Evolution

Book Description

Mark Ridley 's Evolution has become the premier undergraduate text in the study of evolution. Readable and stimulating, yet well balanced and in-depth, this text tells the story of evolution, from the history of the study to the most recent developments in evolutionary theory.The third edition of this successful textbook features updates and extensive new coverage. The sections on adaptation and diversity have been reorganized for improved clarity and flow, and a completely updated section on the evolution of sex and the inclusion of more plant examples have all helped to shape this new edition. Evolution also features strong, balanced coverage of population genetics, and scores of new applied plant and animal examples make this edition even more accessible and engaging.

Customer Reviews:

Superb.......2007-07-13

The price of this book is well worth it -- A book of this nature is no small task to assemble. Broad in scope, Ridley had done a very thorough job on comprehensively covering technical topics, leaving out opinion and covering subjects from multiple perspectives.
However, it is a fairly technical read, and lengthy, which should only be undertaken by those who take the subject seriously. Each topic has a multitude of citations and the chapters end with recommendations for further reading. A true work of scientific literature by an author who cares about educating his reader.

A thorough and clear book.......2007-06-28

I have used this book through my undergraduate and early graduate years and have been very pleased with the layout, the content, and the writing. I would recommend this text to anyone who has taken a first year biology course and wants or needs to learn more on the background for much of the current work in evolutionary science.

Poor excuse for science...missing pages = poor production.......2006-11-24

After paying over 100 dollars for the book I finally got around to reviewing it. As you read the chapter summaries you'll get tired of reading about how such and such data "suggests" or "may" or "can". These are not the words of science. Science is about knowing. Ridley quite masterfully takes data and weaves his faith of evolution to connect dots that have no reason to be connected...except that he presupposes evolution as fact.

There's very little in this book that the evolutionist can stand on that points to "PROOF" of macroevolution.

Not only this...my book jumps from page 614 to page 647. That's 33 pages that are missing. Ridley might suggest the book has evolved, but the creationist suggest that a loss of information never accounts for parts and can not be the basis for macroevolution. Is the author/publisher planning on sending supplements for those of us with the missing pages.

Mine is the third edition with the moth and flower on the front

Excellent review of modern evolutionary thought.......2004-06-24

I saw the 2 star review and decided I could not let it sit without challenge. I have just received my Phd in psychology and masters in statistics, and have decided to attempt to make a career out of behavioral genetics and evolutionary genetics. Mark Ridley's book was an absolute inspiration to me when I first read it, and it continues to be a must-have reference. The book is noteworthy because it explains the major debates in evolutionary thought in a balanced yet readable way. For example, Ridley gives an excellent introduction into the fundamental question about what maintains genetic variation in the face of selection, an issue that is given only cursory attention in other books of this kind.

I first read this as an undergraduate, yet it continues to serve as my fundamental reference to evolutionary biology. This is truly a wonderful introduction to evolution.

Technical evolutionary biology.......2004-05-04

The neo-darwinian evolutionary synthesis has been called a genetic takeover. This book testifies to the truth of this dictum. Genes are of the utmost importance. EVOLUTION is not so much about evolution as teaching theoretical evolutionary biology without much feeling for practical evolutionary research or the natural world. As an introductory textbook, Ridley's book will succeed in making students avoid evolutionary biology, as a subject full of theoretical debates with little biological sense

Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil: Why Church Fathers Suppressed the Book of Enoch and Its Startling Revelations

Average customer rating:

Cant stress enough
Quite interesting
Great reference book
Hard to Read, Author is bias
Fallen Angels & the orgins of evil

Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil: Why Church Fathers Suppressed the Book of Enoch and Its Startling Revelations
Elizabeth Clare Prophet
Manufacturer: Summit University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0922729433

Book Description

Did rebel angels take on human bodies to fulfill their lust for the "daughters of men"? Did these fallen angels teach men to build weapons of war?

That is the premise of the Book of Enoch, a text cherished by the Essenes, early Jews and Christians but later condemned by both rabbis and Church Fathers. The book was denounced, banned and "lost" for over a thousand years-until in 1773, a Scottish explorer discovered three copies in Ethiopia.

Elizabeth Clare Prophet examines the controversy surrounding this book and sheds new light on Enoch's forbidden mysteries. She demonstrates that Jesus and the apostles studied the Book of Enoch and tells why Church Fathers suppressed its teaching that angels could incarnate in human bodies. Contains all the Enoch texts, including the Book of Enoch, and biblical parallels.

Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil takes you back to the primordial drama of Good and Evil, when the first hint of corruption entered a pristine world-earth.

Contains Richard Laurence's translation of the Book of Enoch, all the other Enoch texts, including the Book of the Secrets of Enoch, biblical parallels

Customer Reviews:

Cant stress enough.......2007-10-03

Please don't take anything this woman says seriously. Just for fun is what I would call it. No not even that, Dangerous stupidity and conjecture for anyone who is uneducated I have read some of her stuff in the past and was in disbelief to hear her say that Jesus, God himself came to earth to learn from certain mystical religious groups in India and other places Give me a break. There are only three things God cant do, Lie. Die and Learn.
Here again, more of the same BS.

