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أشكال لا نهائية غاية في الجمال
كتاب «أشكال لا نهائية غاية في الجمال» يسرد قصة تطور مملكة الحيوان من سلف مشترك في العصر الكامبري، كما يقدم اكتشافات علم النمو التطوري والمسمى بـ(الإيفوديفو)، الذي يقارن بين مراحل نمو الكائنات الحية باحثا عن التغيرات التي تقود لتطور الكائنات. هنا يبرز كيف تتشارك الكائنات سواء تلك التي حولنا أو المنقرضة كالديناصورات والكركدن العملاق مجموعة من الجينات الغابرة تسمى «جينات عدة الأدوات» ، التي تقوم بنحت أشكال الحيوانات الحيوانات ، فهي المنوط بها لتشكيل أعضاء مثل القلوب والعيون والأعصاب والأطراف الخارجة من الجسم كأجنحة الذباب ومخالب السرطانات. «كتاب أشكال لا نهائية غاية في الجمال» ينقل تطور مملكة الحيوان ونشوء التعقيد من مواد قليلة ، كما أن الكتاب يقدم قصة الاكتشافات العلمية الحديثة التي أدت إلى ولادة علم النمو التطوري «الإيفوديفو» الذي يحاول بدوره تفسير التطور الحيوي من خلال دراسة نمو الأجنة.
468 pages, Unknown Binding
First published April 11, 2005
379 people are currently reading
7,281 people want to read
About the author
Sean B. Carroll
27books292followersSean B. Carroll (born September 17, 1960) is a professor of molecular biology, genetics, and medical genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studies the evolution of cis-regulation in the context of biological development, using Drosophila as a model system. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Since 2010, he has been vice-president for science education of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 277 reviews
May 12, 2019
Dnf'd. Not because it is a bad book, boring or not well-written, but because it turns out that my appetite for evolutionary biology does not extend as far as embryology. I just cannot summon up the interest to concentrate and have to keep rereading and looking (again and again) at the illustrations. Maybe this is one for the future?
Notes on reading Not getting on with this, I'm not really fascinated that fingers might have once been 8 digits with different functions and this is how they might have looked (line drawing of bones) but now we have five with similar functions. Maybe I've just fallen in love with 's writing and can't adjust to a drier more academic style.
I seem to be stuck in an evolutionary biology phase. Great title, great cover, I hope the writing lives up to it.
Notes on reading Not getting on with this, I'm not really fascinated that fingers might have once been 8 digits with different functions and this is how they might have looked (line drawing of bones) but now we have five with similar functions. Maybe I've just fallen in love with 's writing and can't adjust to a drier more academic style.
I seem to be stuck in an evolutionary biology phase. Great title, great cover, I hope the writing lives up to it.
July 22, 2012
This is a fascinating book about developments in genetics and evolution in the past twenty years. Sean Carroll is a leading researcher in the field; his lucid writing style and lively approach make this book a "must-read" for anybody interested in the subject. Plenty of illustrations and drawings help to bring the subject to life.
There are several big mysteries in genetics; humans and primates share 99% of their genes, so why is their development so different? The answer lies in "genetic switches" that are encoded in DNA. But these switches have not yet been decoded; they are like the "dark matter" in galaxies--we know that it exists, but its nature is not yet been unraveled.
The first half of the book focuses on how animals develop body parts. Every cell in one's body contains the identical DNA, so how does an embryo "know" which jcells are to develop into a heart, an arm, a finger, a brain, and on and on. Earlier books on evolution that I have read, simply left this as a mystery; hypotheses were described, but none articulated as a real answer. But, this book presents a very persuasive theory, and makes it quite understandable to the layman.
In the second half of the book, Carroll conveys his sense of excitement, as molecular biologists began recently to talk with paleontologists. Remarkable progress in the past decade has shown fossils in a brand new light. Basically, evolution for the most part is not the development of new, mutated genes; evolution is the way in which old genes learn "new tricks". Embryology is shown to play a key role in understanding evolutionary development.
For anyone interested in evolution or genetics, this is the book to read.
There are several big mysteries in genetics; humans and primates share 99% of their genes, so why is their development so different? The answer lies in "genetic switches" that are encoded in DNA. But these switches have not yet been decoded; they are like the "dark matter" in galaxies--we know that it exists, but its nature is not yet been unraveled.
The first half of the book focuses on how animals develop body parts. Every cell in one's body contains the identical DNA, so how does an embryo "know" which jcells are to develop into a heart, an arm, a finger, a brain, and on and on. Earlier books on evolution that I have read, simply left this as a mystery; hypotheses were described, but none articulated as a real answer. But, this book presents a very persuasive theory, and makes it quite understandable to the layman.
In the second half of the book, Carroll conveys his sense of excitement, as molecular biologists began recently to talk with paleontologists. Remarkable progress in the past decade has shown fossils in a brand new light. Basically, evolution for the most part is not the development of new, mutated genes; evolution is the way in which old genes learn "new tricks". Embryology is shown to play a key role in understanding evolutionary development.
For anyone interested in evolution or genetics, this is the book to read.
October 29, 2017
You've heard the stories how we share 98% of genes with chimpanzees and something like 30% with daffodils. This seems confusing because we don’t look like we’re one third daffodils. Sean B Carroll’s book tries to explain this conundrum to the general reader by introducing us to the new, exciting field of Evo Devo (Evolutionary Developmental Biology) and giving me another weapon to fight against the creationists (though I don’t think they are particularly interested in having a fact-based debate from what I've noticed). This also explains why all embryos look so much alike, which also used to baffle me.
More than 95% of our DNA is non-coding, it’s, as Carroll calls it, ‘dark matter� and when embryology, genetics and evolutionary biology finally came together they managed to discover what some of this DNA ‘junk� does. It appears it plays a crucial role in ‘teaching old genes new tricks�. Scientists studying a humble fruit fly discovered a set of genes that, while not coding anything themselves, serve as switches for other genes and thus control the general layout of the fly and the growth of the correct appendages in correct places. If you dick around with those 'switch' genes, you’re going to make flies grow legs on their heads (and best believe those scientists did). What’s more fascinating it seems all kinds of animals have Hox genes and they do the same thing � control the layout and the growth of legs, arms, paws, wings. Is your mind blown yet? It is a mystery to me why anyone would want to believe in the mind-numbingly boring creationist theory when the actual science is so amazingly, breathtakingly beautiful. Carroll calls this kind of genes ‘toolkit genes� and he is now announcing revolution. His hypothesis is that all evolution relies mostly on those genes which switch the coding genes on and off and thus produce all the ‘endless forms most beautiful�.
It’s a tempting and bold claim and you can hardly fault Carroll for being insanely passionate about the field he’s devoted himself to and hoping it would mean nothing would ever be the same again. However, despite Evo Devo producing major breakthroughs and explaining how a very rapid diversification of multicellular organisms is possible, it’s probably not going to produce a paradigm shift that would justify using the word 'revolution'. It is most likely going to add another piece to the puzzle (ok, maybe 10 pieces) of our understanding how evolutionary changes occur. But then again, it’s hard to assess these things until a few decades later anyway.
I highly recommend this book if you have already read all the usual evolutionary primers by Dawkins and co. What’s refreshing here, is that Carroll doesn’t speak to creationists at all. This is not a book to win you over for the science cause. You already must be on the science side of this debate. The downside is that, unfortunately, Carroll is a great scientist but not the greatest writer. And I say it in the nicest way possible. He is enthusiastic and tries to convey this enthusiasm with bombastic opening paragraphs and cheesy metaphors that lull you into a false sense of security that this is going to be an easy read before hitting you with hard, hard science right in the face. Because of that the book feels unbalanced but it’s extremely informative, and it being pretty much the only “pop� book about evo devo (correct me if I’m wrong), you really can’t be too picky.
