In the blink of an eye: the cause of the most dramatic event in the history of life

by Andrew Parker

1858年，達爾文在《物種源始》中提到：從化石紀錄來看，物種數量在寒武紀左右突然有了爆炸性的成長。在此之前，化石紀錄中僅有單純的單細胞生物、水母等簡單的軟生物留下的痕跡，但在寒武紀開始後，三葉蟲、貝類等等擁有硬質身體結構的生物突然出現，物種數量也有如「大霹靂」一般快速增長。這個物種快速暴增的現象被稱為「寒武紀大爆發」，是演化史上的劃時代事件。今日雖然達爾文的演化學說已經在學術圈站穩腳步，但是寒武紀大爆發為何發生仍舊是一個巨大的謎團。為了解開寒武紀大爆發這個跨越百年的問題，牛津大學動物學家派克全面檢視遠古化石證據，抽絲剝繭一步步重建寒武紀的繽紛世界。從寒武紀初乍現的天光到眼睛的誕生，派克在本書中提出，光與視覺就是開啟寒武紀物種大爆發關鍵的催化劑。派克於2003年出版本書後，立即奠定了古生物學界的大師地位。歷時十三年後，2017年的新版增訂了全書的地質年代，並由作者增補彩色照片與黑白圖說，可說是了解物種演化史相當重要的一本書。

Genres: Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Evolution, History, Palaeontology, Earth Sciences

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2003

About the author

Andrew Parker is a zoologist who has worked on Biomimetics. He worked at the Natural History Museum in London, and from 1990 to 1999 he was a Royal Society University Research Fellow and is a Research Associate of the Australian Museum and University of Sydney and from 1999 until 2005 he worked at the University of Oxford. As of 2018 Parker is a Visiting Research Fellow at Green Templeton College where he is head of a Research Team into photonic structures and eyes.

Reviews

[Maija Filipoviča · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depending on someone's familiarity with the subject, the book offers some mind blowing perspectives, but mind numbing writing at times. I might be a bit harsh - the facts and the (remarkable) science should speak for themselves, but depending on the attention span and resoluteness of a reader this book might lose its' audience and that sort of defeats the purpose of popular science.

The book is structured in a way as to build towards the big reveal, but never really delivers because we know what the author is going to argue for from the very beginning. Once it finally happens, the implications, such as Snowball Earth hypothesis aren't discussed in great depth, and sometimes are presented alongside false information - I'm no astronomer, but as far as I know there's only one Oort cloud and it is not the same as an Interstellar cloud.

That said... from the perspective of someone who's not familiar with evolutionary palaeontology, structural colors or the existence of seed shrimp (which turns out to be one of the most populous and unpopular animals of our oceans) this book is an extremely valuable read.

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dude kind of rambles, and has a not-quite-right way of putting things, or often just chooses the wrong word, and he repeats himself a lot because he doesn't trust the general populace to remember things that aren't explained time and time again, but his science is in the right place, so I forgive him.

[Krishan · Rating 4 out of 5]

strangely enough, i picked this up in the bargain bin at HEB grocery. The book fleshes out the authors theory about the cause of the Cambrian explosion (described as 'evolution's Big Bang). Basically, Parker is saying that the Cambrian Explosion was caused by the sudden evolution of vision in primitive trilobites. I found the theory fascinating and convincing. Especially after reading so many expositions on the period, like Stephen Jay Gould's Wonderful Life. Gould's emphasis on contingency seems desperate in the light of Parkers elegant solution. Unfortunately, Parkers prose is a little less than engaging, when compared with other authors on evolution (Darwin, Dawkins, Gould, Diamond etc..) but this can be forgiven, since its his first book.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a tough book to follow in places, but quite brilliantly written so explanations make a lot of sense you just have to think about it! The Light Switch Theory makes for a very good explanation. If only we could swim through a Pre Cambrian or Cambrian Ocean now that would be amazing and eye opening (pardon the pun!)
Enjoy the journey it’s well worth a read!

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably a good book. It’s the sort of thing I would really enjoy. But the way it was written and organized just didn’t grab me. It got annoyed with it pretty quickly and in the end, my verdict is: BORING.

