Scientists love to write books for other scientists, and overall deplore having to explain their science to the public. Universities work overtime to close their walls to the general public, even going as far as removing their funding from the general scrutiny of the public by catagorizing themselves as "non-constitutional" and in effect keeping themselves out of the public eye. While the general rule for professors is "publish or perish" they tend to attempt to publish in a university press, which is usually a black hole that sucks out lots of money from the university, and is usually funded by grants and endowments and hardly ever from sales - unless those sales are done by making those books "required reading" for University or College students, who can hardly afford another expensive item in their life.

In the introduction to this book Steven Jay Gould laments this problem by saying "In one particularly distressing example... scholars often look down their noses at large format books filled with attractive photographs "coffee table books" in the dismissive jargon." Mr. Gould goes on to say, however "I love this book because it embodies such a fine marriage of these tow m odes of our central vision - palpable photographs of matrials things with a distinctive text of life's history."

I couldn't say it better. Frankly, most books like this aren't very good, this one is perfect for someone with my background: a high school eduction, no chance of ever going back to college, and a overbearing curiosity for all things ancient.

Since starting to collect fossils in the Nebraska road side a year ago, my curiosity of fossils has grown tremendously. Thanks to an effort by a few scientists willling to speak of these things in lay terms, I am able to learn more about the collecting and the science of fossils every day. Books like this are useful to maintain the support scholars need to keep their science alive, and I for one am very happy to see this inexpensive effort from a scientist published and available to the general pubic.

The book indeed has some splendid photographs but the text moves from general to very very specific.A poor attempt to condense all fields of paleontology into a coffee table book.Buy it for the pictures not the text.

Fossils are a window into time, revealing unexpected insights into the evolution of the staggering variety of forms that life has taken on our planet. This fascinating exploration of fossils overturns the traditional view of evolution as a slow and inevitable process and shows that lifeforms gernerally do not evolve to any significant degree until massive extinction clears the way for new species. This rhythm of life--stability punctuated by burst of change--is revealed by the fossilized remains of Earth's ancient flora and fauna protrayed in 160 luminous cdolor plates and described in in a vivid style that puts the reader in touch with the most current thinking about the evolution of life and the forces that drive it.

This is a great book that tells all about fossils

I'm rarely so impressed by a book that I write a review. This one, however, is special. The authors are able to convey a great deal of difficult to understand information in a way that is not only straightforward and easy to understand, but also fun and humorous! It explains evolutionary concepts as it guides you through fossil-finding techniques. It is sprinkled with simple experiments to deepen understanding of each concept. My five-year-old sat through the first 50 pages, then protested when I had to stop to cook dinner. I'm with him. We were both learning and loving it.

Arthropods are one of the most diverse and long-lived phyla in the animal kingdom. Their origins date back to the pre-Cambrian, and over the decades that they have been studied, they have generated controversy that persists to the present and will likely extend into the future. Yet this controversy is not fueled by idle speculation, but by the sometimes-bewildering complexity of arthropod diversity, both in the living representatives and in the fossil record. This book delves into the analyses of molecular, morphological, and paleontological data, and allows the critical reader to assess the disparate conclusions of the leading arthropod systematists. At the same time, the spotlight chapters on celebrated fossil arthropod sites (such as the Burgess Shales, the Chengjiang site, and others, allow a focus on the early diversification of Arthropod groups, as well as lobopods and the earliest crustaceans. Many illustrations and charts add interest to this challenging book. If you want more than a cursory exposure to Arthropod evolution. This is the book for you!

This is yet another fine book on science which deserves to be republished. Originally published by Simon and Schuster, "Time Frames" is a well written account by noted paleobiologist Niles Eldredge on his doctoral research on the systematics and evolutionary history of the North American Devonian trilobite genus which led to the development of the theory of "Punctuated Equilibrium"; the theory was first introduced in a symposium volume on paleontology as the subject of an article written by Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould. Eldredge offers a fascinating glimpse into field and theoretical paleontological research which should appeal to those interested in science. Why it is now out of print again is surely a mystery to me.

Eldredge would have done better to end this book at the second paragraph: "Richard Dawkins must be right after all!" Unfortunately, after making this capitulation he then turns to a pejorative, labelling Dawkins and his [unnamed] colleagues as "UltraDarwinists". It is difficult to perceive how anyone can be 'beyond Darwin', but Eldredge returns continually to the phrase.