More than 95% of our DNA is non-coding, it’s, as Carroll calls it, ‘dark matter� and when embryology, genetics and evolutionary biology finally came together they managed to discover what some of this DNA ‘junk� does. It appears it plays a crucial role in ‘teaching old genes new tricks�. Scientists studying a humble fruit fly discovered a set of genes that, while not coding anything themselves, serve as switches for other genes and thus control the general layout of the fly and the growth of the correct appendages in correct places. If you dick around with those 'switch' genes, you’re going to make flies grow legs on their heads (and best believe those scientists did). What’s more fascinating it seems all kinds of animals have Hox genes and they do the same thing � control the layout and the growth of legs, arms, paws, wings. Is your mind blown yet? It is a mystery to me why anyone would want to believe in the mind-numbingly boring creationist theory when the actual science is so amazingly, breathtakingly beautiful. Carroll calls this kind of genes ‘toolkit genes� and he is now announcing revolution. His hypothesis is that all evolution relies mostly on those genes which switch the coding genes on and off and thus produce all the ‘endless forms most beautiful�.
It’s a tempting and bold claim and you can hardly fault Carroll for being insanely passionate about the field he’s devoted himself to and hoping it would mean nothing would ever be the same again. However, despite Evo Devo producing major breakthroughs and explaining how a very rapid diversification of multicellular organisms is possible, it’s probably not going to produce a paradigm shift that would justify using the word 'revolution'. It is most likely going to add another piece to the puzzle (ok, maybe 10 pieces) of our understanding how evolutionary changes occur. But then again, it’s hard to assess these things until a few decades later anyway.
I highly recommend this book if you have already read all the usual evolutionary primers by Dawkins and co. What’s refreshing here, is that Carroll doesn’t speak to creationists at all. This is not a book to win you over for the science cause. You already must be on the science side of this debate. The downside is that, unfortunately, Carroll is a great scientist but not the greatest writer. And I say it in the nicest way possible. He is enthusiastic and tries to convey this enthusiasm with bombastic opening paragraphs and cheesy metaphors that lull you into a false sense of security that this is going to be an easy read before hitting you with hard, hard science right in the face. Because of that the book feels unbalanced but it’s extremely informative, and it being pretty much the only “pop� book about evo devo (correct me if I’m wrong), you really can’t be too picky.
March 2, 2015
I don't know how many articles I've read in the last 10+ years that have tried to explain some of the discoveries about how a cell "knows" it should become a liver cell or a skin cell and why we don't end up with shoulder blades in our kidneys. These articles got my level of understanding from "I bet it's complicated" to "It's complicated and has something to do with HOX genes."
Reading this book is the first time I feel I "got it"*, at least somewhat, but based on my own reading history I won't pretend I can explain in a couple sentences (or without embarrassing myself in some way or another with various factual errors--it's still complicated.) I will say it's amazing that scientists have figured out so much of how nature's evolutionary toolkit, used to fiddle with morphology over the eons. Those HOX genes are indeed at the center of it, and the discovery that humans and fruit flies share almost exactly identical core sequences is like discovering that the Egyptian hieroglyphics describing how to use an Ikea wrench to build the pyramids.
*Mutants, which I read last year, helped a bit too. A lot of the same science with a different approach.
Reading this book is the first time I feel I "got it"*, at least somewhat, but based on my own reading history I won't pretend I can explain in a couple sentences (or without embarrassing myself in some way or another with various factual errors--it's still complicated.) I will say it's amazing that scientists have figured out so much of how nature's evolutionary toolkit, used to fiddle with morphology over the eons. Those HOX genes are indeed at the center of it, and the discovery that humans and fruit flies share almost exactly identical core sequences is like discovering that the Egyptian hieroglyphics describing how to use an Ikea wrench to build the pyramids.
*Mutants, which I read last year, helped a bit too. A lot of the same science with a different approach.
April 11, 2015
This is staggeringly rivetting science and lovely science writing. I have been looking for a work on embryology and evolution to clarify some questions about how to design evolutionary algorithms and this was it. At the same time, it opens up a breathtaking vista of how evolution actually happens and how it is constrained. This is one of the few cases where I can honestly say that I feel I understand a whole new set of principles and perspectives after reading that I did not before. It's also an engaging and thoroughly enjoyable read. Carroll is a professional in this most demanding field while at the same time being a great popular science writer. I can only hope he does not holster his pen after doing this.
The central realisation is shockingly simple, even if the scientific work to acquire it was bogglingly demanding: Animal body plans do not do anything new, and haven't done since the pre-Cambrian. That's a brutal oversimplification which I will have to embellish a little: All animal body plans are developed in an embryology regulated by the same, dozen or so, highly-conserved genes which are common to all extant animals and remarkably well conserved. That is the unmistakeable signature of something that is so important that it kills you if it varies, evolutionarily-speaking. Variations in the homeobox genes mean you leave no surviving offspring, and probably never even have a surviving self. So how can body forms vary at all? By turning on and off switches. It's a concept that was almost made to be ripped off and used in software.
Very early on in embryology, a set of dimensions asserts itself - a "geography". There is an East-West ordinate (anterior to posterior); there is a North-South ordinate (dorsal to ventral); there is an in-out ordinate (proximal to distal). These begin to be defined at the very first cell division based on arbitrary distribution of signalling molecules, and once established they are inscribed on the molecule by diffusion gradients. Each regulatory protein describes a gradient across the embryo or its local part of the embryo, and each engages switches that turn other genes on and off. Thus do the cells know whether they are at the head end or the anus end, the back or the belly, the shoulder or the fingers.
The clever bit is that the switches can be multiple, of arbitrary complexity, and work in cascades without having to change the crucial regulatory third-rail genes. Touch 'em and you die. Touch their switches, on the other hand, and you have a set of coordinates precise enough to divide the zones of gene expression up hundreds-fold. The Hox genes, tellingly, are arranged on the genome in the same order as they are expressed along the body. And therein lies the second huge and simple realisation - virtually all animal forms you will have seen, from yourself, O Vertebrate, to worms and butterflies, are built out of a series of segments arranged from anterior to posterior. This is a simple and forceful truth of evolution: The same segmented body plan is seen in most of what you see in animals. Evolution proceeds from the duplication of general-purpose segments to their increasing divergence and specialisation.
I have conveyed sufficient of the content, as this is meant to be a review and not a précis. Carroll has had his 15 minutes of fame, as he describes in the book, according to the capricious mandate of the media agenda of the day. It's time for a further 15 hours, properly planned, for this is magnificent science writing and contains an understanding so profound that it is no exaggeration to say it deserves to be required reading for courses in biology for non-professionals. Perhaps even for professionals, but that's a question for them. At any rate, if you want to discuss evolution you need to have read the material in this endlessly beautiful book.
Comment
The central realisation is shockingly simple, even if the scientific work to acquire it was bogglingly demanding: Animal body plans do not do anything new, and haven't done since the pre-Cambrian. That's a brutal oversimplification which I will have to embellish a little: All animal body plans are developed in an embryology regulated by the same, dozen or so, highly-conserved genes which are common to all extant animals and remarkably well conserved. That is the unmistakeable signature of something that is so important that it kills you if it varies, evolutionarily-speaking. Variations in the homeobox genes mean you leave no surviving offspring, and probably never even have a surviving self. So how can body forms vary at all? By turning on and off switches. It's a concept that was almost made to be ripped off and used in software.