[yash · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION WAS BECAUSE OF THE NEURONS !!!!!!!

[peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

寒武紀大爆發的原因直至現在尚未有定，本書以新觀點來詮釋之。
個人認為，作者有點花太多篇幅在講重複的事情了，略顯冗長。
本書從不同角度證明「眼睛」是寒武紀大爆發的原因，如光學、物理學、地質學，誠如前面所說，重複性高、篇幅也不短，如果對該主題不熟悉或不感興趣會感到有點無聊。

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: Cool facts about some animals
- Jellyfish in water are nearly invisible to visible light but not to predators that can see polarized light
- many animals are iridescent but conceal it
- birds are OP, and instead of using their color for camouflage they can evolve it for mating

I'm curious what would happen if one designed an a-life world where color did not exist, i.e. every critter has the same color shader. In our reality that is not possible due to geometry inducing color. Perhaps some analogue of color would emerge in textures still (e.g. organisms evolving bumps that are too big to affect wavelength of light, but big enough to create interesting patterns). Maybe color is needed to bootstrap vision?

Cons:
Jeez, the information in the book could have been concisely written into a 2 page, single-spaced document, along with all the neat animal facts. There was so much repetition and the way the author tried to walk through the scientific conclusions without giving away the main idea ("The sudden appearance of eye types and hard parts was caused by an arms race of vision, prey & predation beginning in the precambrain era").

I feel like there simply isn't enough ecological and cogsci data in the fossil record to tell us the more interesting story of "what was the change in ecological fitness per unit change of the ability to form a clear image", or explore some of the ideas in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6u0V...

[YHC · Rating 5 out of 5]

"第一双眼睛必然是因为环境中的阳光增强而形成，这是个无关演化的因素除非拥有能看见周围环境的眼晴，否则动物是不会飞速演化出生物发光（动物本身发出的光）的能力的。事实上，地质学家已经发现，在前寒武纪即将结東时，地球表面的阳光强度确实较强这与地球磁场有直接关系，而石所保存的碳14和铍16元素的含量，会随着光照强度的增加而增多；与此同时地球的温度也在同步升高。因此我们有了答案，或者说有了部分答案：当主导选择压力的齿轮加速运转时，眼开始演化，但是我们仍然在寻找使得光线增强的因素。来自太阳系的光线，越过太阳系的太空（行星间的介质），穿过地球的大气层，并且掠过海洋（记住，寒武纪时期只有海洋生物）。因此，当地表的阳光光量增加时，必然发生以下两种情况之一：不是太阳射出的光量增加，就是太阳和地球海底间的介质变得更加通透."
蓝藻细菌（习惯上误称为“蓝绿藻”）在“生命演化史”的第三章中出现，这是一种能从水中直接获取氢的生物。它所依靠的是一种演化而来的重要物质一一叶绿素，这是藻类植物和高等植物生存的命脉。与硫化氢不同的是，在地球上拥有大量的水，这也就意味着生命可以在地球上处处生存。随着蓝藻细菌从地球的水中获取了氢，氧被留存下来并进入了大气。直至今天，蓝藻细菌仍然被视为最简单的生命形式，而它第一次出现的时间，人们是通过化石证据了解到的。在澳大利亚西部马布尔巴市附近的皮尔巴拉矿区，人们在35亿年前的岩石中发现了一种被称为燧石的微晶矿物。将这种燧石切割成半透明薄片并放置在显微镜下，科学家从中观察到了蓝藻细菌的形状。……在显微镜下，哈美林池Hamelin pool的叠层石所具有的独特构造与皮尔巴拉矿区的燧石相同，我们由此得知皮尔巴拉的燧石其实是由远古时代的叠层石所组成的。因此，皮尔巴拉地区的燧石也被世人所熟知，好似一块记载着地球生命之初的动人故事的墓碑（尽管格陵兰岛上的化学证据显示，早在35亿年前地球上就已有生命出现，但这个观点尚未被人们广泛接受）。所以哈美林池水中所发生的一切，很可能与20亿年前地球上出现的一样。更为重要的是，我们必须得感谢蓝藻细菌，因为是它们使得地球约在此时获得了一个富含氧气的大气层。要知道，大气层中的氧气不仅支持了高等生物的呼吸，同时也提供了一道保护层一一臭氧层一一避免动物组织受到阳光中紫外线的伤害。

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the Blink of an Eye: How Vision Kick-Started the Big Bang of Evolution by Andrew Parker.