Quite interesting.......2007-08-21

Filled with interesting materials and ideas, however the author's writing style puts me right to sleep. A great writer can turn even the act of watching paint dry on the wall into a remarkable journey. Those authors that wrote Holy Blood Holy Grail should've written this book instead.

Great reference book.......2007-08-18

This book is a great reference book. If you have read the book of Enoch and any other fallen angels books, there are many crossovers, and some indifferences, overall though, this is the book that's easily readable.

This book covers many other books, so you can single handily buy one book and read 2-3.....

Definitely worth putting into your collection

Hard to Read, Author is bias .......2007-07-09

I bought this book because I thought it would help me with an understanding of the Book of Enoch. I am so disappointed that I wasted my money on this book. It is hard to read and the Author has way too much bias in her own "new age" ideas.

Fallen Angels & the orgins of evil.......2007-03-09

I could learn all ahe had to say by just re-visiting the Bible. Nothing new or thought prevoking in this book

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World

Average customer rating:

Good Stuff, but Nothing New
1001 excuses for becoming or being a vegetarian
Life Changing
This Book Will Change How You Think About Your Food!!!!!!
If you care about the world around you, this book will change your life.

The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World

Manufacturer: Conari Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 1573247022

Book Description

Here, the man who started the "food revolution" with the million-plus-selling Diet for a New America, boldly posits that, collectively, our personal diet can save ourselves and the world. If, according to chaos theory, the beating of a butterfly's wing can cause a hurricane in another part of the world, try this out for chaotic cause and effect: monarch butterflies are dying in droves due to genetically-engineered corn growing in the Midwest. There is also a direct correlation between the Big Mac in your hand and the mile-wide river now running across the North Pole. Learn the truth about foods we are eating that are, in Robbins' words, "unsafe on any plate."

Customer Reviews:

Good Stuff, but Nothing New.......2007-10-08

This is a good book, interesting, even if, at times, it sounds a bit preachy. For someone new to the subjects discussed, this will probably have some eye opening spots, but for anyone who has been concerned about their health, the planet's health, and the way our diet affects the two, there is really no new information presented here.

1001 excuses for becoming or being a vegetarian.......2007-10-03

- If you haven't heard about genetically modified crops (GMO) - yes this book has some information.
- If you did not know what factory farms do to your average supermarket meat - yes this book has some information.

There are books with better information on these topics however.

The focus of this book seems to be "why you should be a vegetarian and eat organic non-GMO veggies" but there seems to be no mention of hydrogenated oils, refined sugar, bleached flour or high fructose corn syrup. Reducing or removing these from your diet can make a huge difference in your health as well.

This and other vegetarian books don't really take into consideration diets that include meats from animals that are raised properly, just those meats available in most supermarkets. To me this is key. I was vegetarian for... maybe around a year. I was not happy, I was not healthy. I've also known people who were once vegetarian who have become healthier by eating at least small amounts of organic meats (and in some cases a fair amount of meat.)

I personally accept that there are some people who need LESS meat than others, I wish the vegetarian community would accept that some people need more meat than others.

There ARE vital nutrients available in meat.

Think grass fed cows, chickens that actually get to roam decent sized areas of land and eat bugs, wild fish that swim free in the oceans... Meat free of antibiotics, growth hormones, and pesticides. Also slaughtered in a quick and humane way instead of cut apart alive.

I wouldn't have had such a problem with it if vegetarianism hadn't been the main focus of the book. If I wanted a book on vegetarianism, I would have picked up a book on vegetarianism.

I would bet that the majority of the statistics in this book did not do studies on people who ate quality meat instead of meat raised on factory farms pumped full or hormones and antibiotics and fed crap.

If you are a vegetarian already or part of PETA, you will probably love this book.

I was however extremely disappointed.

Life Changing.......2007-05-16

This is one of those books that changed my life so much that I feel bad for people who have not read it.
This book will remain, for all time, the best $10 I have EVER spent.

This Book Will Change How You Think About Your Food!!!!!!.......2007-05-13

This is an incredibly well researched book, and will change forever the way you relate to food. After reading this book I will NEVER put another bite of non-organic meat or dairy in mouth EVER. And my appetite for meat in general is pretty diminished. What you will read in this book is so important, it should be taught in schools. It should be mandatory reading for everyone. This is not an "anti-meat" book, it simply lifts the veil on "factory farming" and Big Agriculture for the general public to get an idea of what our supposed "farms" are up to in this country, and it is truly disturbing. Not only are there moral injustices happening that you would not believe possible, but the health implications of what is going on should make everyone with any sense in their brain stop eating meat unless they know where it comes from. What this book gives us that the original "Diet for a New America" did not is more information on genetic engineering, and the ever-increasing efforts of industry to get bigger, faster, cheaper...at what price?! Be an informed citizen and consumer! Read this book! Read this book, and then make up your mind. I guarantee you will never feel the same about food.

If you care about the world around you, this book will change your life........2007-05-10

Every once in a while, I come across a book that impacts the way that I think. This is one of those books.

