Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
by David Sloan Wilson
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Book Summary Information
Author: David Sloan WilsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-12-26
ISBN: 0385340923
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Delta
Book Reviews of Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
Book Review: A "Do-It-Yourself" manual for evolutionary research.
Summary: 4 Stars
I really wanted to love this book, but I can only say that I really liked it. First, what I liked about it:
1) It is very well written. The style is casual and accessible.
2) He had a worthy (if lofty) goal: Giving the average person the desire and the tools to think like an evolutionist and to allow them to apply these principles in new ways to their own lives. Stresses the far-reaching applicability and near-universality of evolutionary concepts.
3) He also brings the whole career of scientist out of the realm of the mysterious and elusive, making it at least sound like something anyone can do (given the desire and the tools). This is actually one of the book's best features. He characterizes himself as having been a mediocre student. Like many of us, math didn't come easy. Yet he is a prominent and well-published research scientist. This message would be especially helpful to high-school and college students who think that one has to be a born genius with an Ivy League education to be a real scientist.
4) Some of the studies are really fascinating (for example, infanticide, the psychotic monkeys, curly tails, the killer chickens, etc). Sounds like a battle of the bands line-up.
5) Good analogies (rooms of a mansion, dancing with ghosts, etc) really help to explain evolutionary concepts.
6) Just enough personal stuff to keep it interesting (such as how he met his wife, growing up with a famous author as his father, etc)
Now for what I didn't like much:
1) Some of it seems very speculative to me. While I'm no research biologist, I do have an undergraduate degree in biology as well some graduate work under my belt so I do have at least a basic understanding of the scientific process, etc. Also, in my current job, I do occasionally read the scientific literature. While that doesn't make me an expert by any means, I think it does give me the ability get a sense of how rigorous a piece of science is. Frankly, some of the science in the book just didn't seem that tight (e.g. pregnancy sickness, murder city, early birthing)
2) Sometimes the book seems like a pitch for his pet theories regarding group selection.
3) I'm probably wrong, but I wonder if he goes easy on religion because one of the sources of his funding is the Templeton Foundation (or whatever it's called). Nah, probably just my own biases creeping up (I hope).
Overall, this is a book I would recommend but with the caveat that not all of it represents scientific consensus (which it does not claim to do anyways, he actually admits as much when appropriate). Its positive aspects outweigh the negatives, IMO. It certainly does make you think, even if you already have a solid background in evolutionary theory.
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