cover, although my own interest lapsed as it moved beyond my own depth in the realm of evolutionary biology.
I should note that this is all breaking news, and as we appraise it we should be mindful of how those on the fringes of evangelicalism, categorically opposed to the science of human evolution, will cling to any debate over mechanisms in natural selection to proclaim it all a sham sponsored by Satan—who has littered the earth with fossils to deceive us—to challenge the truth of the “Garden of Eden” related in the Book of Genesis. Once dubbed “Creationists,” they have since rebranded themselves in association with the pseudoscience of so-called “Intelligent Design,” which somehow remains part of the curriculum at select accredited universities. Science is self-correcting. These folks are not, so don’t ever let yourself be distracted by their fictional supernatural narrative. Evolution—whether through gradualism and/or punctuated equilibrium and/or epigenetics—remains central to both modern biology and modern medicine, and that is not the least bit controversial among scientific professionals. But if you want to find out more about the implications of epigenetics for human evolution, then I recommend that you pick up Lamarck’s Revenge and challenge yourself to learn more!


Note: While you are at it, if you want to learn more about 3.5-billion-year-old photosynthetic cyanobacteria, I highly recommend this:

Review of: Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth’s Earliest Fossils, by J. William Schopf

Review of: Lamarck’s Revenge: How Epigenetics is Revolutionizing Our Understanding of Evolution’s Past and Present, by Peter Ward https://regarp.com/2020/06/19/review-...

[Ricardo Moreno Mauro · Rating 2 out of 5]

En este libro el autor nos presenta un nuevo tipo de herencia, que no es la clásica de mendel, y que va en por un vía paralela a lo que postula Darwin en la evolución de las especies. Es un buen libro, auqnue en los lúltimos capitulos no aportan en nada a su tesis. Para mi gusto faltaron dar ejemplos más concretos.
Si no eres biólog, este libro será muy bueno para para tí
Si erea biólogo (como yo) te quedaras con la mitad del libro.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but frequently repetitive introduction to epigenetics and its place in the paradigm of evolutionary theory.

[Nicole Cober-Lake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although there are some thought-provoking ideas in this book, there were also flaws so serious that they impacted my enjoyment of it. The editing on the sentence level is awful, and the frequent grammatical errors were very distracting. On an even more serious note, the structure of Ward's argument lacked coherence. Not only are there structural problems, with examples included at strange points in the narrative or scientific explanations offered long after the discussions of the impact of a technology or process have begun, but there are missing logical steps, as well. For example, Ward does offers a concise but clear explanation of three basic types of epigentic change - gene methylation, histone changes that affect the physical structure of DNA, and changes to small RNA that affects DNA function - but then fails to discuss the ways in which these changes actually impact the functioning of an organism. In my opinion, there is also insufficient discussion of the problem of germ line alteration, which compromises Ward's thesis that epigentic change experienced during the lifetime of an individual can be passed on to descendants. The most compelling part of the book for me was Ward's suggestion that evolutionary change through epigenetic processes can occur much more quickly than classical Darwinian mutation and selection, and thus could underlie major periods of rapid and significant evolutionary change, such as occurred during the Cambrian explosion. He writes convincingly of the extent of the impact environmental change can have on the individual, and he is the first author I've read who attempts to link behavioral changes to genetic changes. The problem is that he advances these interesting ideas without giving the reader the coherent scientific explanations that would establish them.

[Scott Lupo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book on a subject I am not that well versed on but would like to learn more. The book is more of a persuasive argument that epigenetics plays a far more important role in evolution than just natural selection and genetic mutations over millennia. Even Darwin's theory comes up short on explaining how such a wide variety of species could repopulate so quickly after mass extinction events (i.e., the Cambrian Explosion). Epigenetics has made a resurgence lately as science has advanced enough to be able to thoroughly study and better understand DNA and RNA and how changes to each can become heritable. These changes are not mutations but rather molecules that can inhibit or produce proteins thereby expressing or not expressing certain genes. Furthermore, these molecules that can cause these changes occur as a result of behavior or environmental changes (stressors). These changes could then become heritable (not always). There is still a lot to be explored but this book lays the foundation for what epigenetics is and how it works with the Theory of Evolution not as a competing theory.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very pleased to receive this one for review. I am a big science nerd, and learning about epigenetics sounded fascinating. Unfortunately, the writing was not as good as the concept. Much of the data was repetitive, and the book was organized in a very strange way. It wasn't until I was almost 1/3 of the way through that the book got down to specific examples of epigenetics in action that it really became interesting for me. If you are really interested in the subject, this might appeal to you, but I would bet there are better books out there.