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals)

Average customer rating:

Can't Beat It
Four classics
Wonderful writing wrong package
Too big
From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, T

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals)
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393061345

Book Description

A gorgeous gift and a landmark work that is an essential addition to everyone's personal library.

Never before have the four great works of Charles Darwin—Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle (1845), The Origin of Species (1859), The Descent of Man (1871), and The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872)—been collected under one cover. Undertaking this challenging endeavor 123 years after Darwin's death, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson has written an introductory essay for the occasion, while providing new, insightful introductions to each of the four volumes and an afterword that examines the fate of evolutionary theory in an era of religious resistance. In addition, Wilson has crafted a creative new index to accompany these four texts, which links the nineteenth-century, Darwinian evolutionary concepts to contemporary biological thought. Beautifully slipcased, and including restored versions of the original illustrations, From So Simple a Beginning turns our attention to the astounding power of the natural creative process and the magnificence of its products. Slipcased hardcover; 101 illustrations, map.

Customer Reviews:

Can't Beat It.......2007-04-03

I bought this book knowing very little about Darwin or his theories. From So Simple a Beginning was an easy read about a very interesting man. I would hope that not just supporters of evolution would read this book there is more to the man then just one theory.

Four classics.......2007-01-12

Excellent in every particular. Five stars in delivery time, condition, quality of the experience.

Wonderful writing wrong package.......2007-01-10

There is no gainsaying the writings of Darwin or the thinking of my favorite living scientist, E.O.Wilson. But the package is wrong.
Four books in one. Too heavy, too cumbersome. Discouraging.

Too big.......2007-01-05

This book is way too big to hold to read, so it is not useful. From the picture I thought I was ordering 4 different books in a book holder, not one giant book. I recommend buying them separately unless you have very strong arms and wrists.

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, T.......2006-07-02

Good

Average customer rating:

Elegantly brilliant
More Christian propaganda to seperate people
Great edition
One of the Greatest Books ever written
A Handy Edition of this Vital Classic

The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517123207
Release Date: 1995-05-22

Amazon.com

It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable.

To a certain extent it suffers from the Hamlet problem--it's full of clichés! Or what are now clichés, but which Darwin was the first to pen. Natural selection, variation, the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest: it's all in here.

Darwin's friend and "bulldog" T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thought of the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin who gathered the mass of supporting evidence--on domestic animals and plants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal--that swept most scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that the book is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surely the pinnacle of British understatement. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

The Origin of Species sold out on the first day of its publication in 1859. It is the major book of the nineteenth century, and one of the most readable and accessible of the great revolutionary works of the scientific imagination.
The Origin of Species was the first mature and persuasive work to explain how species change through the process of natural selection. Upon its publication, the book began to transform attitudes about society and religion, and was soon used to justify the philosophies of communists, socialists, capitalists, and even Germany's National Socialists. But the most quoted response came from Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's friend and also a renowned naturalist, who exclaimed, "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!"

Download Description

In the Origin of Species (1859) Darwin challenged many of the most deeply held beliefs of the Western world. Arguing for a material, not divine, origin of species, he showed that new species are achieved by 'natural selection'. Development, diversification, decay, extinction and absence of plan are all inherent to his theories. Darwin read prodigiously across many fields; he reflected on his experiences as a traveller, he experimented. His profoundly influential concept of 'natural selection' condenses materials from past and present, from the Galapagos Islands to rural Staffordshire, from English back gardens to colonial encounters. The Origin communicates the enthusiasm of original thinking in an open, descriptive style, and Darwin's emphasis on the value of diversity speaks more strongly now than ever.

Customer Reviews:

Elegantly brilliant.......2007-09-17

I had read The Voyage of the Beagle first. It is easy to see how Darwin's theory of evolution was growing as he traveled and saw how plants and animals adapted to different environments. Then he invented a theory to explain what he had observed.
This book is a 300 page definition of the theory of natural selection. Darwin goes through a detailed explanation of how evolution must have occured. He is very methodically, very detailed. When he doesn't understand something, he says he doesn't. He is humble in his presentation, giving credit to other scientists. I was amazed at how many experiments he performed himself, growing generations of plants and insects, watching how they developed and changed.
There is a quote in the book from Darwin's gardener who said, "He's really a sad little man. Sometimes he stands and stares at a flower for hours. I really think he'd be better off if he had something to do."
We are so lucky that Darwin inherited money and could spend his early years traveling and his later years in contemplation and writing.

More Christian propaganda to seperate people.......2007-07-31

Darwin was a born again Christian. Few people know that. And if there's one thing you need to know about Christians it's the fact that they are always trying to put one group of people against another. Divide and conquer. Darwin's plan(actually the plan of the intelligentsia that Darwin was a member of) was to create a new theory for the creation of man and then use Christian beliefs to blow it out of the water. It didn't work though. Even though Darwin picked the most crazy idea he came up with, man coming from monkeys!!!, people began to believe it. The powers that be saw that Science could very well be a new religous dogma and people would believe anything as long as a man in a white coat said it. Besides everyone knows that Allah created man in his supreme mercy, Allah Akhbar!!