Very early on in embryology, a set of dimensions asserts itself - a "geography". There is an East-West ordinate (anterior to posterior); there is a North-South ordinate (dorsal to ventral); there is an in-out ordinate (proximal to distal). These begin to be defined at the very first cell division based on arbitrary distribution of signalling molecules, and once established they are inscribed on the molecule by diffusion gradients. Each regulatory protein describes a gradient across the embryo or its local part of the embryo, and each engages switches that turn other genes on and off. Thus do the cells know whether they are at the head end or the anus end, the back or the belly, the shoulder or the fingers.
The clever bit is that the switches can be multiple, of arbitrary complexity, and work in cascades without having to change the crucial regulatory third-rail genes. Touch 'em and you die. Touch their switches, on the other hand, and you have a set of coordinates precise enough to divide the zones of gene expression up hundreds-fold. The Hox genes, tellingly, are arranged on the genome in the same order as they are expressed along the body. And therein lies the second huge and simple realisation - virtually all animal forms you will have seen, from yourself, O Vertebrate, to worms and butterflies, are built out of a series of segments arranged from anterior to posterior. This is a simple and forceful truth of evolution: The same segmented body plan is seen in most of what you see in animals. Evolution proceeds from the duplication of general-purpose segments to their increasing divergence and specialisation.
I have conveyed sufficient of the content, as this is meant to be a review and not a précis. Carroll has had his 15 minutes of fame, as he describes in the book, according to the capricious mandate of the media agenda of the day. It's time for a further 15 hours, properly planned, for this is magnificent science writing and contains an understanding so profound that it is no exaggeration to say it deserves to be required reading for courses in biology for non-professionals. Perhaps even for professionals, but that's a question for them. At any rate, if you want to discuss evolution you need to have read the material in this endlessly beautiful book.
Comment
July 20, 2008
First of all, I should clarify that I'm no scientist. But I do have an egghead mentality, and I've read plenty on evolution. What I hadn't read was much about developmental biology, and for me, that's where the main benefit of the book came. Although sometimes I wished Carroll would have boiled some of his 30-page chapters down to two or three.
Those are my disclaimers. But I think I gained a lot of insight anyway.
The book's excitement comes in the form of summarizing the "evo devo" movement, the movement in biology whereby seeing how genes express themselves in a growing embryo enables us to see into the life histories of how these genes have changed over millions of years of evolution. The primary insight thereafter is that natural selection hasn't forged eyes and teeth and legs and antennae completely from scratch each time, but rather that there is a common genetic ingredient to making each eye type, as well as to the many types of appendages, hearts, etc. And these common genetic ingredients must date back deep in time. And furthermore, genetic advancements and advancements in developmental biology enable us to see those changes in action.
It was fun to read about how arthropod gills can stay as gills, or they become wings or lungs or other appendages. And my favorite new insight might be Williston's law: "The parts in an organism tend toward reduction in number, with the fewer parts greatly specialized in function." In other words, "primitive" forms are those with greater numbers of serial homologs (body parts), each of which performs the same function. And it's not so much that "genes" are changing as it is that "switches" (which, frankly, are still genes) are turning them on and off or adapting them in some other way.
Those are my disclaimers. But I think I gained a lot of insight anyway.
The book's excitement comes in the form of summarizing the "evo devo" movement, the movement in biology whereby seeing how genes express themselves in a growing embryo enables us to see into the life histories of how these genes have changed over millions of years of evolution. The primary insight thereafter is that natural selection hasn't forged eyes and teeth and legs and antennae completely from scratch each time, but rather that there is a common genetic ingredient to making each eye type, as well as to the many types of appendages, hearts, etc. And these common genetic ingredients must date back deep in time. And furthermore, genetic advancements and advancements in developmental biology enable us to see those changes in action.
It was fun to read about how arthropod gills can stay as gills, or they become wings or lungs or other appendages. And my favorite new insight might be Williston's law: "The parts in an organism tend toward reduction in number, with the fewer parts greatly specialized in function." In other words, "primitive" forms are those with greater numbers of serial homologs (body parts), each of which performs the same function. And it's not so much that "genes" are changing as it is that "switches" (which, frankly, are still genes) are turning them on and off or adapting them in some other way.
September 10, 2015
Subtitle: "The New Science of Evo Devo". This cracked up my wife to no end. It's 'branding' for a new movement in biological science, about as hip-sounding as "Extreme Programming". But let's not judge a book by its cover. The author claims that this movement is "Revolution #3", on par with the Darwinian discovery of evolution by natural selection, and Mendel's discovery of genetics. Is it hype? Yes. Is it justified? Maybe...
One thing's for sure: if you like seeing pictures of a lamb born with only one eye (in the center of its forehead), flies with legs where there should be antennae, and x-rays of seven-toed baby humans, this is your book.
The problem with proclaiming revolutions' significance while they are happening, is that by the nature of revolutions they are unpredictable in outcome (see "The Black Swan"). It wasn't obvious to an observer in 1789, or 1848, which one would overthrow a monarchy and which one would fail to. It probably wasn't obvious to peers of Darwin that his ideas would catch on, and Gregor Mendel's peers didn't even really notice his work until after he was dead.
'Evo Devo' stands for 'evolutionary developmental biology'. It's about how genetics makes evolution happen, by changing the way we develop from conception to birth. It's taken as given that evolution by natural selection will reward creatures born with an advantage (not much here for the creationist reader, not even someone to argue with). The question is, how does the mutation process work, exactly?
The question arises because, in the last twenty years, we've found out that a lot of our genes code for multiple things. The same gene which codes for our arms can code for wings in fruit flies, for example. How can one gene do that? Equally complicated is that the same gene does multiple things in the same species. But if one gene is used in limb development and, say, rib development, how can a mutation ever be beneficial? Even if it is useful in one case (longer legs, for instance), if it also causes other body parts to be out of whack, it's almost certain to be a net loss. How can natural selection work?
The answer seems to be that our genes are turned on and off in different parts of the body, and at different times in our development, by switches. These switches (which are coded for in our DNA, of course) can mutate, and only affect one feature. This allows human and chimpanzee to share over 98% of our DNA, while still being quite different. More impressively, we share over 50% of our DNA with mice, who most of us do not resemble nearly so much. If most of this DNA can be use to different purposes by switching it on and off at different times in our development, these numbers are easier to understand.
Also, by monkeying around with the very early embryos of fruit flies, we can get some truly B-horror-movie-worthy pictures. When nature does the same sort of thing, we can get a picture of a lamb head that will take a while to get out of your memory.
Evo Devo, besides being a silly name, makes for a good read. For too long, popular science books on biology have been stuck on the "here's why creationists are wrong" level. I enjoyed being given a layman's view of the mechanisms that evolution can use to actually tinker around with things, from an author who respected my intelligence enough not to waste his breath on trying to convince me of evolution in the first place. He hops from how science actually happens (who discovered what, when, and why it turned out differently than they expected), to how evolution happens, to salient examples from the natural world (e.g. how zebras stripes form). This is the first book from Sean Carroll that I have read, but I hope it will not be the last.
One thing's for sure: if you like seeing pictures of a lamb born with only one eye (in the center of its forehead), flies with legs where there should be antennae, and x-rays of seven-toed baby humans, this is your book.
The problem with proclaiming revolutions' significance while they are happening, is that by the nature of revolutions they are unpredictable in outcome (see "The Black Swan"). It wasn't obvious to an observer in 1789, or 1848, which one would overthrow a monarchy and which one would fail to. It probably wasn't obvious to peers of Darwin that his ideas would catch on, and Gregor Mendel's peers didn't even really notice his work until after he was dead.
