Major Transitions in Evolution

by Anthony J. Martin, John Hawks

Imagine a world without bees, butterflies, and flowering plants. That was Earth 125 million years ago. Turn back the clock 400 million years, and there were no trees. At 450 million years in the past, even the earliest insects had not yet developed. And looking back 500 million years, the land was devoid of life, which at that time flourished in a profusion of strange forms in the oceans.

These and other major turning points are the amazing story of evolution. Given the broad scope of the subject, this course is taught by two Anthony Martin, a paleontologist and geologist at Emory University, and John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each is an outstanding teacher in his field, adept at making the subject interesting and accessible no matter what your background in science.

In 24 lavishly illustrated lectures, you will learn about Earth’s major transitions, each of which brought forth new possibilities for life. You will study the conditions that led to the first complex cells, flying insects, flowering plants, mammals, modern humans, and many other breakthroughs. And in the process of studying the past, you will gain a powerful understanding of the present world.

PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Audiobook, Nonfiction, History, Biology

13 pages, Audiobook

Published March 4, 2019

About the author

Anthony (Tony) Martin is a Professor of Practice at Emory University, where he has taught classes in geology, paleontology, and environmental sciences. His research specialty is ichnology, the study of modern and ancient traces caused by animal behavior, such as tracks, trails, burrows, and nests. He is the author of nine books, including DINOSAURS WITHOUT BONES, THE EVOLUTION UNDERGROUND, TRACKING THE GOLDEN ISLES, and LIFE TRACES OF THE GEORGIA COAST. His latest book is LIFE SCUPLTED, published June 2023. In 2015 - in recognition of his accomplishments in scientific exploration and public outreach - he was elected as a Fellow in The Explorers Club and a Fellow in the Geological Society of America. He and his wife Ruth live in Decatur, Georgia.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several books about evolution recently & this lecture was a great addition. Anthony Martin is a paleontologist and geologist. He did the bulk of it (first 17 of 23) & he's a great speaker. John Hawks, a biological anthropologist, did the next 6 about the rise of hominids. The final one was a discussion between the two.

Martin discusses major transitions in deep time. The earth is about 4.6 billion years old & our first evidence of prokaryotes appear at about 4.1 billion during the Hadean Eon. About 3.5 billion years ago, the Archean Eon kicks off with the mass extinction event caused by photosynthetic cells polluting the atmosphere with oxygen. (Weird way to think about it, isn't it?) I could go on, but Wikipedia timeline of the evolutionary history of life does a far better job showing it & Martin did a great job explaining it.

The biggest takeaway from this lecture is the rate of change of evolution. Overall, it has sped up immensely. This is shown over & over again as the mass extinction events suddenly pushed rapid change. It accelerates as ecosystems grow more crowded causing more competition for resources. Organisms also have more complex systems that sometimes allow them to change in seemingly minor ways that turn out to be great survival mechanisms.

Another major point is just how much our science has progressed & what this has meant for our understanding of evolution. The "Theory of Evolution" is solid, but it is comprised of many hypothesis based on the terribly incomplete fossil record & many facts that are often disconnected & sometimes also incomplete. Advances in science have been a tremendous help in joining these together in a more cohesive story.

The use of genetics & statistical analysis of molecular changes is really helpful, interesting, & often wrong, especially across the great extinction events when organisms changed rapidly or died off. Normal patterns of change are upset when times get tough. Both did a great job showing just how the ecosystem pushed many of the developments we see & why.

I was especially impressed by the use of trace fossils. They're not just looking at bones & artifacts, but are able to look inside the bones with micro CT scans. They can even find trace evidence of fats on stone tools & figure out what bugs ate in some cases.

Overall, this would have been a 5 star lecture if I had sat down with the study guide, but that's not how I listen to lectures. There were a lot of slides & pictures that I couldn't see when I needed to. Both lecturers pretty much baffled me with long, odd ball names at various points & did some backing & filling. This point is probably on me. I'm fairly ignorant about evolution & have a lot of trouble with all the unfamiliar names. That they still got their points across might make this a wash.

Unfortunately, Hawks' first couple of lectures in this course seemed like the first couple of lectures he'd ever given; full of pregnant pauses. The last few were far better, but he still wasn't the speaker Martin was & that's a shame. He's not bad, but not nearly as good in comparison.