Thanks you to Library Thing and the publisher for giving the me the chance to read this one. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. My opinions remain my own.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the science/medicine books that should be read by enquiring minds. Ward explains current genetic theories very clearly, if you are not "up" on this topic. And as we are all and always evolving epigenetically, we should all be aware of what is happening to us and our genes without our awareness. Particularly if you are having or have had children, for some epigenetic changes do transfer to our children. Mothers even have their children's genetic information inside their own bodies; fathers genetic somatic packages may well be different for each conception. How epigenetic changes occur, how they are maintained and transferred etc. are important to know and fascinating to know.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to epigenetics, the study of how heritable genetic changes can be influenced by external factors in a single generation ... arguably a revival of Lamarck's concept of inheritable characteristics, and a supplement albeit not a replace of our understanding of Darwinian evolution.

[Łukasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrible editing, other than that groundbraking. Why did it take us so long to understand such a basic principle?

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited when I saw this book had come out. I study development and evolution, and one of the first books to get me excited on the topic was Gottlieb's "Individual Development and Evolution: The genesis of novel behavior. " A brilliant book that laid out the modern synthesis and pointed out where it had fallen short, arguing that behavior and environment were key ingredients to evolution and should not be treated as after thoughts. However, this brilliant book was published in 1991. The science of epigenetics and evo devo have come a long way as molecular technology has rapidly become more advanced and cheaper. I was hoping this book would pick up where Gottlieb's book left off. But instead I found a book by an author, who is a decently good writer, but who go excited about an idea without learning the science. A real shame given he is a Ph.D. in another field.

Instead of bringing together genetics and development as scientists have been doing for so many years before this book, he tries to set up Darwin and natural selection as a straw man to be brought down by the field of epigenetics. In reality epigenetics and evo devo offer a fantastic mechanism for the creation of variation upon which natural selection can act. A solution to problem that Darwin ran into from the beginning. If natural selection winnows away variation and increases survival and reproduction, where does new variation come from when the selective pressures change? Instead of Epigenetics tearing down the idea of Natural selection, it strengthens it.

The other major mistake Ward makes is confusing this creation of variation and population wide change. Yes the production of variation is an important step, but if you just have a whole bunch of novel traits, you don't get a new species, or even a new common population wide variant. You just get a bunch of variation. Natural selection offers the mechanism by which this variation can become a common trait, the really cool thing is that the common trait doesn't even have to be something static like brown eyes, it can be the ability to adapt to the environment in ones own life time. The ability to have more plastic development can itself be selected for. How cool is that?!

Ward deals with the science in such a ham fisted way that he often gets things wrong. He is so busy trying to make a point that he ignores the science and misses the most intriguing experiments and questions. I would not suggest this book to anyone interested in learning more about Lamark, evo devo, epigenetics, or evolution in general. If you are someone getting into one of these fields and would like to work out your critical thinking skills and work on pulling apart bad arguments, then by all means jump right in and have at it.

[Gregory Shepard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't wish to undermine the importance the field of epigenetics, but what could have been a decent explanation of the origins of Lamarck's hypotheses applied to our current discoveries within the field of evolution is stymied by the author's sensationalist leaps about the origins of life alongside not-so-subtle swipes at "the Darwinists" who are almost posed as enemies in this book. The delicate and chaotic interplay of how biological life is developed, replicated, modified, and passed on through both genetic and epigenetic processes that constantly impact each other at all stages and at all times is transformed into a hierarchy of importance that I found unscientific and unreadable.