'Evo Devo' stands for 'evolutionary developmental biology'. It's about how genetics makes evolution happen, by changing the way we develop from conception to birth. It's taken as given that evolution by natural selection will reward creatures born with an advantage (not much here for the creationist reader, not even someone to argue with). The question is, how does the mutation process work, exactly?
The question arises because, in the last twenty years, we've found out that a lot of our genes code for multiple things. The same gene which codes for our arms can code for wings in fruit flies, for example. How can one gene do that? Equally complicated is that the same gene does multiple things in the same species. But if one gene is used in limb development and, say, rib development, how can a mutation ever be beneficial? Even if it is useful in one case (longer legs, for instance), if it also causes other body parts to be out of whack, it's almost certain to be a net loss. How can natural selection work?
The answer seems to be that our genes are turned on and off in different parts of the body, and at different times in our development, by switches. These switches (which are coded for in our DNA, of course) can mutate, and only affect one feature. This allows human and chimpanzee to share over 98% of our DNA, while still being quite different. More impressively, we share over 50% of our DNA with mice, who most of us do not resemble nearly so much. If most of this DNA can be use to different purposes by switching it on and off at different times in our development, these numbers are easier to understand.
Also, by monkeying around with the very early embryos of fruit flies, we can get some truly B-horror-movie-worthy pictures. When nature does the same sort of thing, we can get a picture of a lamb head that will take a while to get out of your memory.
Evo Devo, besides being a silly name, makes for a good read. For too long, popular science books on biology have been stuck on the "here's why creationists are wrong" level. I enjoyed being given a layman's view of the mechanisms that evolution can use to actually tinker around with things, from an author who respected my intelligence enough not to waste his breath on trying to convince me of evolution in the first place. He hops from how science actually happens (who discovered what, when, and why it turned out differently than they expected), to how evolution happens, to salient examples from the natural world (e.g. how zebras stripes form). This is the first book from Sean Carroll that I have read, but I hope it will not be the last.
July 27, 2021
This book beautifully and fully captures my passion in science! Carroll clearly tells the history of Evolutionary Development and its implication for evolutionary biology. Furthermore, this book is an inspiring tool to show the wonders of animal evolution. I would definitely recommend to anyone with a small interest in evolution (and/or development), science in general or life in general!
January 30, 2019
The writing was much too breathless, in a "gee, look at this butterfly wing!" sort of way. The science got buried in metaphorical cliche'. Writing for a lay audience is always going to be tricky and I think in this case Carroll aimed too low and ended up using too many words that don't say much.
For those interested in another way to approach learning about current evolution theory I strongly recommend checking out the Yale open course available for free online, "Principles of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior," taught by Stephen C. Stearns, who is as eloquent a storyteller as Sean B. Carroll but also illuminates this field in a more thorough way than Carroll's writing can, link here:
For those interested in another way to approach learning about current evolution theory I strongly recommend checking out the Yale open course available for free online, "Principles of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior," taught by Stephen C. Stearns, who is as eloquent a storyteller as Sean B. Carroll but also illuminates this field in a more thorough way than Carroll's writing can, link here:
July 16, 2017
Well, this was very informative. I had to really buckle in to focus on everything. My favorite part was how Dr. Carroll would start off an explanation with "it's quite simple, actually ..." and then HA HA HA. I am making this sound like a chore, and it wasn't at all. But it was definitely not light reading. The diagrams weren't even light reading.
Usually I read sciencey books like this, and try to hang on to a few important takeaways. So let's see, what did I learn here (other than that I'm just around the right age for all of the huge leaps in DNA research to have happened fairly quickly after I was in school, so that pretty much everything I was taught ended up being wrong)? Primarily, it was a really good grounding in why it's not particularly unusual that living creatures share a great percentage of genes, but that the more complicated process is in the assembly instructions, so to speak, and the sequencing of those instructions. And then that this process is evidenced both in the large sense of how species evolve, and at the micro level of how individual embryos grow into their ultimate form (directly or indirectly, I'm looking at you, JELLYFISH). For some reason I had gotten the impression that the relationship between those two concepts was more of an observational metaphor (literally I would be the worst scientist ever, every time something unexpected happened, I'd cheerfully be all "well, I'm just going to go with a good metaphor for this!") but it turns out (spoiler alert) it is one biological process writ large.
I would recommend for people who are interested in evolution and have already gotten comfortable with the broad strokes and would like a deeper dive into processes.
Interestingly enough (TO ME), this book also imparted a much clearer understanding of how to understand cladograms ... and I had even read a BOOK about cladograms and had still been confused.
Usually I read sciencey books like this, and try to hang on to a few important takeaways. So let's see, what did I learn here (other than that I'm just around the right age for all of the huge leaps in DNA research to have happened fairly quickly after I was in school, so that pretty much everything I was taught ended up being wrong)? Primarily, it was a really good grounding in why it's not particularly unusual that living creatures share a great percentage of genes, but that the more complicated process is in the assembly instructions, so to speak, and the sequencing of those instructions. And then that this process is evidenced both in the large sense of how species evolve, and at the micro level of how individual embryos grow into their ultimate form (directly or indirectly, I'm looking at you, JELLYFISH). For some reason I had gotten the impression that the relationship between those two concepts was more of an observational metaphor (literally I would be the worst scientist ever, every time something unexpected happened, I'd cheerfully be all "well, I'm just going to go with a good metaphor for this!") but it turns out (spoiler alert) it is one biological process writ large.
I would recommend for people who are interested in evolution and have already gotten comfortable with the broad strokes and would like a deeper dive into processes.
Interestingly enough (TO ME), this book also imparted a much clearer understanding of how to understand cladograms ... and I had even read a BOOK about cladograms and had still been confused.
August 20, 2014
"i am not so naive to believe that science can solve all the world's problems, but ignorance of science, or denial of it's facts, is courting doom."
I have promised myself that I would read this book since I heard of it not long after it was published. Finally, it is finished and I am sorry to have taken so long. It is a wonderful set of examples of evo-devo that explain the role of tool-kit genes and the switches they contain. The elegance of this evolutionary process is magnificent. He tops off his examples of insects, especially butterflies, with mammal examples including the human brain. I was intrigued by the similarity in color switches across the animal kingdom.
May 16, 2019
Я полюбил книгу "Бесконечное число прекрасных форм" из-за одной интересной и неловкой ситуации.
Когда я ехал на учёбу, я читал эту книгу. Увидев слово эволюция на одной из наименований глав, один мужчина спросил у меня преподают ли теорию эволюции в школах до сих пор. Я ответил да. Он удивился и сказал странно. Я спросил отвергает ли он теорию эволюции. Он посмотрел на меня как будто я сказал ему, что я Дамбулдор; затем он ответил "Конечно нет. Теория эволюции это просто теория людей, которые не знают истину". Я очень удивился и начал спорить с ним, предоставляя факты из этой книги: изучение естественного отбора, генов и бесконечное число прекрасных форм. А он всё это время утверждал, чтобы я отверг эту теорию. Самое удивительное, в конце книги Шон Кэрролл упомянул, что протвники эволюции будут утверждать, что эволюция - это теория, научная мистификация и просто ошибка.
Приводя мысли автора, этот случай показывает, что быть научно неграмотным приводит к большим потерям, если все будут отвергать науку не только в биологии, но и других дисциплинах таких как физика, химия, математика. Мы не можем делать выводы основываясь на внешних эмпирических данных. Давным давно, мы изучали звёзды невооуржённым глазом, теперь мы видим далёкие Чёрные дыры с помощью мощных телескопов. Также и происходит в биологии, мы делали выводи по морфологическим данным, что определённый вид отличается друг от друга. А в данное время, мы с посредством эво-дево изучем геномы и гены, хромосомы и ДНК, и эмбрионы. Неоспоримые выводы громко говорят, что эволюция существует и естественный отбор создаёт карсивые разнообразия.