For a generation, Eldredge, in collaboration with Stephen J. Gould, has attempted to erode Darwin's 'natural selection' mechanism of evolution. Instead of gradual, incremental change, they urge evolution as progressing in fits and starts. The idea is indirectly supported by the imperfect sequence of the fossil record, a point Darwin conceded in Origin of Species. Eldredge uses the remainder of this book to explain why 'natural selection' should be replaced by 'punctuated equilibrium' - it follows the pattern of history. The pattern is that a traditional idea replaced by more innovative concepts. The key example here is the replacement of gradualism in geology replaced by the more determined action of continental drift. Eldredge wants to replace Darwin's form of 'gradualism' in evolution with a Wegenerian concept in biology, punctuated equilibrium. This will gain Eldredge [and, one assumes, Gould] a stature in the history of science equaling Wegener's.

Daniel C. Dennett's DARWIN'S DANGEROUS IDEA offers a penetrating analysis of the punctuation idea. Illustrating the fallacies of the thesis, failing to provide a scale for measuring rate of species change, for example, Dennett's critique should have swept away any vestige of support for the idea. The 'UltraDarwinists' use molecular genetics to reinforce Darwin's original concept. While earth's history has experienced episodes of rapid change [a 10 km bolide provides an earthshaking [sorry!] environmental pulse], such events are not the mechanism of evolution.

Eldredge's own example of the Cecropia tree, a continuing theme through this book, is a perfect example of why Dawkins is right and Eldredge wrong. Cecropia's forebears adapted to the impact of increasing hurricane frequency due to the closure of the Panamanian isthmus. Eldredge calls Cecropia's emission of dormant seed pods 'cheating'. Yet that's exactly what Dawkins calls adaptation to environment. How rapidly did Cecropia 'learn' this trick? Where did it learn it? Clearly, those trees whose genes contributed to seed dormancy survived to enhance the talent in later generations. Why Eldredge fails to examine that aspect is a mystery, since it is evolution's method.

Recommendations about this book don't come easy. The dispute over 'punctuated equilibria' has gone on too long. Readers should be aware of Eldredge's views [and cheap rhetoric], but learn why he's wrong. Read this book, but don't buy it. Rush over to the Dennett page and pick up Darwin's Dangerous Idea, a book that deserves shelf space in anyone's library.

This book is noteworthy for two reasons. Most importantly Eldredge attempts an important advance of his earlier work on punctuated equilibria in evolution with a new model that he calls a "bucket-sloshing" model where ecological stabilities and regular evolutionary genetic drift alternate like sloshing water in a bucket to ratchet evolution. Secondly, the introductory chapters of the book are presented not just as background but as commentary on a fundamental divide within science, namely a split between historical sciences (geology, paleontology) and functional science (e.g. physics). Historical scientists commonly pursue pattern as opposed to cause or mechanism such as the more dominant functional scientists. Hence the "pattern" of the title links the holistic implications in both the contribution of historical scientists and the contribution of changing ecologies from events such as extinctions to "environmental" pressures.

His tone is grand and plodding even avuncular through much of the book as befits the scope of a paleontologist of his stature, but with it he opens the way for more of us to keep up with him. This is definitely an accessible book. Yet do not miss the important gems of theory that he brings to the dialogue to evolve our understanding of evolution.

Niles Elderidge picks up where he left off in "Reinventing Darwin" and "Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species", and takes the reader on a tour of the history of evolution. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. He starts off with admitting he caught himself at one moment contemplating whether Richard Dawkins might actually have been correct in his "selfish gene" theory about evolution. "My God, Richard Dawkins must be right after all!" he exclaims on the first page. But soon he calms down, takes a deep breath, and looks at the larger picture. He argues (convincingly, in my opinion) that evolution does not occur all the time, and that in fact species are quite stable and will last for millions of years, until some sort of environmental event happens which wipes out not only species but entire ecosystems as well. Most of the time, if there's a local change in the environment, the species could simply move. But sometimes events happen which results in extinction (in fact, the species today represent less than 1% of all species that have ever existed). Evolution occurs from the survivors of extinction, radiating to fill in new niches. This is Darwinian evolution, but not quite the gradual improvement often taught by the "Ulta-Darwinists". I found this book a delight to read, and thought he did an excellent job of summarising the history of the attempts to unite evolution with modern genetics.

Whenever one reads a book of neo-Darwinism (Eldredge calls it ultra-Darwinism) the mechanisms are mostly well explained, if not always convincing to everybody. In this sense "Punctuated Equilibrium" has been a frustrating theory, in that we are never told exactly how it works. Few of us have seen the original papers of Gould and Eldredge, and Gould's copious range of books since rarely detail his most famous idea.

