The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to Evolution

Rating:
Summary: Should have talked to an anthropologist
Review: In a quick scan of this book, it seems Mr. Horvitz has done a somewhat reasonable job of explaining the history of evolutionary theory, and the basic concepts of evolution, however, the two chapters on human evolution (19 & 20)leave much to be desired. There are discrepencies and incorrect data throughout both chapters, some of which should have been quickly caught by an editor, while others appear to be from bad data sources. For example, on page 212 the author mentions the author of the book "Lucy" as Donald Johanson, yet 2 pages later he mistakingly calls the man who discovered Lucy "David Johanson". Other basic errors include defining an ape as "simply a monkey without a tail", and calling the Bonobo, which is a species of chimpanzee (and therefore an ape), a monkey. These are basic pieces of data which would have been caught had any biological anthropologist read the chapter before it was published. The discussion of the fossil evidence for human evolution is stunted and inaccurate. Each section of the chapters seems to give different dates for the same events and species, and some species are skipped over, while others are mislabeled (Ardipithicus ramidus is listed as an Australopithicine on the summary of hominid species/timeline, and A. anamensis isn't even listed). It seems like each topic of human evolution discussed in the book was researched independantly, and so each section appears disjointed from the rest. There are numerous other problems with the data, yet there are no references to other books or articles where the information came from, so I can not say if these are problems with bad data sources, or how they occured. If you are interested in understanding human evolution, this is absolutely not the book you should look at. It states certain ideas as absolute, when they are minority opinions, and states other ideas as suspicious, when they are in fact commonly accepted. Rather, I would suggest something like Roger Lewin's book "The origin of modern humans". For a basic introduction to evolutionary theory, this is alright, but that's about all

Rating:
Summary: Preachy
Review: Leslie Horvitz does an excellent job of breaking up the subject matter of evolution into digestible parts that all flow well together into a complete and accurate whole.

Well-versed in learning psychology and effective presentation, the Idiot Guides have been serving all flavors of literacy, well, for many years. The guides promote an understanding of the subject matter and an interest to dig deeper.

Evolution, though seemingly a simple concept, can easily be misunderstood. As anyone who has attended a creationist debate will tell you, it is also a subject that is continually abused and misrepresented. It can often be difficult for a layperson to sort through the intricacies of evolutionary theory while simultaneously grasping the larger picture that continues to be developed and improved upon by competent scientists. It's easy to become muddled in the details when trying to understand the complex mechanisms of genetic mutation, natural selection and other sophisticated concepts that can be found within the realms of life on earth. Many people are intimidated by the level of understanding that is required to articulate the subject coherently - not to mention passing that information on to others so they too can understand the complexities of biological change through time.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evolution provides a worthy introduction to the discoveries that have been made within the evolutionary sciences over the past two centuries. Along with a historical perspective and a glimpse into modern-day controversy and the absurdity that is creationism, we find ourselves able to forge ahead, more knowledgeable - less confused.

We are left with a greater appreciation for science and the reality it has afforded our minds to contemplate.

Rating:
Summary: A poorly organized book with twisted logic
Review: One reason that I bought the book is that I want to know why evolution is so "misunderstood". Mr. Horvitz/Kher, the author, explained the reason why on Page 5:

"For one thing, people suspect that evolution is too complicated to grasp without spending years plowing though impenetrable books. And because teachers tend to shy away from teaching the subject, if only to avoid upsetting parents, school boards, and religious organizations, many people never learned much, if anything, about it. In addition, most Americans aren't scientifically literate. According to a worldwide poll, Americans ranked twenty-first among industrialized nations on their knowledge of evolution!"

Their logic is that if you don't know much evolution, you are not scientifically literate. I still cannot understand why evolution is so misunderstood after reading the book, instead I have such an impression that evolution is correctly understood by most Americans and they choose not to believe it.

Another reason for me to read the book is that I want to know the basic principals of evolution. Mr.Horvitz/Kher said on Page 5 that the definition of evolution in Webster's Dictionary is not accurate. What he suggested concerning the definition is "very complex creatures can evolve from other very complex creatures to form new species." That implies a tiger can evolve from a turkey. Please prove it and show me the evidence, Mr. Horvitz/Kher.

The title of Page 10 is "Evolution is Observable, but You Might not Like What You See", I do want to see the fact that one specie is being evolved from another nowadays, but I can not find the proof or experimental report from this book, for example one kind of species' gene can be changed to another species' gene and form a new species. There is no such a thing in the book! Instead the book is full of theories and new ideas that don't have experimental results to support.

In the book's Forward written by Kher, he said "the book is not really for idiots ..." which is not quite consistent to the Book's title "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evolution".

Rating:
Summary: Preachy
Review: The author spends the majority of her book telling us why evolutionary theory is right and creationism is wrong. That preachiness gets annoying after a while for someone who just picked up the book to learn more about the theory.