The author uses paragraphs when a sentence will do and constantly tells the reader that something just mentioned will be discussed in future chapters. There was a lot of build-up for proving his ideas and repetition of them, which made me lose enthusiasm.

I did enjoy learning about the different animals and their eyes as well as about various extinct Cambrian and Precambrian species.

[Retrobot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Explained very well and clarifies some theories and beliefs that have been misunderstood in the past.

[Roddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anti-climactic, not terribly well written but interesting.

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting hypothesis, though alternative ones aren’t really addressed and the writing can be dry at times.

[Marco]

Sebbene potenzialmente interessante per il contenuto la particolare tecnica narrativa scelta dall autore rende la lettura così noiosa da portarla al limite della sofferenza quasi fisica .

[Raþ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would have been a nice read, if it hadn't taken SO DAMN LONG to finish. TWO. MONTHS. I have no idea why, but I couldn't bring myself to OPEN THIS BOOKS COVER. Reading this book made me NEVER WANT TO READ AGAIN.

That being said, 3 stars for being informative with refreshing anecdotes. 1 star has been docked for minor grammar mistakes, and 1 for costing me $254 from my public library and the Goodreads Reading Challenge February bookmark.

[Sammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The theory that 545 million years ago the Cambrian Explosion (the sudden expansion of animal diversity) was triggered by the emergence of the first eye.

It loses one star for annoying name dropping (most of the time he is rightly referencing prior work which is fine, but sometimes we get a rambling Person-Institute-date/time/place he met them for no strong reason).

It loses another star for general rambling about himself when he should be getting on with the science.

Despite those two complaints I found the book interesting and informative. I'm not a scientist but I grasped most of the biology and physics discussed, although some paragraphs required a second read before I got there. I learnt a lot of about evolution, natural selection, and the enormity of the process that has led us to where we are today. These are aspects of the world around us that most of us are aware of but are unlikely to have considered in any depth. I especially liked the chapter detailing how the eye evolved from primative light sensitive cells.

Had he not tried so hard to turn the book into a suspense thriller it would have worked better - but his theory is convincing and thorough and once I got used to his style I found it a pleasure to read.

[Edwin Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seek out books that teach me something new, and 'In the Blink of an Eye' brought the goods over and over.

The cause of the Cambrian Explosion—the sudden radiation of animals from 3 to 38 distinct phyla, the number that exist to this day—had been a mystery since Darwin. Zoologist Andrew Parker has come up with the most viable theory to date—the evolution of vision. As an optometrist, this was particularly fascinating to me.

Here are the facts: 544 million years ago all animals were soft-bodied, blind, and only carried out passive predation. 543 million years ago the lights were turned on—soft-bodied trilobites had vision (an efficient, image-forming eye can evolve in less than half a million years). They then became active predators, and this selective pressure caused them and their prey to rapidly develop hard parts, shells and armor. By 538 million years ago, several of the now 38 animal phyla also evolved eyes—including our own ancestors, the early chordates (worm-like animals with a notochord).

That is the gist, but Andrew Parker cleverly sleuths out so much more from his studies of the Burgess Shale fossils that the book simply must be experienced in its entirety to fully appreciate its implications. Should be required reading for any student of biology.

[Juliet Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book about how light has guided the evolution of life on earth, focussing on the big bang of evolution that happened during the Cambrian period (543 - 490 million years ago).


It is full of fascinating details including:


* angel fish can use their silver scales as mirrors to blind their predators;


* how the camouflage of both predators (such as lions) and their prey (including wildebeeste) is an adaptation guided by light;


* how the cave fish has developed different forms depending on where it lives, such that those that live in caves have lost both their eyes and their silver colouration.



The book is as simply written as the subject matter allows and goes into detail about how light stimulated the development of vision which stimulated the course of evolution itself. It also details the physics that lies behind the production of colour in animals and the pre-historic development of functional eyes as evidenced from the fossil record.

