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Designed intelligently

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I loved this book. It was, for me, one of the best illustrations of "how evolution works" --and its strength largely lies in explaining not the "survival of the fittest" concept--which is easy--but in explaining the stuff that's not so readily understood, the stuff that confounds the general public. (The stuff that causes all the problems!) Perhaps the popularization of science is made more difficult just by plain being hard to put into everyday language. Science vocabulary alone is a sticking point. However, I think Carroll has done a bang up job of putting the DNA/Evolution/Time cards out on the table in such a way that most of us can understand even the sticky bits. One reviewer said some parts were technical & might need to be read twice over. He's right. But then, didn't we all read parts of our high school history or bio or math books over? This text is well within the reach of any adult who slogged through algebra or biology...and should maybe be required reading for high school classes as well. You'd never be sorry for putting this book on your shelf.

Not easy reading, but very interesting

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Unlike other books on evolution I read, this book actually tells the reader, what is going on on the "DNA" - level. At times it is a little tedious to read, but most times, it moves at a good pace. For someone interested in the theory of evolution, it is probably not the first book he should read, some book from Richard Dawkins for example is a better start, I believe. This book again confimed to me, that evolution is the correct discription, how life got started and evolved. How people feel, that creationism is a valid alternative is beyond be. Prof. Carroll does not see "evolution vs. religion" as an either or, one excluding the other. He quotes speeches from religious leaders, e.g. the Pope.

The Fittest Record

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We do not know how much farther science will take us, but from "Making of the Fittest", Prof Carroll in tracing the record of evolution through genetic studies suggests that even though we have come a long way, the distance ahead may appear infinite, but has all the prospects of exhilaring scholarship. The genetic record of evolution is an impressive record that goes back 2 billion years. Carroll explains how the record of evolution (descent with modification and the related "survival of the fittest" principle)is embedded in our genes. If the idea of it all is breathtaking and seemingly incredible, it was set out and explained in very clearly and lucidly that non-scientists will have no difficulty understanding the text or its implications. If all living things have common amino acids, and genetic codes, as well as how and why they evolved and differentiated as they did, the idea of a personal god promising heaven and hell seem to belong to the category of fairy tales - naturally. The genetic tale of evolution is told through a series of stories, beginning with how and why the Antarctic ice fish evolved its red blood cells into oblivion save for the tell-tale record of its previous existence. He explains how genetic evolution is part of a constant battle among living things. If sickle cells are weaker and more fallible than normal cells, why did they continue to be manufactured? The link turned out to be that people with sickle cells are more resistant to malaria. The stories include the cloak-and-dagger account of the discovery and explication of the DNA. It wasn't too long ago when people were screaming, "DNA! DNA! Everyone talks about it but has anyone seen it?" Carroll not only shows us the DNA but explains to us what it does and how it works.

Destined to be a classic.

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I was reading "The Origin of Species" along with this book, and it truly was an amazing experience. To read Darwin questioning (150 years ago) how varieties arise (and to remarkably attribute it to "something" with the reproductive organs by watching animals in domestication), and then within the same day read examples about gene duplication and the effects of point mutations, about the effect of just ONE amino acid substitution, about fossil genes, etc etc..was incredibly beautiful. I'm a 3rd year Biology/Chemistry undergrad, and this really cemented my love for science. Sean B. Carroll has a passion that just flows through the pages, and is just infectious. Highly recommended.

Black box no more

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Ever since Darwin, scientists have worked their way closer and closer to a real model of how in fact natural selection could produce both the extant and extinct biodiversity of this planet. Carrol's book (written for the interested but not necessarily academically experienced reader) does an excellent job at bridging the gap from Darwin's grand theory to actual mechanism. The terrible truth is that without a class in genetics less than ten years ago, all would be lacking in some of the greatest insights science has to offer on evolution of life's diversity. Carrol here does a great service in updating the general reader on the nuts-and-bolts of how random mutation and natural selection work together to create new traits and discard old traits. These arguments are not 'compelling' in the sense that they 'sound good', but rather are compelling through the evidence--in short, the writing is on the wall, with little doubt as to just how evolution in fact works. Of most interest to me was the discussion of 'fossilized' genes, how probability ensures that certain traits will arise (given that they are permitted by natural selection), and the discussion of how certain traits have evolved multiple times and why. As mentioned elsewhere, the discussion of creationism may in large be pointless. While I am glad to see both Carrol's and Miller's dismantling of ID, it is simultaneously a waste of time. The last nail in literal creationism/ID's coffin was pounded in long before all the new evidence from genetics, so regardless of how well we understand the mechanisms by which evolution happen, these arguments are going to fall on deaf ears. What must be done, if Carrol feels as strongly as he does in regards to this matter of ID, is to popularize the information in these pages such that they can reach a larger audience--larger than the one which reads science books. That means articles in popular magazines, and new documentaries that reach a broader public. That also means forgetting the ID movement for a second and instead focusing on the facts and evidence.