This book should have focused on the epigenetic affects of post-extinction periods on pre-existing genomes, and on our modern life of self-generated stress and pollution, of war and starvation that the author rightly claims can and will have an impact on ours and our descendants' bodies. Instead, to my eyes it appears to be a thinly veiled ploy to establish the same dogmatic primacy of "Lamarckism" that the author claims is being unfairly lorded over them by others, and was willing to rely on people like Trofim Lysenko who caused massive food shortages in the Soviet Union with his Lamarckian ideas to try and give it some credibility. Lysenko may have had a profound impact on epigenetics, but it was largely with the legacy of starvation that scars the genome of countless people across the former USSR because of his methods.

Your money is better spent on the paywalls to the actual scientific research that is being released in this field to understand it.

[Raluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is arguing that our environment and the events that mark our lives can have a great impact on our bodies but also on our DNA, changes that we can pass on to our offspring. These new theories seem to tie in Darwin’s evolution of species with the way that organisms are currently evolving. I felt like there were a lot of studies being presented as possible evidence but that’s just it…I guess data is still not conclusive enough to have definite proof to support this theory and who knows if we ever will. The certainties are that there s a multitude of factors that influence how we grow up and how the cells in our bodies evolve, like the things that we eat, the job that we have, the level of stress we live with, the water we wash with and so on and this can be seen through certain genes that are activated at ine point in our lives or not, depending on all those factors. There’s no good news here because the damage that we’ve done is irreversible, it’s just a different way of understanding how we’ve evolved and that our genes keep mutating because of these external factors.

[Jonathan Hockey · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good subject matter, spoiled by irrelevancies and a poor understanding and misdirection towards topics nothing to do with what the book purports to be about. On top of this he speaks of epigenetics as a "mechanism" in his conclusion. If there is one thing we are learning about the true revolution of epigenetics, it's that mechanistic analogies are well and truly outdated. Epigenetic, environmental responsiveness of our genetics makes our biology and evolution the very opposite of mechanistic, which would be instead a system that is fully determined in its responses by its internal composition. The irrelevant discussion about climate at the end was also a major disappointment. This book is a prime example of how to misunderstand and undermine a great potential conceptual revolution totally and utterly by trying to hijack and appropriate it in line with the current old and outdated ways of proceeding in scientific endeavour.

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book... but I got halfway through and gave up (something I never do).

I was expecting an update on recent studies about epigenetics and how these data support Lamarckian ideas about evolution. Instead, Ward argues using generalities and his main idea (which is mentioned at least twice a page) is that Darwinian evolution is too slow to produce the diversity and disparity of life forms that appear during events such as the Cambrian Explosion. That’s it - that’s the argument.

I found Ward’s writing style extremely repetitive and boring. I kept reading simply because I was waiting for the book to begin. 130 pages later, it still hadn’t.

I hope that the second half of the book gets better, but I am not willing to spend any more time reading the same ideas over and over to find out.

[Leanna Aker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will not be for everyone. Having a solid general understanding of biology, cells, DNA, evolution, etc. will help you understand what is being proposed here. This is one of the most fascinating biology books I have read in a long time! It discusses the science of epigenetics, and now that science actually supports a "neo-Lamarckian" revision to the theory of evolution (as proposed by Darwin). Lots of interesting thought experiments, analyses, and ethical questions to consider.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hit-and-miss book on epigenetics, Lamarck's Revenge combines brilliant flashes of insight with some confusing choices of topic while, to my taste, explaining too little and asserting too much. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing style is inelegant at best - sentences range from awkward to incomprehensible. Contains some good information, but the organization is flawed and the whole book has poor flow. I didn't mind reading it, but I wouldn't recommend it, especially for those without a strong background in biology.

[Heather Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and describes the process of change in genes happening in response to new conditions (eg starvation resulting in obesity in the next generation and these modification passing on to the following generation). Very creepy side to this shown in the last section of the book - using the science to for instance create “super soldiers”.