Usually I try to give a list of the lectures & an accounting of each, but I've been busy & didn't in this case (Bad, Jim!) which is a shame because I should have been taking some good notes. On the bright side, I don't think I'll have any problem listening to this again. Anyone who has read my reviews knows that I detest repetition, yet there is so much in this lecture series that I could easily start over again & enjoy it just as much. Unfortunately, too many other books are calling right now. So call this one a 4.5. I highly recommend it.

Update 23Feb2019: This is a duplicate review of this Great Course listed here on GR.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
TGC doesn't list this audio edition on their web site, but I know I listened to it, not the video. I got it from the library which no longer has it. There isn't an ISBN listed for this edition that I could find. I wouldn't bother listing this one, except GR changed their book policy & the other one has the "Not a book" author on it.

[Dani Tamarit · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the outline of this audiobook is promising, the content is riddled with errors. The students in my evolutionary biology class would not pass if they expressed this exact content. I could not continue after the first few chapters.

[Henrik Maler · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is the book about?
Major Transitions in Evolution covers transitions like the evolution from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, non-flowering plants to flowering plants, or australopithecus to homo sapiens, but also a few general methods (e.g. absolute and relative age dating) and principles of paleoontology and geology (e.g. biological succession).

Can I recommend it?
I suppose if you already know the paradigm and you’re are interested, this is a book for you, because it is well-narrated, comprehensibly structured and informative, but since I was completely new to this field and I prefer concepts over facts, I was disenchanted at the array of facts. This book—or this field—lives on facts.

Also I would have liked to come to know more about human evolution. The evolution of tool-making, diet, cooperation and language were only scratched at the surface.

New and most interesting concepts or phenomena
- Molecular clocks: Method that uses mutation rate of biomolecules "in a lineage and ages of fossil representatives of that lineage to calculate divergence times for two or more related taxa" (from the glossary)
- Adaptive radiation: "Evolution of a variety of traits (and new species) within a lineage in response to selection pressures, genetic variation and definition of ecological niches" (from the glossary)
- Pseudo-genes: Genes that we carry but which are non-functional either because of flawed duplication or an assemblage of mutations over time.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Major Transitions in Evolution by Anthony Martin and John Hawks is a very accessible and easy to follow course. Martin takes a big view of evolution, lightly touching upon the major epochs in the evolutionary road of life. Don't let the cover fool you, Dinosaurs are the subject of one lecture, archosaurs that fly and swim get another lecture, and birds (avian dinosaurs) receive a single lecture. Do not purchase this course if you think its only about dinosaurs. That said, its remarkable that there was so much time that could be devoted to them you look at just how little time goes into some of the other major transitions. You could double the length of this and nearly double the quality by doing so. Hawks takes over the last fourth of the course to discuss major transitions in human evolution, and so much of it is barely scratching the surface. The last and co-taught concluding lecture, which reminds a little of a podcast, was a surprise and a very good inclusion.

If I have any criticism, it is that the Great Courses seem to be shying away from some of the more complicated elements of the subject. This felt almost like a high school intro, rather than a university level course.

90/100

[Jeff Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really found this interesting. He picked relatable periods of evolutionary change and explained thoroughly in relatable terms. I listened on Audible and like with many great courses books wondered if if a paper book would be easier to follow a few times.

At the end of this book I felt I had a better understanding of the broad sweep of evolution from beginning of life until modern times.

[Red Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent roundup of certain major evolutionary transitions (though not comprehensive and primarily animal rather than plant-focused) in Earth’s history. Aimed at the educated layperson, this is focused and engaging, delivered in an easy, charming and enthusiastic style.

[Jenni G · Rating 2 out of 5]

The audiobook is the audio of a video. Too many times the content wasn't easy to understand as a listener without access to the fossils and images or knowledge of the actions of the speakers (this high, like this)

[Katie Burger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middle school- or high school-level course that takes you on an easy-to-follow path through major transitions in time. Anthony J. Martin, geologist and paleontologist, covers everything from single celled life to complex lifeforms, then biological anthropologist John Hawks discusses the rise of hominids.

[Steve In Ludlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gets a bit bogged down in parts but overall fascinating and engaging run through the significant evolutionary changes over the past 4bn years.

[Enrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good course by two professors describing some important developments in evolution from the beginning of life to today.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+
This is a good survey of evolution from the very beginning of life on earth until the present. The last 6 lectures cover the rise and development of mammals, especially the primates that include our own species. It can serve either as an introduction to the subject or a review of the entire scope of life. For detail and more specificity, it is necessary to study each of the epoch and its creatures more closely. These lectures illuminate the panorama of "the forest" rather than focusing on the individual "trees" within it.