Итак, отзыв о книге. Книга очень сложная, учитывая, что я не посвящённый, и данные в этой книги слишком абстрактные. Автор пытался насколько можно упростить различные микробиологические процессы, и это у него явно получилось. Данные в этой книге очень важные для понимания такие как почему есть полосы у зебр, или как образются различные узоры у бабочек. От книги можно получить максимальную пользу если помнить все процессы и названия генов. Но самой мощной частью книги являются последние 2 главы. Тут автор полностью толкует свои мысли по поводу роли биологии и человеческих факторов в природе. "Бесконечное чилсо преркасных форм" стала для меня очень важной книгой в понимании мира вокруг меня. По наставлению Доктора Кэрролла, я непременно поеду во Флориду, чтобы находить ископаемые и изучить их. Напоследок, мне хочется добавить цитату Альберта Эйнштейна, которую добавил автор в конце книги:
Теперь это станет хорошей мотивацией и для меня тоже.
Когда я ехал на учёбу, я читал эту книгу. Увидев слово эволюция на одной из наименований глав, один мужчина спросил у меня преподают ли теорию эволюции в школах до сих пор. Я ответил да. Он удивился и сказал странно. Я спросил отвергает ли он теорию эволюции. Он посмотрел на меня как будто я сказал ему, что я Дамбулдор; затем он ответил "Конечно нет. Теория эволюции это просто теория людей, которые не знают истину". Я очень удивился и начал спорить с ним, предоставляя факты из этой книги: изучение естественного отбора, генов и бесконечное число прекрасных форм. А он всё это время утверждал, чтобы я отверг эту теорию. Самое удивительное, в конце книги Шон Кэрролл упомянул, что протвники эволюции будут утверждать, что эволюция - это теория, научная мистификация и просто ошибка.
Приводя мысли автора, этот случай показывает, что быть научно неграмотным приводит к большим потерям, если все будут отвергать науку не только в биологии, но и других дисциплинах таких как физика, химия, математика. Мы не можем делать выводы основываясь на внешних эмпирических данных. Давным давно, мы изучали звёзды невооуржённым глазом, теперь мы видим далёкие Чёрные дыры с помощью мощных телескопов. Также и происходит в биологии, мы делали выводи по морфологическим данным, что определённый вид отличается друг от друга. А в данное время, мы с посредством эво-дево изучем геномы и гены, хромосомы и ДНК, и эмбрионы. Неоспоримые выводы громко говорят, что эволюция существует и естественный отбор создаёт карсивые разнообразия.
Итак, отзыв о книге. Книга очень сложная, учитывая, что я не посвящённый, и данные в этой книги слишком абстрактные. Автор пытался насколько можно упростить различные микробиологические процессы, и это у него явно получилось. Данные в этой книге очень важные для понимания такие как почему есть полосы у зебр, или как образются различные узоры у бабочек. От книги можно получить максимальную пользу если помнить все процессы и названия генов. Но самой мощной частью книги являются последние 2 главы. Тут автор полностью толкует свои мысли по поводу роли биологии и человеческих факторов в природе. "Бесконечное чилсо преркасных форм" стала для меня очень важной книгой в понимании мира вокруг меня. По наставлению Доктора Кэрролла, я непременно поеду во Флориду, чтобы находить ископаемые и изучить их. Напоследок, мне хочется добавить цитату Альберта Эйнштейна, которую добавил автор в конце книги:
Ежедневно, сто раз в день, я напоминаю себе, что в основе моей внутренней и внешней жизни лежит труд многих людей, живых и мертвых, и что я должен отдать той же мерой, что я получил и продолжаю получать.
Теперь это станет хорошей мотивацией и для меня тоже.
August 4, 2020
Biological diversity is apparent throughout the world. Time and again, we can be presented with examples of this. From the lowly worm to the towering oak, life comes in all shapes and sizes.
There is a paradox with this fact, however, and this comes from the knowledge we now have in Biology. We have known about DNA since 1953 from the work of James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin. Once we developed computers with enough power, we found that life has a fundamental tool-kit of genes that it uses for multiple lifeforms. The main problem is this; how is life so diverse if the blueprint it utilizes is so similar?
Sean B Carroll attempts to rectify this problem in Endless Forms Most Beautiful. In the book, he discusses the relatively new field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology or Evo-Devo for short. It explores the ideas that led to Evo-Devo and demonstrates its power. For example, looking at the fossil record, it would seem that you would have to develop genes for every creature that existed to achieve diversity. This was a popular viewpoint back in the 1980s. Even though DNA seems complex, it is well-understood. Only 1.5 percent of DNA does the coding for proteins; twice that amount is devoted to regulating those genes. After revealing the master tool-kit, Dr. Carroll spends the rest of the book demonstrating how these ideas come to fruition.
The book is fascinating. Although it gets technical with its descriptions, it is still engaging enough to be enjoyable.
There is a paradox with this fact, however, and this comes from the knowledge we now have in Biology. We have known about DNA since 1953 from the work of James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin. Once we developed computers with enough power, we found that life has a fundamental tool-kit of genes that it uses for multiple lifeforms. The main problem is this; how is life so diverse if the blueprint it utilizes is so similar?
Sean B Carroll attempts to rectify this problem in Endless Forms Most Beautiful. In the book, he discusses the relatively new field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology or Evo-Devo for short. It explores the ideas that led to Evo-Devo and demonstrates its power. For example, looking at the fossil record, it would seem that you would have to develop genes for every creature that existed to achieve diversity. This was a popular viewpoint back in the 1980s. Even though DNA seems complex, it is well-understood. Only 1.5 percent of DNA does the coding for proteins; twice that amount is devoted to regulating those genes. After revealing the master tool-kit, Dr. Carroll spends the rest of the book demonstrating how these ideas come to fruition.
The book is fascinating. Although it gets technical with its descriptions, it is still engaging enough to be enjoyable.
January 10, 2014
Good book on evolution with a focus on embryological development, and how the genotypic information affects the phenotype from a development standpoint. I was very intrigued, though this book had frequent long, dry passages. That's just what you get when you receive an in-depth examination of complex processes, however.
From the formation of butterflies' complex wing patterns to the camouflaging utility of zebra stripes (and a look at the question: is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes), this book held my interest and attempted to educate me far above my level of effectiveness. A fascinating read.
From the formation of butterflies' complex wing patterns to the camouflaging utility of zebra stripes (and a look at the question: is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes), this book held my interest and attempted to educate me far above my level of effectiveness. A fascinating read.
October 29, 2017
First off...you should watch this. is a much better review of the book than I am likely to give here.
Secondly, you should read this. It was engaging, and gave me a fantastic overview of the technology of genetics. How does it all work? What does all of that extra stuff do? What turns it all on or off?
And can someone get me a fruit fly and some eyeless genes?
As for the ending? I am saddened that all science and nature books must end with the obligatory chapter on what we've lost, and what we're losing. As I've said in other reviews, I miss the Cabinet of Curiosities...the ability to wonder at the universe without a sense of loss.
Secondly, you should read this. It was engaging, and gave me a fantastic overview of the technology of genetics. How does it all work? What does all of that extra stuff do? What turns it all on or off?
And can someone get me a fruit fly and some eyeless genes?
As for the ending? I am saddened that all science and nature books must end with the obligatory chapter on what we've lost, and what we're losing. As I've said in other reviews, I miss the Cabinet of Curiosities...the ability to wonder at the universe without a sense of loss.