[Scott Kennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parker's theory is interesting, and could very well be true, but the majority of this book does little to outline the connection he makes in the last chapter. All the preceding chapters are filled with subject matter that will not interest the average reader who does not have a particularly strong interest in how optics, pigment, coloration, and vision relate to nature. I think he's trying to imitate Darwin by going through countless examples of particular situations in nature to prove a point, but the point is, in the end, not really proven. He calls his ending idea the "Light Switch Theory", but it's more of hypothesis than a theory.
It's worth a read for those of us who are extremely interested in all things paleontological, but as I previously insinuated, not for those looking for a breathtaking journey through the ancient world or through paleontology.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book presents a new theory to explain the Cambrian explosion, a sudden diversity of life 545 million years ago. It's a brilliant idea, based around the evolution of vision and the opening of predatory niches that sight provided. The trouble is, the idea isn't presented in the best of manners. I've studied invertebrate palaeontology, so I might be a little biased as none of the information presented was new to me, but there was never really any stage where this book grabbed me. I found it a little repititious - there's no sense of movement towards answering the question the book poses, it just stalls.

If you're interested in the topic then by all means give it a go, but for a causal popscience reader there's some better offerings out there.

[David Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I'll come back and write a fuller review later, or perhaps do it on several posts on my blog. It's a good book, but Parker gets bogged down in extinct species names, makes frequent references to what he said earlier chapters and coming chapters. It was hard to follow and annoying to deal with.

My main complaint about the book is that it can't decide if it's scholarly or popular. It's a little too scholarly to be popular, and too popular to be scholarly. He gets his point across, that the Cambrian Explosion of species was most likely the result of the evolution of the eye. He doesn't, however, make his points well that the eye evolved suddenly, and what the conditions were to cause that sudden evolution.

[lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this when there's a 70% discount on the book and because of the pretty cover and lastly because of the Cambrian explosion.

The Cambrian explosion has been long confused Darwin because it defies his theory of gradual evolution.
Thus Andrew Parker tries to explain what happened back than that caused the said explosion.

I wouldn't go on rambling about what he said on the book, and i'm not sure i could with my limited knowledge of evolution theories.

Let's just say that i acquire new knowledge and though i got mighty confuse in the middle of reading the book, it somehow worth it.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains the author's theory that the Cambrian Explosion was touched off by the first trilobites' evolving eyes, which would have escalated predator-prey interactions. I wonder whether the author, as a specialist in animal coloration, might be underestimating the potential of other senses, but it seems like a plausible theory and informatively explained. I hope that I'll find out about it if paleontologists ever come to a conclusion on what caused the Cambrian Explosion.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book posits that the Cambrian explosion was precipitated by the advent of vision in animals. It is well documented and easy to read, but irritatingly structured. Parker tries to build suspense about his thesis, revealed only at the end of the book. But don't worry; this is not a spoiler. It's perfectly obvious what he's building towards. But I appreciate the author's attempt to give a pop science book a literary structure, even if it is humorously fumbled.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow going, and I'm not familiar with all the varieties of fossils, but the author makes a compelling case that the development of vision/the eye was one of the spurs to evolution in the Cambrian period. Prey, or be preyed upon. There are still species, however, who do not have vision and don't need it in their environment.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is all about the evolution of the first visual receptors that eventually turned into eyes. The author's theory is that this event triggered the Cambrian Explosion by suddenly giving life an entirely new stimulus to respond and adapt to.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This technical but engaging book thoroughly outlines one of the most important stages of evolution of life on Earth. Although the end is easy to predict, as in any good non fiction, the journey brings new light to your understanding.

[Peter Macinnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this because I once worked in the same institution as the author, and was on nodding terms with him. I was delighted to discover that he had written an excellent book, though having heard him present some of his work, I had great hopes . . .

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating journey through Pre-Cambrian evolution (one of my favorite time periods) about how the development of the eye may have caused diverse coping strategies to evolve. Loved the line drawings.

[Jrobertus]

an australian zoologist proposes, convincingly, that the cambrian explosion of phyla was the result of the evolution of vision in trilobites. hard bodies evolved in defense and the race was on.