Great edition.......2007-06-02

I liked the edition very much. Its legibility is very nice and it's a lightweighted version, dispite its 470 pages. I was just disapointed with the illustrations, that have very little relation to the text. But this fact doesnt compromise the quality of the whole. And the content... well, it's darwin world changing work, very readable.

One of the Greatest Books ever written.......2007-05-12

Darwin was one of the most brilliant men who ever lived. He was perhaps the greatest observer the world has known. In 1831, he set sail on the Beagle, a tiny little ship, for a five-year cruise around the world, and without pay, as naturalist. He had studied theology, medicine, and, finally, biology and geology. He saw how organisms change with time and environment and how Biblical events simply could not have happened as stated. He spent twenty-three years going over his notes, rethinking, and agonizing over the results. In 1859, he published Origin of Species, and it upset the world. He demonstrated evolution as no one had. Uneducated religious leaders may ridicule it, but evolution is a fact, accepted by any intelligent, educated, honest person.

A Handy Edition of this Vital Classic.......2007-05-11

There are many different versions of Darwin's "The Origin of Species" available, but I found this one particularly helpful. First, while it is nicely printed and easy to read on good paper, it is not terribly expensive. Second, it reprints the first or original version of the book which Darwin subsequently modified substantially in the the further five editions he published. Third, it also includes Darwin's "Historical Sketch" and "glossary" which had not appeared in the first edition. Fourth, the color cover illustration by the Victorian artist Henry de la Beche is an important indicator of why the Victorians were so into prehistoric studies. However, the thing that really distinguishes this Penguin Books edition is the incredibily incisive and invaluable introduction by the editor, J.W. Burrow. Burrow is beyond question one of the most significant intellectual historians of our time. Among other things he has written extensively on the concept of evolution in Victorian thought in his classic "Evolution and Society: A Study in Victorian Social Theory." In 37 crisp pages, Burrow incomparably sketches the Victorian intellectual background against which Darwin wrote. Although the essay is nearly 40 years old, it has stood the test of time very well. It alone is worth the price of the book. Altogether, a very nice introduction to this critical event in scientific and intellectual history.

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More astro than biology

An Introduction to Astrobiology

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521546214

Book Description

Compiled by a team of experts, this textbook has been designed for elementary university courses in astrobiology. It begins with an examination of how life may have arisen on Earth and then reviews the evidence for possible life on Mars, Europa and Titan. The potential for life in exoplanetary systems and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are also discussed. The text contains numerous useful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. It is also supported by a website hosting further teaching materials. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, this book is suitable for self-study and will appeal to amateur enthusiasts as well as undergraduate students. It contains numerous helpful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. The book is also supported by a webstite hosting further teaching materials.

Customer Reviews:

More astro than biology.......2004-10-22

This is an excellent textbook, with straightforward problems ... and answers! There's plenty of solid material here and very little fluff. The information is well presented, up-to-date, and easy to read.

Three of the nine chapters are about the potential for life elsewhere in our planetary system, in particular on Mars, Europa, and Titan. Another three chapters are on extrasolar planets: how to find them, what we've discovered so far about them, and what signatures of life we might try to look for on them in the future. There's also a chapter on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). That leaves two chapters for the definition and origin of life, the Earth's acquisition of the necessary water and carbon, and so on. I'd prefer to see quite a bit more on biology here. I'd like to see much more discussion of the development of multicellular life, the changes in the Earth's environment caused by the production of oxygen, and the evolution of humans.

That said, I really liked the chapter on the origin of life. It was illuminating to read about the origin of chirality, written by a specialist in organic matter in meteorites. And I also especially liked the chapters on exoplanets.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief

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The Great Ape that asked "Why?"
Nice Concept, Bad Execution
A Good Summary of Complex New Evidence
Fantastic
The Superstition of Scientism

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief
Lewis Wolpert
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393064492

Book Description

A unique, scientific look into why we are all believers.

In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, the White Queen tells Alice that to believe in a wildly improbable fact she simply needs to "draw a long breath and shut [her] eyes." Alice finds this advice ridiculous. But don't almost all of us, at some time or another, engage in magical thinking? Seventy percent of Americans believe in angels; 13 percent of British scientists "touch wood"; 40 percent of Americans believe that astrology is scientific. And that is only the beginning.

In Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Lewis Wolpert tackles one of the most important causes on the horizon of public debate: the nature of belief. Looking at belief's psychological basis and its possible evolutionary origins in physical cause and effect, Wolpert expertly investigates what science can tell us about those concepts we are so sure of, covering everything from everyday beliefs that give coherence to our experiences, to religious beliefs, to paranormal beliefs for which there is no evidence.