August 6, 2010
Carroll did his best to bring break-through, gene level science down to my level of comprehension. I’m afraid I just didn’t measure up. As an interactive breather, he often paused before a big brainy ah-ha moment and stated, �...that’s right, you’ve probably already guessed the answer to this one....� Well, I never did... not once! To state the obvious, Endless Forms was endlessly over my head. I love the mere topic of evolution, so with an open slack jaw, I numbly chugged through it. Regardless, I love his title, “Endless Forms Most Beautiful� a quote from mister big, Dr. Darwin himself.
June 9, 2019
A solid introduction to evo devo. I summarize the “take-home message� of the field (deep homologous & genetic toolkit) here:
Author’s treatment of creationism felt a little crude. Also his non-inclusion of population genetic findings is vehemently criticized by Michael Lynch. Despite these flaws, overall quite enjoyable.
Author’s treatment of creationism felt a little crude. Also his non-inclusion of population genetic findings is vehemently criticized by Michael Lynch. Despite these flaws, overall quite enjoyable.
April 1, 2017
يتحدث الكتاب عن فرع علمي جديد: "الإيفوديفو" علم النمو التطوري، ويستعرض الاختلافات الجزيئية في نمو بعض الحيوانات التي أدت إلى تطورها إلى أنواع مختلفة. فتنّي عنوان الكتاب المناسب جدا للمحتوى فمملكة الحيوان مليئة بأشكال لانهائية غاية في الجمال فعلا.
June 28, 2018
4.5/5.
This book proved to be both one of the most interesting scientific readings I've ever found, and one of the hardest. It is compelling, well-written, engaging and, overall, the best aproach possible to a frankly not-so-simple reading.
And I expected that. The first time I heard about the book, or Evo-devo itself, was when I heard a "Despacito" parody made by Acapellascience where this book was the main source: I knew I would find something equally challenging and interesting. Sean B. Carroll manages to bring evolutionary developmental biology close to the public, but a good degree of previous biology knowledge (more in the developmental and genetic fields than in evolutionary theory) is still needed, and I had a hard time sometimes keeping up with it. But the fact that I finished, despite not quite grasping everything I was reading, not even close to it, proves its value.
No, I would not recommend it to everybody, but yes, I would encourage anyone with an interest in evolution and its driving mechanisms to give it an opportunity. Here I've discovered amazing things: from the fact that insect wings, horseshoe crab book gills and book lungs, tracheae and spinnerets in spiders have all evolved from gill branches present in ancestral arthropods; to the fascinating picture of melanism in many animals. The awesome facts Carroll brings to you are as cool as unexpected: how convergent evolution didn't create the same kind of wings in pterosaurs, bats and birds (but indeed based the structure in fingers, hands and arms); how the 99.8% gene similarity paradox can be explained; how butterflies evolved their wing spots; or even the way you can make flies see from their... well, their behinds. But the book isn't just a collection of cool stories; rather than that, is a well documented and argued explanation of the why to those stories, with a final insight on the importance of evo-devo in education, public debate, and the preservation of Nature.
When you finish it, I guarantee that you will see the endless forms most beautiful that surround us in a very different way. Promise.
P.S: for anyone who's left with the desire to read more about these topics, Carroll devotes a last few pages to dissect the many different sources of every last chapter and core ideas of the book, putting it aside, and not in the middle of the text, to get it out of the way of the narrative.
EDIT: this is one of the few cases where I wouldn't recommend the mass paperback pocket edition of the book. Images displayed in color in the original get confusing and less meaningful in their black and white version here. Mostly, the experience just losses a bit of beauty, but in some cases the clarity of explanations diminishes as well.
This book proved to be both one of the most interesting scientific readings I've ever found, and one of the hardest. It is compelling, well-written, engaging and, overall, the best aproach possible to a frankly not-so-simple reading.
And I expected that. The first time I heard about the book, or Evo-devo itself, was when I heard a "Despacito" parody made by Acapellascience where this book was the main source: I knew I would find something equally challenging and interesting. Sean B. Carroll manages to bring evolutionary developmental biology close to the public, but a good degree of previous biology knowledge (more in the developmental and genetic fields than in evolutionary theory) is still needed, and I had a hard time sometimes keeping up with it. But the fact that I finished, despite not quite grasping everything I was reading, not even close to it, proves its value.
No, I would not recommend it to everybody, but yes, I would encourage anyone with an interest in evolution and its driving mechanisms to give it an opportunity. Here I've discovered amazing things: from the fact that insect wings, horseshoe crab book gills and book lungs, tracheae and spinnerets in spiders have all evolved from gill branches present in ancestral arthropods; to the fascinating picture of melanism in many animals. The awesome facts Carroll brings to you are as cool as unexpected: how convergent evolution didn't create the same kind of wings in pterosaurs, bats and birds (but indeed based the structure in fingers, hands and arms); how the 99.8% gene similarity paradox can be explained; how butterflies evolved their wing spots; or even the way you can make flies see from their... well, their behinds. But the book isn't just a collection of cool stories; rather than that, is a well documented and argued explanation of the why to those stories, with a final insight on the importance of evo-devo in education, public debate, and the preservation of Nature.
When you finish it, I guarantee that you will see the endless forms most beautiful that surround us in a very different way. Promise.
P.S: for anyone who's left with the desire to read more about these topics, Carroll devotes a last few pages to dissect the many different sources of every last chapter and core ideas of the book, putting it aside, and not in the middle of the text, to get it out of the way of the narrative.
EDIT: this is one of the few cases where I wouldn't recommend the mass paperback pocket edition of the book. Images displayed in color in the original get confusing and less meaningful in their black and white version here. Mostly, the experience just losses a bit of beauty, but in some cases the clarity of explanations diminishes as well.
December 9, 2018
Every so often a book comes along that completely blows you away. This is one such book. I first heard about this book from Tim Blais� , which is in itself a superlative work of art. I bought this book to better understand the concepts presented in that video.
When I first learned about the details of DNA in school I was enraptured by how simple but incredibly powerful DNA replication is. This book rekindled that feeling of awe as it explained the beauty of evolution and the fundamentally simple mechanisms that make it all possible: genetic switches, tool-kit genes and Hox proteins that govern the development of embryonic form.
The book is replete with interesting case studies and examples of evolution, such as the fact that gills were repurposed in ingenious ways to form everything from insect wings to spider spinnerets, the independent evolution of wings in insects, pterodactyls, birds and bats, and the way animal coat colourings spread outward from the neural crest along the spine, often causing lighter colours underneath on the belly and providing a clue for how the zebra got its stripes.
There is so much more in the book and I’m sure I would benefit from repeat readings. Carroll’s writing is well-pitched, being both challenging and accessible. He does a great job bringing the beauty and wonder of evolution to the fore.
That said, I am only giving it four out of five stars because of the omission of colour plates in the soft-cover book. In a book about beauty and diversity, where the image captions repeatedly draw attention to the “exquisite� colors and varying shades in detailed close-up photographs, the greyscale photos are a significant editorial flaw. The fact that the “colour� illustrations are central to the points being made in the text makes it even more maddening when it is impossible to distinguish between greens and blues and reds. I tweeted the publisher and the author about it but got no reply.
The book requires some effort to grasp the details of the ideas presented and it is challenging to a degree. This is perhaps a hindrance in getting the evolutionary worldview accepted by those who actively oppose it, particularly in America, as short answers are rarely possible and a firm scientific foundation is needed. The book finishes off with a fairly reasonable assessment of the challenges faced by the scientific community and science educators to spread the discoveries of Evo Devo to society at large. The author suggests that, like all major scientific paradigm shifts, these new ideas will be accepted slowly through generational displacement. So for those already convinced of these advances and frustrated with society’s intransigence we can be sure that truth and beauty will ultimately carry the day.