I hoped then, that 'Reinventing Darwin' would give the story first hand. However, while this book gives an inside story of the politics of the 'high table', and some conflicts within modern science, there are no real mechanisms. Eldredge mentions that habitat tracking can account for stasis, by organisms migrating with latitude creep in a benign environment, rather than staying in the same latitude and adapting. (If this alone explains stasis, you read it here first!). Eldredge also provides arguments for observed evolution not following the theoretical mechanisms of neo-Darwinism for large changes, or how he explains it. But one is left wondering if punctuated equilibrium is still an observational hypothesis about the pattern of life, that nobody, including its originators, can explain how it works.

Eldredge ends on a hopeful note; that 'naturalist' and 'reductionist' scientist should try to understand each other. But the problem might be deeper than that. In my own book (The Theory of Options: A New Theory of the Evolution of Human Behavior) I suggest that 'reductionist' math might simply be incomplete, in that upwards from about 100k reproductions a second effect of gene copy kicks in, not covered in the existing equations. I might be wrong on this, but this another lesson from the punctuated equilibrium experience. At the end of the rainbow of a new theory of evolution lies not a pot of gold, but a challenge to demonstrate the mechanisms. Until someone can answer that challenge, there will still be divisions at the high table.

I would encourage people to read this book, just do not expect too many answers from it.

In 'Reinventing Darwin', Niles Eldredge presents the view of a different side of the issues presented by what he calls 'Ultra-Darwinists', the likes of Richard Dawkins and Maynard Smith. As such, it raises an important contribution to our understanding of natural history, and is essential for anyone interested in current debates inside of Neodarwinism.

Perhaps the most striking thing about 'Reinventing Darwin', is how little attention Eldredge pays to the design of actual animal bodies and behaviors. Richard Dawkins's books, for example, are filled with explanation of various complex and semi-designed things - such as altruism in 'The Selfish Gene'. 'The Blind Watchmaker' is entirely devoted to the question of how things like wings, eyes and legs are formed by natural selection.

Eldredge, on the other hand, is hardly ever interested in these issues. He does make a halfhearted attack on the 'Panglossian' kind, which is associated with Gould, but Eldredge had little to do with the paper about the Arches of San Marino. Eldredge readily concedes that the great majority of animal features are formed by natural selection (p.48).

So what is the focus of Eldredge book, and the main line of critique of the Ultra-Darwinists? The answer is the larger patterns of natural history. Eldredge believes that the history of life is not just the principles of natural selection extrapolated. Rather, Eldredge believes that in the large scale, there are different principles that govern life, additions to simple natural selection.

Eldredge is most convincing when he discusses the importance of species as players in evolution. Eldredge points out that within species, different groups ('demes') can evolve differences from the main group, but that species are normally one reproductive entity, and that thus small differences get merged back into the species average. Thus only when a distinct reproductive body is formed (usually by geographical separation from the main group), evolution can create a new species.

This form of higher level evolution seems logical and natural. However, Eldredge arguments about higher level selection (species selection) is not very clear, convincing, or forcefully argued. The best of what Eldredge does promote is Elizabeth Vrba's theory, that species often exist in a more general archetype and in unique, specialized species. Vrba found out that there is a higher level of specification from those specialized species than the more general group. Eldredge argues that this is because the more specialized species, when moving to a different environment, face stronger evolutionary pressure. This he called 'Species Sorting', and this (as opposed to the argument that there is competition between various animal species and Taxas), I find easy to accept. I do wish that Eldredge would elaborate on empirical ways to verify his conclusion. Indeed, the book as a whole could benefit from more attention to how the differences between Ultra-Darwinists and Naturalists can be tested empirically.

Finally, Eldredge turns his attention to ecosystem and to Richard Dawkins concept of selfish genes. Eldredge argues that Ultra-Darwinists have turned natural selection from a passive to an active player. In Dawkins's scheme, natural selection shapes gene so that they will influence the environment. So that there are genes 'for' beaver dams and for reading. Eldredge puts against this a model in which the environment effects the genes via natural selection, and the genes effect the environment via the organism.

To me, this a distinction without a difference, although Eldredge thinks that it betrays a great conceptual failure of Ultra-Darwinism. He tries to illustrate this with the example of human sociobiology. Eldredge does prove that the selfish gene perspective is not enough to explain human behavior, but this is beside the point. Eldredge readily concedes that few Ultra-Darwinists are hard core genetic determinists (p.212). How is that possible? Because, as Dawkins discusses in 'The Selfish Gene' and elsewhere, humans, alone from all animals, have culture. Thus, if Eldredge wishes to attack the 'Selfish Gene' theory, he should pick a different target.