Customer Reviews:

The Great Ape that asked "Why?".......2007-10-07

I read this book as the last of a group of books comprising the recent works of Daniel Dennett (whew!)(Breaking the Spell), Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), Christopher Hitchens (God is not Great), and both of the works by Sam Harris (The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation). For many reasons and particularly because of Wolpert's straightforward theme, I regret I ended rather than started with Wolpert's book in the group. As you are no doubt aware, the theme/proposition of Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast is that the cause-and-effect wiring that showed up in our brains to permit the competitive edge* of complex tool-making is the same wiring that causes our children to ask innumerable questions beginning with "why" too soon after learning to speak syntactically. It is this drive to model our world by causes and effects that competitively distinguishes us as a species. We are an anxious bunch when left with too many unanswered "whys" and turn to stories of causal links or assign temporally correlated events as causally linked in order to reassure ourselves all is well...things have always and will continue to happen for reasons that may be in our control or in the control of one or more benevolent supernatural entities. Just as the scientific method often tests hypotheses that are not immediately dispelled by common sense, these stories of causal links do not necessarily need a foundation in the natural world...they just need to satisfy the cause-effect craving. As you are aware, correlation may indicate but does not necessarily equate with causation and so scientific investigators are left determining, and re-determining, the causal mechanisms, if any, in nature underlying the correlation. Unlike the scientific method, once these stories of casual links take root, we are wired to hold them fast even in the face of collaborated facts to the contrary.

*Sorry, I just couldn't help myself from punning.

Combining Wolpert's book with the recent works of the above-cited authors, one takes away a broader theme (see Michael Shermer, Why Darwin Matters) that perhaps we humans got this far by the extra caution taken when seeing patterns where none exist, by immediately projecting intent and anticipated actions onto other beings or objects (irrespective of whether these beings were present or ever existed) and responding to those projections, and by developing both our technologies and our myths due to our insatiable quest for causal links. When contemplating an existence of our conscious self beyond the lifespan of our amazing, yet mortal, brain, we naturally feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. If this something involves or is orchestrated by one or more supernatural entities, we have no way of scientifically knowing.

Wolpert ends his book in a fashion reminiscent of the late Stephen J. Gould (Rock of Ages) where religious beliefs and scientific beliefs are each given their own due respect/space (as you may recall Gould's nonoverlapping magisteria). To the extent scientific beliefs are nearly inaccessible to those without sufficient skills in critical analysis and mathematics and to the extent religious beliefs can take hold in the mind of a child in a day, the populating advantage appears to go to religious beliefs. Unlike Dawkins, Wolpert climbs no soapbox to cry for enhanced critical analysis, mathematics and scientific reasoning in American public schools. He shows little if any distaste for purposeful "scientific" misinformation fed children in home schools or schools supported by literalist religions. Perhaps Wolpert took the matter as far as he felt comfortable in his closing that religious belief systems should not abridge the rights of others.

Nice Concept, Bad Execution.......2007-09-22

Wolpert selected a very interesting topic for this book. And that's all the nice things I have to say about it. He makes a large number of claims that he doesn't bother to support with evidence or explanation. He does not cite his references, although they are listed in the back matter (helpful, but not terribly so, since a particular statement cannot be linked to its source). His paragraphs seem to start and stop willy-nilly and do not provide clear arguments to support his claims. It is unclear which of his claims he intends to support and which he intends to lob toward any ear that will listen.
In short, this book seems like it was written in an ad-hoc, stream-of-consciousness manner. The book does not clearly present its arguments, define important terms like "understand" (this is very important when discussing this topic), or lend itself to detailed study of the subject matter. This book was not yet ripe for the printing, but it was printed nevertheless. Do us all a favor and don't support the publishing of bad books by purchasing them.

A Good Summary of Complex New Evidence.......2007-08-05

Six Impossible Things before Breakfast, by Lewis Wolpert.

This book was very interesting to me as an analysis of human understanding of causation and the importance of our understanding of causation in how we perform other intellectual functions. In particular, we formulate beliefs. One of the characteristics that separates us even from the closest animals is our ability to understand and rationalize cause and effect. Animals, even the great apes, have very limited understanding -- if any -- of causality. We know that from subjecting those animals to experiments in which they would be rewarded for exercising any intellectual capacity that they have.

Human beings have a strong motive to understand causation. Sometimes the intellectual process by which we reach conclusions about causation is described as a "belief engine." There is no doubt that our belief engine is somewhat faulty. Our belief engine "prefers quick decisions, it is bad with numbers, loves representativeness, and sees patterns where often there is only randomness. It is too often influenced by authority, and it has a liking for mysticism." p. 220. We suffer from the "Pollyanna principle," being far more likely to focus on and remember positive rather than negative reports about ourselves. The "Lake Wobegon effect," explains why 94% of college professors believe that they are better than their average colleague at their jobs. The "interviewer illusion" guarantees that we will, as a rule, feel far more confident in our ability to predict the future of others than an objective retrospective analysis would justify. We are overconfident in the correctness of our own judgments. The "Barnum effect" means that we will see merit in vague and generalized descriptions.

We tend to make up stories to explain what we have observed, and the stories often overcome the actual memories. We jump to conclusions on inadequate evidence and then hold to those conclusions with vigor. Placebos work. We are capable of internalizing "forced beliefs," manufactured beliefs forced on us by society or authority. These "forced beliefs" are often manufactured to support other beliefs "that are poorly supported by evidence." Page 88.

We are pathetically bad at evaluating risks, fearing the airplane flight more than the automobile trip to the airport. We have no natural ability to infer what we learn from statistics. We are good at acquiring superstitious beliefs, and terrible at getting rid of them. We are vulnerable to both hypnotic and ordinary suggestion. Studies have shown just how susceptible we are to the implantation of false memories.

