99% Ape: How Evolution Adds Up by Jonathan Silvertown

99% Ape: How Evolution Adds Up Reviews

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  Book Shark

  99% Ape: How Evolution Adds Up by Jonathan Silvertown
  
  “99% Ape" is the beautifully illustrated book about the grand theory of evolution. Evolutionary biologist Jonathan Silvertown takes us on a visual journey of knowledge by presenting the latest evidence in support of evolution. This 224-page book is composed of the following nineteen chapters: 1. 99% Ape, 2. Darwin’s brilliant idea, 3. The tree of life, 4. First life, 5. African genesis, 6. An eye for Darwin, 7. A fish out of water, 8. A whale of a problem, 9. Feathered fossils, 10. In the genes, 11. New species from old, 12. Darwin’s finches, 13. The flowers of evolution, 14. The race from Africa, 15. Catch me if you can, 16. Darwin in mind, 17. Why be good?, 18. The science of evolution, and 19. What next?
  
  Positives:
  1. One of the most beautifully illustrated books you will find. Full of eye-grabbing photos, illustrations and comprehensive charts. High production value.
  2. Well written and accessible for the masses. A perfect book to provide as a gift to anyone who wants to learn the basics of evolution and then some.
  3. Great format. The book is broken out in four major parts: Origins, Body Building, Diversity and Here and now. Each part contains 4 to 5 chapters. Each chapter captures interesting topics concerning that part or aspect of evolution.
  4. There are many great ways to learn about evolution. The author’s approach is to use beautiful illustrations in conjunction with brief yet comprehensive narratives. It really works well and the visual-minded will certainly appreciate it.
  5. It never ceases to amaze me how much I learn from every book about evolution. There are interesting and fascinating tidbits spruced throughout this book.
  6. Charles Darwin, plain and simply was a genius. This book will cover his greatest accomplishments and will even share some of his shortcomings.
  7. Does a wonderful job of taking some complex topics and making them understandable to the public. As an example, genes.
  8. The three main hypotheses proposed to explain the diversity of life.
  9. Human evolution using various methods including a history from molecules. Race from Africa is a wonderful chapter.
  10. Evolution of the eye. I see.
  11. Wonderful insight on the evolution of whales.
  12. Evolution of feathers, birds…good stuff.
  13. The chapter about genes is an excellent resource for explaining genetics.
  14. Birds make for great illustrations and Darwin’s finches fits the bill.
  15. Flowers and plants have evolved as well. Much more interesting than my preconceived notion.
  16. Pathogens and hosts, an evolutionary arms race occurring right under our skin.
  17. The evolution of morality.
  18. The never ending evolution versus creation debate. However, in the scientific community there is no debate.
  19. Old age and evolution.
  20. Sources made available.
  
  Negatives:
  1. As expected , the book lacks depth.
  2. Not available for the Kindle, but understandable. Even the Fire could not do this book justice.
  3. The title can be deceiving. This book covers much more than human evolution.
  
  In summary, I really enjoyed this book. It compliments well all the narrative-intensive books that cover evolution. It’s beautifully illustrated and does a great job of covering interesting and diverse topics about evolution in a succinct manner. This book is perfect for the general publication. It’s beautiful, easy to read, and educational. I highly recommend it.
  
  Recommendations (all books reviewed on Amazon): "Your Inner Fish..." by Neil Shubin, "The Making of the Fittest" by Sean B. Carroll, "What Evolution Is" by Ernst Mayr, "Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution" by Nick Lane, "Written in Stone" by Brian Switek, " Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" by Carl Zimmer, "Why Evolution Works" by Matt Young, "Why Darwin Matters" by Michael Shermer, "Only a Theory" by Kenneth R. Miller, "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins and my favorite book for the masses, "Why Evolution Is True" by Jerry A. Coyne.
  
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  Regina Hunter

  I like the part about what is next in our evolution/extinction.
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  Roddy

  One of the better books on evolution that I’ve read. However, be careful with the assertions in the anti-Creationism/Christian chapters as they originate from the liberal branch of Christianity (Karen Armstrong et al) and do not refer to the scholarship of orthodox biblical scholars i.e. biblical scholars who are actually Christians! You need to read books on evolution “by the other side” to get the full picture. I highly recommend “Evolution: Still a theory in crisis” by Michael Denton (or his earlier version without the “still”). Interestingly, there is far more Science in those books than in 99% ape and many other pro-Evolution books. By the way, that word evolution is very elastic - don’t assume that all Christians reject evolutionary theory in its entirety.
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  Roger

  I enjoyed this book a lot. Fortunately it starts strong, because some of the later chapters just weren’t as good. (Was each chapter written by a different person?) I also appreciated the discussion of religion, the respect for religious faith and statements regarding evolution’s compatibility with either religion or atheism. And the last chapter on the future—excellent!
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  Gillian Wheeldon

  Learned a lot. The only thing I had trouble with was working out the evolutionary trees. I think the Galapagos finches could have been better explained.