I have not, perhaps, been as kind to this book in this review as I meant to be. Whether or not I agree with specific conclusions by Eldredge, this remains a well written, well argued, and fascinating book.

Niles Eldredge's "Rethinking Darwin" is a slender tome which advocates a major restructuring of the Modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution, pleading for a major shift away from its population genetics roots towards more emphasis on the significance of speciation and its historical legacy - according to Eldredge - in prevailing patterns of stasis seen within the fossil record. Although Eldredge does not deny the importance of Natural Selection as the primary means of evolutionary change, he notes - and I think correctly - that its relevance to speciation is still not well known, especially from a real-world "naturalist" perspective.

Building from his ideas on punctuated equilibria, Eldredge makes a very persuasive case for stasis in the fossil record and its implications for microevolution as well as macroevolution. He does an excellent job linking Ernst Mayr's theory of allopatric speciation to punctuated equilibria, noting that something akin to it - if not allopatric speciation directly - is the mechanism responsible for abrupt appearances in the fossil record. Eldredge also notes the significance of long-term stasis in ecosystems, which he has observed in ongoing research on Middle Devonian (approximately 370-360 million years) marine ecosystems in what is now New York with paleontologist Carlton Brett and his colleagues.

Admittedly Eldredge does come across as a petulant schoolboy in his tone, which is perhaps quite intentional, especially after referring to the "High Table" of British university academics of the likes of biologist John Maynard Smith. But one would be greatly amiss to pay sole attention to Eldredge's complaints, without considering some important implications for evolutionary theory which he addresses in this well-reasoned, well-written work of scientific prose.

"What Is Life?" is an illuminating & expansive reconstruction of the bacterial evolution of life on Earth. Combining rigorous science, mythology, history, poetry, stories, sketches, wit, captivating writing, & arresting photography, Margulis & Sagan examine Professor Margulis' theory of endosymbiosis.

Needless to say, Dr. Margulis has left me speechless. I cannot post here an adequate review of this book because I can't find the words to express what this book has done to my beliefs.

Others have done it much better. For the best review, read Piero Scaruffi's 1999 review titled "Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan: What is Life? (Simon & Schuster, 1995)." Scaruffi does Dr. Margulis justice. Like many other readers, on the other hand, he is unfair to Dorion Sagan as his mother's co-writer. Nothing conveys to the ordinary reader the wonder & vast scope of the world of science better than stimulating prose. With it, I am able to "get" very quickly otherwise confounding stuff. Thanks to Sagan, I am able to learn all over again long-forgotten facts like the structure & function of DNA & RNA. I like Sagan's off-hand style & acidic wit. His eccentricity makes his science books fun to read.

Dr. Lynn Margulis - Maverick Microbiologist Extraordinaire!

Dorion Sagan - You Rock!

I was as enthralled as other reviewers with the amazing facts in this book. My favorite: bacteria don't age; they can die from accidental causes but "programmed death" started with eukaryotes. The authors show that death is necessary for organisms (like us) that practice meiotic cell division.

But this book is far more than a random collection of facts. Margulis and her collaborators do an amazing job of assembling an understandable model of life using parts carefully selected from a vast body of biological knowledge. While a one-sentence definition is still elusive, the reader builds up a picture of life's most pertinent characteristics, as exhibited by the truly astounding diversity of living things on this planet. By the time I finished, I was satisfied that the authors had answered the question.

You don't need to be a biologist to understand and enjoy this book. Its beauty is that the greatest scientific thinking on the most complex topics has been presented in common english, with necessary scientific terms explained as they are introduced. If you are intrigued by the question of life, I doubt there's a more complete, accurate, understandable, and enjoyable answer available than this book.

This book is written with great intelligence and subtlety. I'm an engineer, and it has been about thirty years since my last biology class. I'm not even sure what compelled me to update my knowledge in this field. I suppose the title "What is Life?", got my attention, as I found this title to be somewhat audacious. Let's face it, "What is Life?", is the supreme question, and any author who ventures in this direction is walking a tight-rope of controversy.

I can honestly say I learned a lot from this book, as I've underlined just about every page. It has so many fascinating insights about the evolution of bacteria into living organisms. As the authors acknowledge, scientists today do not yet understand all the fundamental biological questions - but it sure seems they are headed in the right direction.