We are subject to a strong confirmation bias, which means that once we have formed a belief, we are far more likely to credit new evidence that conforms to those beliefs then evidence that challenges them.

It is difficult to understand the human mind because the instrument with which we must understand it is, of course, the human mind. Studies of animals, babies, children, and people with various kinds of brain damage can give us valuable clues. Carefully designed experiments, with adequate controls, can give us valuable hints. Studies of obviously false beliefs held by people with mental illnesses or under the influence of mind altering drugs can help us understand as well. Even this is difficult because "there are no sharp dividing lines between normal beliefs and delusional beliefs." Page 101. Still, susceptibility to delusions has a strong genetic component, suggesting that our susceptibility is somewhat hardwired into the brain.

We are naturally resistant to scientific evidence because scientific results are frequently counterintuitive. "Almost without exception, any common-sense view of the world is scientifically false." Page 203.

Wolpert proposes that some of the same pathways that developed because of our understanding of causality, particularly tool use, help us to understand our "belief engine." He contends that, "religion and causal beliefs in general had their evolutionary origin in toolmaking, which drove evolution." He admits that the evidence is limited but he could find little or no evidence to contradict this hypothesis. Our belief system is genetically programmed, by which Wolpert means, "that there are circuits in our brain that are set up by the genes that predispose us to have religious and mystical beliefs. It is hard to imagine that the religious and mystical beliefs found in every culture have some other origin." Page 217-18.

This is a short book. It is a good introduction to the science of how the human mind works. I had heard of a lot of the studies discussed in this book before. The author does an excellent job of summarizing the significance of the studies. I enjoy books that explain the cutting edge of science to non-scientists. Wolpert goes into my short list of successful popularizers of complex science.

Fantastic .......2007-06-23

It is quite beautiful how Wolpert sets up the book to explain how some can reject his premise of a non-existent god. The facts contained in this book, and the occasional theory (though well-backed ones), are brilliant and come from a man with an extensive background in the field he writes about, taking special care to write in a way anyone, even an unscientific mind, can understand. It is fantastic how someone can understand, through this book, why they reject certain arguments (specifically that a god is irrational) yet walk away still denying everything, holding on to their old beliefs, knowing exactly how. Though that of course is only a mere portion of the book. Brilliant.

The Superstition of Scientism.......2007-06-09

Lewis Wolpert reveals two personas in this book. One persona is reasonable and makes thoughtful statements about evolution and beliefs. The other persona is obnoxious and irrational--the proverbial village atheist. This is an example of the bad persona:

"I am committed to science and believe it is the best way to understand the world. I am an atheist reductionist materialist. I know of no good evidence for the existence of God." (p. x)

Wolpert knows the evidence of God's existence and discusses the evidence throughout the book. In an ongoing act of self-deception, Wolpert fails to recognize the evidence and admit that it is there. More than truth, reason, and integrity, Wolpert loves the methodology of science to the point of succumbing to the gratifications of scientism, whatever they are.

In the New York Times on February 19, 2006, Leon Weiseltier called scientism "one of the dominant superstitions of our day." Wolpert spends a whole chapter on the beliefs of scientists and touches on every possible false belief (e.g., confabulations), but does not even mention this aberration. However, it may be this article Wolpert is thinking of when he says:

"It is now asserted by some that science itself is the modern superstition." (p. 159)

Is Wolpert confabulating the word "science" whenever he sees the word "scientism." Science is only one mode of inquiry. Scientism is an excessive and irrational reliance on this branch of knowledge. Another method of inquiry is philosophy, which is what Wolpert is doing when he explains the difference between scientific beliefs and non-scientific beliefs and extols science as "the best way to understand the world."

The good persona uses the following quote as the epigraph for Chapter 2 and expands on the insight:

"This act of mind has never yet been explain'd by any philosopher." (David Hume 1739)

"The word belief, while freely and widely used to account, for example, for causes in the previous chapter, is nevertheless not easy to define. Neither philosophers nor scientists have been successful. David Hume, my hero philosopher, said of belief that he regarded it as a great mystery." (p. 23)

Conscious knowledge of simple facts is also a mystery. Take, for example, knowing that this page is white. It means more than that light is entering the eye and a signal is going to the brain. It means an awareness of the whiteness of the page. What is it? What are ideas and abstractions? What is the relationship between ourselves and our bodies? What is self-consciousness? The mind is indeed a mystery, and man is an indefinability that becomes conscious of its own existence. Plain common sense tells us human beings are embodied spirits and evidence of God's existence.

Continuing with quotes that show Wolpert at his best:

"There is a strong motive for explaining any phenomena that affect us in causal terms, an ingrained need to organize the world cognitively--both the external world and the internal world." (p. 3)

Thomas Aquinas couldn't have said it better. Human beings have a drive to know and understand everything. It is this drive that causes us to think that the universe is intelligible and that everything has a reason, explanation, or cause. The assumption of the intelligibility of the universe has served us well in science, and we are inclined to hope that we can understand our own existence. Science by itself cannot make our own existence intelligible because human beings transcend matter.

