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Customer Ratings: 4.5 (from 53 reviews) |
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Reviews |
Product Description
What Brian Greene did for string theory, Sean Carroll—a leading biologist—does for Evo Devo. Evo Devo is evolutionary developmental biology, the third revolution in evolutionary biology. The first was marked by the publication of The Origin of Species. The second occurred in the early twentieth century, when Darwin's theories were merged with the study of genetics. Now the insights of Evo Devo are astonishing the biology world by showing how the endless forms of animals—butterflies and zebras, trilobites and dinosaurs, apes and humans, are made and evolved. Perhaps the most surprising finding of Evo Devo is the discovery that a small number of primitive genes led to the formation of fundamental organs and appendages in all animal forms. The gene that causes humans to form arms and legs is the same gene that causes birds and insects to form wings, and fish to form fins; similarly, one ancient gene has led to the creation of eyes across the animal kingdom. Changes in the way this ancient tool kit of genes is used have created all the diversity that surrounds us. Sean Carroll is the ideal author to lead the curious on this intellectual adventure—he is the acknowledged leader of the field, and his seminal discoveries have been featured in Time and The New York Times. 16 pages of color and 100 black-and-white illustrations. |
Amazon.com Review
"Every animal form is the product of two processes--development from an egg and evolution from its ancestors," writes Sean B. Carroll in his introduction to Endless Forms Most Beautiful. The new science of "evo devo"--or evolutionary developmental biology--examines the relationships between those two processes, embryonic development and evolutionary changes, despite their radically different time scales. Carroll first offers a recap of how genes express themselves in a growing embryo, then peers into the life histories of real-life examples to explain how those genes have changed (or not changed) over millions of years of evolution. Paraphrasing Thomas Huxley, he asks us to consider evolution and development as two sides of the same coin. We may marvel at the process of an egg becoming an adult, but we accept it as an everyday fact. It is merely then a lack of imagination to fail to grasp how changes in this process that assimilated over long periods of time, far longer than the span of human experience, shape life's diversity." The book's second half is where Carroll really gets at the meat of evo devo, explaining how regulatory genes control such mysteries as individual and population changes in butterfly's spots, jaguar fur, and hominid skulls. Evo devo is one of the hottest areas of study in 21st-century biology, and Carroll's outline of the field is a great place to start understanding it. --Therese Littleton |
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| Product Details |
| Author: |
Sean B. Carroll |
| Binding: |
Hardcover |
| Dewey Decimal Number: |
571.85 |
| EAN: |
9780393060164 |
| Edition: |
1 |
| ISBN: |
0393060160 |
| Label: |
W. W. Norton & Company |
| Languages: |
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| List Price: |
| Amount: |
2595 |
| Currency Code: |
USD |
| Formatted Price: |
$25.95 |
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| Manufacturer: |
W. W. Norton & Company |
| Number Of Items: |
1 |
| Number Of Pages: |
350 |
| Package Dimensions: |
| Height: |
118 |
| Length: |
929 |
| Weight: |
150 |
| Width: |
646 |
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| Product Group: |
Book |
| Publication Date: |
2005-04-11 |
| Publisher: |
W. W. Norton & Company |
| Studio: |
W. W. Norton & Company |
| Title: |
Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom |
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| Customer Reviews |
Customer Rating: 5
Review Date: 2009-07-02
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Summary: Endless Forms Most Beautiful Review
For a large part of the 20th century, zoologists thought every type of animal had a unique set of genes, the genes that made rabbits give birth to baby rabbits, or that made grasshopper eggs hatch grasshopper nymphs. Instead, Sean B. Carroll tells us, in his charmingly offhand style, animals turn out to share great numbers of genes. In particular, we share master genes, the ones responsible for controlling embryological development. These master genes have been highly conserved for hundreds of millions of years, have passed into both great branches of animals, and have been central to the evolution of what Darwin called, "endless forms most beautiful." |
Customer Rating: 4
Review Date: 2009-06-28
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Summary: Modularity as the basis for evolution
This book explains basically how evolution drives differentiation basically through modular design: by duplicating some sections of DNA, differentiating some of them to achieve specialization and then selecting the best suited. This is how from the same gene, different limbs are developed (wings, feet, antenae, tweezers, etc.), depending on where in the body grid the cells are located. First several pairs of the same limbs were formed, some mutation might occur to some of the pairs so that they could be used for some different purpose like flying; selection did the rest. It is usually not an entire gene that mutates, since the basic functions that the gene performs could be damaged and therefore the whole organism could be endangered. It is more that gene receptors are mutated so that they switch genes on and off at different timings and in different locations in the body in response to different gradients of a specific substance, to generate diversity.
The discoveries made from the 1980's onwards in these science fields are truly groundbreaking and really interesting. Truly new for me was the modularity concept, as well as the role that the relative position of a cell to the body's axis plays when determining the development of form. Also interesting is the merging of genetics with embriology and the study of hox-genes (genes that drive development).
The only drawback I found in the book is that it sometimes does not fully explain the mechanisms at play. For a deep and not too difficult understanding of the molecular mechanisms read Life Itself: Exploring the Realm of the Living Cell and for a good overall explanation read Nature Via Nurture : Genes, Experience, and What Makes Us Human. In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind also makes a good job explaining how gene receptors work.
An interesting and probably complementary alternative view to how form is driven is morphogenesis (How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity). |
Customer Rating: 2
Review Date: 2009-06-09
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Summary: book too old
This book is from a library collection, so it looks as old as from 19th century, although the pages are intact and have no scratches and marks, still very well readable. |
Customer Rating: 1
Review Date: 2009-05-28
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Summary: Kindle version lacks figures - a serious flaw
This is a wonderful book and in book form it deserves the great reviews. It is incomprehensible that the Kindle version was released without the essential figures. At one point (fig 4.4) we are told to "Look carefully at th1s figure before reading on." This is maddening. The Kindle book should be recalled immediately and figures added. Black and white versions of the plates would be appreciated.
Update: Amazon cheerfully refunded my money and said they would check into this flaw. Book version arrived promptly and is truly wonderful. |
Customer Rating: 4
Review Date: 2009-04-09
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Summary: endless forms most beautiful review
Whether discussing spots on butterfly wings or accidental mutations, Carroll transfers his wonder and fascination to the reader. His sheer interest and curiosity in the subject matter is contagious, and he explains exactly how a simple form taken for granted in everyday life is shared by countless species. For example, the x-rays from chapter 1 on animal architecture are absolutely breathtaking. When the obvious external appearance fades, the likeness beneath demonstrates that the limbs of a turtle resemble that of a falcon, dog, crane, cow, human, etc...
Rationalizing and breaking down aesthetically stunning animals to their fundamental units does not detract from their beauty; instead, understanding the complex nature of evolutionary development made animals I previously overlooked much more interesting. Intricate designs are backed by reason and vast animal diversity is linked by commonalities. This book does not focus on humans, but rather ties our existence into the larger scheme of the history of life on earth.
However, I did labor through biological technicalities and needed many fundamental concepts explained. Therefore, before reading this book, basic background knowledge in genetics is needed. The concepts behind the scientific details are very relevant to understanding natural selection, and Carroll often has to explain the microscopic function of genes to convey a broad and interesting message. This book does such a good job explaining natural selection that sexual selection is often missing and the full explanation for the evolutionary process is left incomplete. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to those interested in the evolution of endless forms most beautiful.
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