Overall I highly recommend this book, but I would caution against the soft-cover edition.
When I first learned about the details of DNA in school I was enraptured by how simple but incredibly powerful DNA replication is. This book rekindled that feeling of awe as it explained the beauty of evolution and the fundamentally simple mechanisms that make it all possible: genetic switches, tool-kit genes and Hox proteins that govern the development of embryonic form.
The book is replete with interesting case studies and examples of evolution, such as the fact that gills were repurposed in ingenious ways to form everything from insect wings to spider spinnerets, the independent evolution of wings in insects, pterodactyls, birds and bats, and the way animal coat colourings spread outward from the neural crest along the spine, often causing lighter colours underneath on the belly and providing a clue for how the zebra got its stripes.
There is so much more in the book and I’m sure I would benefit from repeat readings. Carroll’s writing is well-pitched, being both challenging and accessible. He does a great job bringing the beauty and wonder of evolution to the fore.
That said, I am only giving it four out of five stars because of the omission of colour plates in the soft-cover book. In a book about beauty and diversity, where the image captions repeatedly draw attention to the “exquisite� colors and varying shades in detailed close-up photographs, the greyscale photos are a significant editorial flaw. The fact that the “colour� illustrations are central to the points being made in the text makes it even more maddening when it is impossible to distinguish between greens and blues and reds. I tweeted the publisher and the author about it but got no reply.
The book requires some effort to grasp the details of the ideas presented and it is challenging to a degree. This is perhaps a hindrance in getting the evolutionary worldview accepted by those who actively oppose it, particularly in America, as short answers are rarely possible and a firm scientific foundation is needed. The book finishes off with a fairly reasonable assessment of the challenges faced by the scientific community and science educators to spread the discoveries of Evo Devo to society at large. The author suggests that, like all major scientific paradigm shifts, these new ideas will be accepted slowly through generational displacement. So for those already convinced of these advances and frustrated with society’s intransigence we can be sure that truth and beauty will ultimately carry the day.
Overall I highly recommend this book, but I would caution against the soft-cover edition.
May 14, 2016
I've been exposed again and again to the idea of similarity in genome between human and chimps, they often point to the resemblance in violent, empathic behaviors of us and our closest cousins. This book carries the ideas of genetic divergence further to explain evolution, a new light was shred for me to look at evolution. While other works that i've read often describe evolution in "The strongest survives" style, but Carroll offers a glimse into this natural process with genetic lens by introducing a recently developed branch of biology: Evolutionary Developmental Biology. We are putting DNA to work, to aid the Evolution theory.
Human, mouse and other mammals shared a common ancestor approximately 80 million years ago. On average, the protein-coding regions of the mouse and human genomes are 85 percent identical; some genes are 99 percent identical while others are only 60 percent identical. These regions are evolutionarily conserved because they are required for function. In contrast, the non-coding regions are much less similar (only 50 percent or less). Therefore, when one compares the same DNA region from human and mouse, the functional elements clearly stand out because of their greater similarity.
()
Here is a quote to portray what it feels like reading Carroll's explanation and see evolution in embryonic development point of view:
"There are several aspects to lobster construction that reflect the general themes of modularity and serial homology. First, the body is organized into a head (with the eyes and mouthparts), a thorax (with walking legs), and a long tail (yum!). Second, different sections of the body possess numbers of specific appendages (antennae, claws, walking legs, swimmerets). And third, each jointed appendage is itself segmented, and different kinds of appendages have different numbers of segments overall (compare a claw with a walking leg). If you were feeling adventuresome and dissected an insect or a crab, you’d see some general similarities in body organization, segmentation, and appendages but, again, differences in the number and kind of serially homologous structures."
Human, mouse and other mammals shared a common ancestor approximately 80 million years ago. On average, the protein-coding regions of the mouse and human genomes are 85 percent identical; some genes are 99 percent identical while others are only 60 percent identical. These regions are evolutionarily conserved because they are required for function. In contrast, the non-coding regions are much less similar (only 50 percent or less). Therefore, when one compares the same DNA region from human and mouse, the functional elements clearly stand out because of their greater similarity.
()
Here is a quote to portray what it feels like reading Carroll's explanation and see evolution in embryonic development point of view:
"There are several aspects to lobster construction that reflect the general themes of modularity and serial homology. First, the body is organized into a head (with the eyes and mouthparts), a thorax (with walking legs), and a long tail (yum!). Second, different sections of the body possess numbers of specific appendages (antennae, claws, walking legs, swimmerets). And third, each jointed appendage is itself segmented, and different kinds of appendages have different numbers of segments overall (compare a claw with a walking leg). If you were feeling adventuresome and dissected an insect or a crab, you’d see some general similarities in body organization, segmentation, and appendages but, again, differences in the number and kind of serially homologous structures."
September 29, 2020
Spoiler alert: all animal life is more closely related than you thought.
It is not an overstatement to say that Evo Devo provides the final, long-awaited and desperately needed piece of the evolutionary puzzle. There is an ancient (well over 500 million years old) basic set of genes (a "toolkit") that control and have controlled the expression of the genes in each and every species alive today and yesterday! These "master" genes determine the multitude of shapes, sizes, and functions of all animals, ticks to T-rexes, in the same way. Differences are essentially a re-shuffling of the same pack of ancestral DNA playing cards.
Research in this field is at least 40 years old (this book was published in 2005!), so I don't know how I missed reading about this sooner. These incredible revelations about the "biology of life" are what should be taught starting in middle school, not the boring x's and o's of chemical reactions -- save those for later grades.
A note on my rating of this book: it is based more on the nature of the material revealed by Sean Carroll than on how well the book is written. Although I liked the book plan and the logic of how each element of evo-devo was introduced and elaborated, I would have liked a little more time spent on the basics of cell dynamics and gene expression and fewer examples from Carrol's lab work concerning fruit fly characteristics. I am still left wondering how the master genes actually "know" how and when to do their thing. Is the whole miracle of life just a complex automaton that is set in motion by the fertilization of the ovum? It's most probably ignorance on my part, so I intend to re-read the book and will definitely pause to research each point of confusion.
It is not an overstatement to say that Evo Devo provides the final, long-awaited and desperately needed piece of the evolutionary puzzle. There is an ancient (well over 500 million years old) basic set of genes (a "toolkit") that control and have controlled the expression of the genes in each and every species alive today and yesterday! These "master" genes determine the multitude of shapes, sizes, and functions of all animals, ticks to T-rexes, in the same way. Differences are essentially a re-shuffling of the same pack of ancestral DNA playing cards.
Research in this field is at least 40 years old (this book was published in 2005!), so I don't know how I missed reading about this sooner. These incredible revelations about the "biology of life" are what should be taught starting in middle school, not the boring x's and o's of chemical reactions -- save those for later grades.
A note on my rating of this book: it is based more on the nature of the material revealed by Sean Carroll than on how well the book is written. Although I liked the book plan and the logic of how each element of evo-devo was introduced and elaborated, I would have liked a little more time spent on the basics of cell dynamics and gene expression and fewer examples from Carrol's lab work concerning fruit fly characteristics. I am still left wondering how the master genes actually "know" how and when to do their thing. Is the whole miracle of life just a complex automaton that is set in motion by the fertilization of the ovum? It's most probably ignorance on my part, so I intend to re-read the book and will definitely pause to research each point of confusion.
July 7, 2008
Here's why this book blew my mind. I remember almost everything I learned in high school biology (more than 20 years ago), and there were some things that no one could then explain. What, for instance, triggers some cells to become liver cells while others become skin cells? And, why, once a cell has become a liver cell, can it not produce skin cells? Why do all vertebrates follow roughly the same sequence of embryonic and fetal development?