The method of inquiry that makes our existence intelligible is metaphysics: the study of being as being. We can partially understand the mystery, indefinability, and spirituality of our intellect and will with the metaphysical insight that we are finite beings and that we were created by an infinite being.

Creation is a form of causality, and the reasonable Wolpert rejects Hume's empirical understanding of causality:

"David Premack, a psychologist, has pointed out that there are two classes of causal beliefs. One, as Hume suggested, is based on one event being linked to another, and can be called weak or 'arbitrary', for there need not be any obvious connection between them, like switching on a light. Animals can learn connections by the pairing of events through this process of associative learning. The other, which is uniquely human, is strong or 'natural' causality, and is programmed into our brains so that we have evolved the ability to have a concept of forces acting on objects." (p. 27)

In fact, Wolpert goes beyond this limited understanding of causality as force by endorsing the ideas of Jean Piaget:

"Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist whose studies on the development of thinking in children have been very influential, held that the development of infants' understanding of their environment was the result of their active manipulation and exploration of objects, and that they constructed reality through converging lines of sensory and motor information. One source of their understanding of causes came from the infants' own actions: the actual experience of producing a movement plays a key role." (p. 35)

Wolpert is saying that our understanding of causality is rooted in our experience as infants of free will. Since many "atheist reductionist materialist" say free will is an illusion, the good Wolpert is taking a different point of view than the bad Wolpert.

Another example of his rejection of the limiting assumptions of hardcore materialism is the following quote:

"More generally, as David Hume made clear, there is no experience of 'self' as something distinct from our body." (p. 33)

If the self was distinct from the body, then there would not be one being--man--but two beings: the body and the self. The unity of man is the insight that caused medieval philosophers to abandoned Greek dualism--the idea that body and soul are two separate substances.

The following quote shows that Wolpert understands the importance of conceptual thinking in the evolution of human beings:

"It was Kenneth Oakley in 1949 who wrote 'Modern civilization owes its form to machine-tools, driven by mechanical energy; yet these perform in complicated ways and use only the same basic opertor as the simple equipment is the tool-bag of Stone Age man: percussion, cutting, scraping, piercing, shearing, and moulding.' He also made clear that the men who made tools such as the Acheulian hand axes must have been capable of forming in their minds images of what they were trying to achieve. 'Human culture in all its diversity is the outcome of this capacity for conceptual thnking...' This original idea of Oakley is at the core of this book." (p. 71)

Self-consciousness is the ability human beings have to turn in on themselves and catch themselves in the act of their own existence. The following quote brings the concept of self-consciousness into the evolutionary databank:

"It has been suggested that the opposability of the thumb, and the associated wondrous dexterity, completely transformed our ancestors' relationship with external objects. This relationship could have promoted human consciousness, as the manipulation of objects became a self-conscious activity; once the individual becomes an agent operating on external objects in numerous different ways, causal beliefs are involved." (p. 77)

Now for the bad Wolpert:

"Religion is almost always regarded by its believers as a way of obtaining help from supernatural powers, possibly from a god. Miracles can win further adherents, and the Bible has many examples, not least the dividing of the Red Sea to allow Moses and the Jews to cross. However, as David Hume argued, no miracle should be believed in unless the evidence was such that it would be miraculous not to believe in it." (p. 123)

Professor Wolpert is paraphrasing a direct quote from David Hume that he already shared with his readers on p. 85, so impressed is he with the quote's relevance and insight. Hume's argument against religion is puerile because it discusses miracles in general, rather than the particular miracles that are part of our salvation history.

Examples of historically established miracles are the exorcisms and healings of Jesus, the founder of Christianity. His miracles are reported in all four Gospels and the Q document. The Jewish historian Josephus referred to Jesus as "a doer of wonderful works" and even anti-Christian sources refer to Jesus as a magician. It is irrational to admit Jesus was a Jewish prophet and deny that he performed miracles because at the time Jesus lived miracles were generally believed to happen. The historical Jesus includes what Jesus did and how Jesus was perceived by his contemporaries.

Since Wolpert is not interested in the historical Jesus, his quoting Hume on miracles is gratuitous and ambiguous. Presumably, Wolpert was trying to say that God and Moses did not really part the Red Sea and that God and Jesus did not really cure anybody. This is consistent with his view that God doesn't really exist. Since the bad Wolpert is a "reductionist materialist," he does not think human beings really exist either. All that really exists for the confused Wolpert is whatever particle physicists say exists.