Quoting from p. 218, "The facts of life, the stories of evolution, have the power to unite all people". Although I doubt that we can ever "unite all people", I believe that this book will be appreciated by readers who are looking for modern and rational explanations to some existential questions, within the context of biology.

Dr. Eldredge is a curator of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. He and Dr. Stephen J Gould developed what may be the most critical appendix to Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection since Ernst Mayr's biological species concept. In short the theory of punctuated equilibria states that species are in evolutionary stasis for long periods of time and when a useful adaptation appears it will spread rapidly through the population. It is not the theory that makes this book a good read. It is the way that the author describes how he and Dr. Gould came to it. Dr. Eldredge is an expert on trilobites, a group of aquatic arthropods that went extinct before the dinosaurs appeared. Following him as he explorers the fossil record of these creatures is as much a lesson in perseverance and good science as it is in evolutionary theory. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in any field of organismal biology, it would be a "must read" for people who are particularly interested in evolution and or paleontology.

Dr. Eldredge is a curator of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. He and Dr. Stephen J Gould developed what may be the most critical appendix to Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection since Ernst Mayr's biological species concept. In short the theory of punctuated equilibria states that species are in evolutionary stasis for long periods of time and when a useful adaptation appears it will spread rapidly through the population. It is not the theory that makes this book a good read. It is the way that the author describes how he and Dr. Gould came to it. Dr. Eldredge is an expert on trilobites, a group of aquatic arthropods that went extinct before the dinosaurs appeared. Following him as he explorers the fossil record of these creatures is as much a lesson in perseverance and good science as it is in evolutionary theory. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in any field of organismal biology, it would be a "must read" for people who are particularly interested in evolution and or paleontology.

In his introduction, Eldredge asserts that we have to get beyond such myths as the assertion in Genesis that God meant man to have dominion over all of nature, and that stories are important. Much of the book reviews the science of paleantology, which the field of his discipline. But I saw little convincing connection between that material and the extinction of animals which existed in prehistoric times. He speculates that the cave man artists who lived at least 30,000 years before the writing of Genesis, painted animals as a symbolic means of gaining dominance over them. In the Afterward, he proposes "A New Story", in which he ignores real history of human understanding of our place in the world. He offers no clear evidence of a connection between his exegesis of Genesis and the massive extinctions of species in our times. Perhaps he should read more widely and become aquainted with St Francis of Assisi.

As you might have guessed, the first thing that came to my mind after reading this book (and it's a very fast read, so don't feel intimidated!) was how strikingly similar to the series of books written by Daniel Quinn (Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael, etc.), making many of the very same points. The author even makes use of the Bible as support for his position that we developed a mythology of our proper place in the world (thus becoming "homo magister", rulers of all the world).

I certainly don't believe that the author intended his work to be so similar to the "Ishmael" books, but the similarities are striking. Given that this book was published 5 or more years after "Ishmael", it seems reasonable that the author was influenced in some way by it.

While much of the material covered is the same as "Ishmael", this book is more straightforward (and perhaps, some might think, a bit drier - posh to that!), and complements that book nicely, dealing far more in the nitty-gritty ecological and genetic significance of mankind.

In short, this book will not replace "Ishmael", but neither is it eclipsed by it. The two books complement each other wonderfully, and Mr. Eldridge does a far more exhaustive job of explaining exactly how we are impacting the environment. Don't just get one or the other, buy both (oh yes, I'm sure Amazon is just thrilled to hear that :))!

This author is a curator in the Dept. of Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Together with Stephen Jay Gould, he formulated the evolutionary theory of Punctuated Equlibrium. In this excellent book Mr. Eldredge explores our evolutionary history, showing that although we think and act as though we live outside of nature, in reality, we have simply modified our position within the ecosystem through our agriculture and now global reach. He shows us how our notion of "dominion" over nature is largely an illusion and looks frankly at the consequences of this illusion, now and in the future, without resorting to darkness and gloom.

Mr. Eldredge is a very good writer for the layman and has a flair for transmitting a sense of wonder to his readers. His writing style reminds me of the late Carl Sagan. I especially enjoyed his thoughts on the biblical story of Genesis; how God's words regarding our dominion over the world have affected man and how we need a new story of who we are and our place in nature.

Don't worry as you read this book about forgetting anything important along the way, because Eldredge provides a brief and complete review of his salient points at the end. You won't need that highlighter.

I most sincerely recommend this easy-to-read yet scholarly book to anyone interested in ecology, evolution, and the future.