Those things were a mystery in the 80s, and they were often (and are often still) cited by opponents of the twin theories of evolution and genetics as evidence for the existence of some divine being - since we had not yet discovered a simple material cause, these mysteries must have been the work of a divine intelligence.
"Endless Forms Most Beautiful" blew my mind because it proposes scientifically sound, empirically supported answers to those questions. The Wow Factor was twofold. I admired the carefully choreographed ballet of embryonic development where causes flowed simply and surely from the effects of prior causes, no intelligent designer required. At the same time, I marvelled at the intricacy and ingenuity of the human minds that managed to figure all this out.
As I read the book, I'd remark to my husband, who had read it right before I did, "So, he's now explained the mystery of x, that we didn't know about when I was in HS. But I'm still wondering about y." Then the next day, I'd say, "He's explained y now, but what about z?" Then the next day, "He got z, too ..."
"Endless Forms" was the first book I read last year, and it was the most memorable and satisfying book of the entire year.
Those things were a mystery in the 80s, and they were often (and are often still) cited by opponents of the twin theories of evolution and genetics as evidence for the existence of some divine being - since we had not yet discovered a simple material cause, these mysteries must have been the work of a divine intelligence.
"Endless Forms Most Beautiful" blew my mind because it proposes scientifically sound, empirically supported answers to those questions. The Wow Factor was twofold. I admired the carefully choreographed ballet of embryonic development where causes flowed simply and surely from the effects of prior causes, no intelligent designer required. At the same time, I marvelled at the intricacy and ingenuity of the human minds that managed to figure all this out.
As I read the book, I'd remark to my husband, who had read it right before I did, "So, he's now explained the mystery of x, that we didn't know about when I was in HS. But I'm still wondering about y." Then the next day, I'd say, "He's explained y now, but what about z?" Then the next day, "He got z, too ..."
"Endless Forms" was the first book I read last year, and it was the most memorable and satisfying book of the entire year.
January 5, 2019
At this point, I must admit I’m a bad judge of pop-science when it covers biology. To me this is a very easy read now, covering simple topics, but I know I wouldn’t have felt that way a couple of years ago. If you’re interested in evolutionary biology, though, this is a very good primer on the science of Evo Devo: understanding evolutionary relationships through understanding the development of embryos, how certain genes work in causing large morphological differences even though almost the same gene can be found in a wildly different species.
I think if you have a reasonable understanding of genetics and how proteins are made, you should be okay here: it’s not requiring expertise, though it may take concentration to follow some of the reasoning if you’re not already familiar. If you are, it illustrates the principles nicely, and I imagine a full colour copy of the book (if it exists) would be rather physically gorgeous as well. There’s a lot of black-and-white images of butterfly wings, for instance, in my particular edition. The points could probably have been more clearly demonstrated with colour images where the differences are easier to highlight�
All the same, a fascinating book, whether you’re an expert or not (I think). Evo Devo is a bit of a buzzword for some biologists lately, and this book is worth the read for learning about that. I wish I’d read it before the module I did that included some of this stuff: it would have definitely made the learning part come easier!
November 1, 2011
This is a very informative and fascinating book about evolutionary biology and genetics!
While I find the term "Evo Devo" quite silly, it is a deep and illuminating topic.
The author also uses a couple other tacky terms that bugged me:
He refers to the genomic contents not coding for proteins as "dark matter".
He refers to the Cambrian explosion as a "big bang", groan.
The book avoids heavy microbiological details on genetics, focusing instead on how different body parts are made.
The most important concept in the book is that of genetic switches.
That, and the small set of toolkit proteins which act on those switches.
The reader will learn how sort of coordinate system is mapped on a developing embryo.
There is a good bit of time spent on human evolution, of course.
But the reader also gets a close look at butterflies, fruit flies, and (my favorite!) velvet worms.
The last chapter contains a refreshingly heavy-handed smack down against creationism.
This book should be required reading for all chordates! :D
While I find the term "Evo Devo" quite silly, it is a deep and illuminating topic.
The author also uses a couple other tacky terms that bugged me:
He refers to the genomic contents not coding for proteins as "dark matter".
He refers to the Cambrian explosion as a "big bang", groan.
The book avoids heavy microbiological details on genetics, focusing instead on how different body parts are made.
The most important concept in the book is that of genetic switches.
That, and the small set of toolkit proteins which act on those switches.
The reader will learn how sort of coordinate system is mapped on a developing embryo.
There is a good bit of time spent on human evolution, of course.
But the reader also gets a close look at butterflies, fruit flies, and (my favorite!) velvet worms.
The last chapter contains a refreshingly heavy-handed smack down against creationism.
This book should be required reading for all chordates! :D
April 10, 2020
I have to say I'm disappointed, the contents of the book could be condensed down to a handful of pages without much loss, so much did the author insist on repeating the same concept over and over again. I expected more technical details, more mechanisms unveiled, and more vaired insights into the way living things are built from their genes, instead I got few hundred pages of reminders that yes, this universal mechanism we introduced in chapter three as the basis of embryo development indeed is at work here too, and here, and there it is again: and don't mistake, it's also behind this too, and look at how it is always the same!
I wouldn't say it's a bad book, but if you have passing familiarity with evolution and the workings of DNA you might find it no more interesting than the song "Evo Devo" by ACapellaScience (find it on youtube) which has the added bonus of making the melody of Despacito (of which it's a cover) a pleasant reminder instead of a grating summer hit. And you can sing it in the shower, too.
I wouldn't say it's a bad book, but if you have passing familiarity with evolution and the workings of DNA you might find it no more interesting than the song "Evo Devo" by ACapellaScience (find it on youtube) which has the added bonus of making the melody of Despacito (of which it's a cover) a pleasant reminder instead of a grating summer hit. And you can sing it in the shower, too.
June 23, 2014
This is a SUPERB book! Building on Darwin's famous last sentence ("endless forms most beautiful") in the Origin of Species, Carroll gives a wonderful history and account of the science of Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo Devo). The story encompasses two broad categories: embryology - how animals develop their forms from embryo to adult, and evolution - how species have developed over the eons through natural selection. Evo devo exploded in the last decade as geneticists have begun to unlock the secrets of how our forms came to be. Why is it that birds got their feathers from dinosaurs which needed them to stay warm? Did you know that butterfly wings and centipede legs developed from fish gills? Neither did I. This is a fascinating book that will take you through the story of life, specifically the genetics of the development of species' physical forms. This is one of the best books I've ever read, but then again, it's not for everyone. But, if you love genetics.......
July 2, 2012
This book is a fine explanation of developmental evolution. It is easy to follow and even entertaining for anybody with an unbiased curiosity about nature. It's an attractive volume with some amazing color plates illustrating some of the experiments that have shown scientists how DNA works in insect larvae. There are also photos of fossils and drawings of various animals as they once appeared and as they exist now. A very important book for all biology teachers, college students, school board members and home schoolers, it is easy enough for me to understand and I was not not a bio major. Religious fundamentalists to the contrary, there is no reason to fear for our values in facing the truth about the world around us, and it's time American schoolchildren caught up with the 20 countries where students scored better than our kids on biology questions.
July 22, 2008
This book illustrates the ways in which the new fields of Evo Devo and bioinformatics are revolutionizing biology. The art of interpreting fossils has given way to the new hard science of genome analysis. If you really want to know how evolution works and where complexity comes from, you need to read this book.
November 12, 2018
In 2018, there isn't anything new here that you won't find in a good biology or genetics textbook... that aside, Carroll's prose does an excellent job of explaining a few more complex issues within evolutionary biology. Best for the layman I believe, but still entertaining to read as someone in the field.
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