The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution

by Carl Zimmer

The Tangled Bank is the first textbook about evolution intended for the general reader. Zimmer, an award-winning science writer, takes readers on a fascinating journey into the latest discoveries about evolution. In the Canadian Arctic, paleontologists unearth fossils documenting the move of our ancestors from sea to land. In the outback of Australia, a zoologist tracks some of the world's deadliest snakes to decipher the 100-million-year evolution of venom molecules. In Africa, geneticists are gathering DNA to probe the origin of our species. In clear, non-technical language, Zimmer explains the central concepts essential for understanding new advances in evolution, including natural selection, genetic drift, and sexual selection. He demonstrates how vital evolution is to all branches of modern biology—from the fight against deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the analysis of the human genome. Richly illustrated with 285 illustrations and photographs, The Tangled Bank is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of life on Earth.

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

394 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Carl Zimmer is a columnist for the New York Times and the author of 15 books about science. His latest book is Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe. Visit him at carlzimmer.com.

Reviews

[Jim Gise · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect textbook for the freshman biology course I wish I’d taken. Great pictures and diagrams to go along with clear writing.

[M.W. Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl Zimmer's _The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution_ receives five stars from me due to the amount of work he put into the book, the information, and how it is presented.

I decided to read this book some years ago, and it has taken me that long to read it. I wanted to read this to fill in the gaps of my own education and to find out what has changed since I was in school. This isn't a book that argues that evolution is true--this is a book that introduces readers to all the different concepts in evolution. For example, sex as a driving force in evolution; natural selection. Also, all the evidence we have for evolution, geology, the fossil record, DNA, it's all here and all presented in a way that it is accessible (but not always easy.) I found the chapter on human evolution very easy to read and I read it rather fast (until the sections on the evolution of the brain and emotions, language etc). While these are important, they are topics I am aware of more than others in the book. I didn't read the chapter on medical evolution, just simply because it wasn't what I wanted from the book I did skim it and it is just as good as the rest of the book.

Recommended: that's a maybe. I think you are interested in this topic you can find it helpful if you know little to nothing about evolution. However, if you are only lightly interested in the topic, maybe not. It is dense with information. If you choose to read it even though your interest is only minimal, the take it slow. So, recommended, sure.

[Carisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y’know- for a textbook- it presented information in some easy to read and non-sleep inducing ways. I got frustrated a few times at the editing/layout when a paragraph was interrupted by two page stories or graphics because then I had to finish the paragraph and subsequently flip back to the other piece to read everything.
Overall- lots of knowledge presented kindly.

[Camille]

If you're into evolution like Darwinism or scientific theories, then this is the book you've been looking for! It was written well and there were many proofs by the author, Zimmer to justify his ideas.

[Nestor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, very well explained a lot of examples and very well documented how evolution works.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, easy to read and understand. I had to read it for a university class, but it didn't feel like a burden to read. I even finishes it before the end of the class.

[Madhusudan Katti · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of evolutionary biology from one of the best contemporary science writers. I would (and indeed do) recommend this as an excellent option for a text for any introduction to evolution type of class for undergraduates, especially non-biology majors. Amid the various popular books on evolution published during Darwin's bicentennial year, this one stands out, in part because it is not as polemical as, say Dawkins' or Coyne's books.

[Greg Collver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading Zimmer.

I did not care for his explanation of speciation in Chapter 9, it did not satisfy me but the rest of the book was great. His example of the bald eagle in speciation barriers seemed lame to me. I wanted a better definition for species, but maybe the quote from Darwin was the best "I look at the term 'species' as one arbitrarily given, for the sake of convenience, to a set of individuals closely resembling each other."

[Taylor Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for non-majors.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

genetics and evolution for the non-scientist. I did think some of the diagrams and charts were a little too primitive though.

[Jonas Gehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zimmer gives an overview of different aspects of evolution. Both talking about the core population biology and genetics. The book though lacks a personal viewpoint and personal language