Wolpert apparently identifies with Thomas Hobbes (b. 1588), forgetting the different circumstances. Hobbes lashed out at his contemporary critics as follows:

"For if a man pretend to me that God hath spoken to him supernaturally and immediately I make doubt of it, I cannot easily perceive what argument he can produce to oblige me to believe it. It is true that, if he be my Soveriegn he may oblige me to obedience, so as not by act or word to declare I believe him not; but not to think otherwise than my reason persuades me...For to say that God hath spoken to him...in a dream, is no more than to say he dreamed God spoke to him... "(p. 131)

What would God have to do to make Wolpert believe? Wolpert tells us:

"Of course, it is possible for God to easily reveal to scientists his current existence: God only has to perform, publicly, one or two miracles, for good evidence to be provided. This evidence could, for example, be quite simple, like turning a lake into good red wine, or providing an instant cure for cancer. Such miracles would almost certainly lead to religious beliefs among the skeptics." (p. 216)

Oliver Sacks, famous for Awakenings, told the following story about a 50-year-old patient that thought he was 20 because of a spinal cord damaged by alcohol abuse. With shame and regret, Sacks said that he handed the man a mirror and asked him if this was a 20-year-old man. His patient was horrified and cried out that he must be crazy. Fortunately, the patient soon forgot what had horrified him and he calmed down.

If a powerful angel changed a lake to red wine, it might neglect to keep the public from going crazy. God would not neglect anything. When God performs miracles and reveals things to mankind, individuals believe exactly what God wants them to believe. Faith is a gift from God. While Christians summon their fellow humans to believe, there is no obligation to believe as Hobbes thought. Nobody is criticizing Wolpert for not believing and there is no need for him to defend himself.

Miraculous historical events, such as the Easter experience, are just part of the story Christians tell in their summons to nonbelievers. That Jesus was a Jewish prophet is a large part of the story as is the idea that Jesus saved mankind for meaning. There is another reason to believe: When nonbelievers explain why they don't believe they always give bad reasons.

Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith

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Not for the weak of faith....
Jewish Roots
Excellent!
Necessary read
Indespensable for Christians and Jews

Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith
Marvin R. Wilson
Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802804233

Customer Reviews:

Not for the weak of faith...........2007-08-30

After a recent trip to Israel, I started to wonder why, if the beginnings of Christianity was in fact Jewish, does the church look nothing like Judaism? Why does Judaism celebrate Biblical holidays, while the Christians make up their own and claim they are of God? I did not get it. Who are we fooling....December 25 was not the birthday and we all know it. Yet, the Jews celebrate holidays that they KNOW were given by God Himself.
I tried asking many pastors and theologians and found that most are not too thrilled to get questions like this. They squirm and try to get me out of their offices as fast as they can. I get the glossed over fake smile and now most avoid me like the plague =)
I just wanted answers and truth! I firmly believe, by faith, that if you ask, you will receive. If you truly seek, the answers will come to you.
I believe that this book is of great value in that quest for answers and truth, if you really want that. I came to see things differently than I have been taught for years. I think if you are at the starting point of trying to understand these things, this is the book for you. By the time I read the book, I think I was further on the path so a lot of it was review for me. It is a great book for me to give to others as they look at me like I am crazy with my Hebraic roots interest. Who knows, maybe I have lost it. I do know, though, that my faith makes MUCH more sense looking at it through this Jewish lens.

Jewish Roots.......2007-08-16

Excellent book - Dr. Wilson is a marvelous author who takes you through the history of the Church thru Hebraic eyes. I have never learned so much from one author. Churches need to get this book in the hands of their pastors who could use it for sermons and/or bible studies. Haven't you ever wondered how the church came to be what it is today??? Why so many different religions?? Why the anti semetic atmosphere even today?? Read this book!!

Excellent!.......2007-08-07

Dr. Wilson's book is the best single volume work on the Jewish roots of Christianity I've ever read. It may be a tough read for some and not academic enough for others, but I prefer to think it splits the middle! The review questions at the end of each chapter help nail down the most important points in the book. Necessary reading for all Christians.

Necessary read.......2007-08-01

Although this book is a bit difficult to read (due to all the information contained within) it is a must read for those of the Jewish faith or those looking to understand the basis for Christianity! Wonderful book full of heavy reference material. Provides a detailed path from early Judaism to the Christian church (and all that transpired in between).

Indespensable for Christians and Jews.......2007-02-05

Having studied under Dr. Wilson at Gordon College I can recommend this book without any reservations. No teacher has had a more positive effect on my life and personal development. If you want to know about the roots of Christianity, this book is for you.

Reconstructing Human Origins, Second Edition

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Excellent. Another masterpiece. A must have.

Reconstructing Human Origins, Second Edition
Glenn C. Conroy
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
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ASIN: 0393925900

Book Description

This new edition explains how recent advances in radiometric dating, functional morphology, molecular biology, and archaeological inference have changed our modern interpretations of how hominins lived and dispersed across the globe during the last five million years or more. The updating includes ample discussion of the most recent fossil finds.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent. Another masterpiece. A must have........2005-03-26

I have just finished to read the book in a first reading. This second edition of the book is another masterpiece of the Prof. Conroy. The book is updated and it includes all the aspects of the human evolution, from the plio-pleistocene world to our modern origins. Notable the number of figures, schemes, diagrams and tables present in the book. The book is so updated that it includes the recent dwarf species Homo floresiensis.
Any sort of australopithecus and any sort of homo are included. This is a serious book for the one that really wants to learn the human evolution. I currently think it it is the best. If you purchase it you won't repent of it.
See my previous review of the first edition of this book.
A big thanks to Prof. Conroy.

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