[Ellie O'Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the biochemistry went over my head, but didn't prevent me from seeing the evidence for Lamarck over Darwin.

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much speculation in the book for me. The author wants to base everything in biological and human history on epigenetics. He claimed so much that he didn’t convince me at all.

[Mark Koester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about evolution, mass extinction, epigenetics, dinosaur fossils and more.

[Joanne McKinnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of my concerns about the increase in stress levels from the past few years were confirmed. People are changing. They are adapting to a new normal.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made some big claims, maybe a bit prematurely in terms of the state of the science. Interesting and informative, if a bit dry in the telling.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and convincing. I am also of the mind that that we still have a long way to go in our understanding of genetics, but that it is likely not 100% Darwinian or Lamarckian.

[Dan Seitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." It's one of the most basic responses, and, to be frank, comebacks to woo and pseudo-scientific garbage out there. And it's one this book fails to meet, repeatedly.

The basic thesis of this book, beyond Ward attempting to settle a few scores, is simple enough at first: The rapidly expanding field of epigenetics, and the possible heritable effects of them, are not well considered and may have substantial, and exciting, implications. Fair enough! Certainly supported by the science!

What isn't is the claims that traumatic historical events caused noticeable, heritable changes in epigenetics and that this basically explains literally everything. Again and again, he acts like this claim is proven in humans, but he can't cough up a shred of evidence or even cite an actual study half the time; the majority of the sparse citations are blog entries. Nor does he bother to consult areas outside his discipline.

For example, he makes much of the Dutch "Hunger Winter" and the downstream epigenetic effects. But he never addresses the elephant in the room: The psychological effects and how that might have an impact on childbearing. Sure, an increased propensity for obesity might be genetic. Or it could be the far more likely answer, that parents, fearing their children would go through what they did (which, particularly in areas like China, isn't necessarily a total impossibility), passed their food anxieties down to their kids. Or it could be environmental factors. Or it, most likely, is all of the above and more; if we've learned anything, it's that genetics, or epigenetics, are not destiny.

Worse, he makes patently ridiculous claims about crime. He cites rat studies "proving" marijuana is a "gateway" drug; anybody remotely familiar with the science, or even just basic drug use statistics, knows this is at best flawed. He tries to ignore the very real issues with rat studies versus human studies by trying to rush past it. It's wince-inducing from a supposed scientist.

The sensationalism and woo is unnecessary, the subject is interesting and when he drops the B.S. and discusses actual research, there's some interesting material here. But I still want the dollar I paid for this book back.

[Robert Rodriguez · Rating 1 out of 5]

The good: Interesting subject, small bits of interesting information.

The bad: Everything else.

The author spends the entire book rambling in circles while rarely actually making any points to support his argument that changes in an individual organism, behavioral or physical, can sometimes be passed on to its offspring.

After several chapters, he finally gives (very cursory) examples of different types of changes to an organism that can happen without changing its DNA code, and says that "epigenetics" can confusingly refer to any of them. Then he goes on to use the term epigenetics, often without explaining which of those types he is referring to.

Chapters will talk about supposed examples of heritable epigenetics, and often those examples would be interesting if he had explained why these changes become heritable, how any of it works, the reasons to believe some of these changes are heritable, basically anything on the science side of things. But he vary rarely does. The amount of actual relevant science in the book comes to just a handful of pages (not an exaggeration). He will state that changes are heritable, and that will be his entire argument most of the time.

In keeping with the random nature of the book, he often repeats himself, sometimes seemingly repeating entire sentences and paragraphs, especially early on. He talks a lot, but doesn't say much.

The book could have used a good editor, not only to cut out all of that fat, but to read through it and find all the typos, or places where you come across a sentence that you don't understand, read it again, and realize that it isn't you--the sentence just doesn't make sense. This becomes more of a problem later in the book.

It all ends up feeling like when a high schooler has to write a paper on a subject he didn't understand, so he just kept trying to rephrase the same things over and over to pad it out to the required length. Do not recommend.