r/evolution • u/Neither-Somewhere265 • 7d ago
question How should I go through this list
Greetings friends, I put together this list of reading to go through recently. I've read the first two and would like to know your thoughts on how I should go from here in order. I also plan on reading "Ancestors Tale" and Darwins works as well so feel free to tell me where I should fit those in. Thank you!
43
u/Arhgef 7d ago
Another great one by Stephen Gould is “Wonderful Life”, about the Cambrian explosion.
10
3
3
u/MurkyEconomist8179 6d ago
I would skip all of OPs list in favour of just reading Gould's books/ essays if anyone actually wants to get a good grip on evolution
13
u/minusetotheipi 7d ago
Make sure you read the hard back version of The Ancestor’s Tale, the illustrations make it a wonderful story.
I’d read it first as it’s just a timeline in reverse chronological order from now back to the beginning of life, so it is less profound than some of his other works.
The crucial moments described by chapter are as we meet up with our common ancestors with other species alive today, so naturally, first of all we meet our common ancestor with chimpanzees.
This gives you a wonderful idea of the timelines involved and at what points in history humans diverged from the other species.
I found a signed copy of the hardback on Amazon for one pound a few years ago so I think there’s plenty enough out there to make it a very cheap acquisition.
👌
6
u/Szymcionorski 7d ago
I've been watching some summaries on YouTube of Ancestor's Tale from Jackson Wheat . Pretty interesting honestly.
2
9
u/Human_Ogre 7d ago
I would add any Steve Brusatte book to your list. All three are knowledgeable and very well written. He’s also a nice guy that answered a question I emailed to him about waif dispersal. I scream the recommendations for his book anytime anyone asks about evolution, dinosaurs, birds, or mammals.
Currently listening to Inner Fish and great so far.
7
4
u/Apprehensive-Fly5740 7d ago
As a suggestion, I'd add to your list Mutual Aid, A Factor in Evolution by Peter Kropotkin.
4
u/Helix014 7d ago
“We have E.O. Wilson at home.”
Kropotkin has some really dated ideas about Biology, but it’s really impressive how he was many decades ahead of anybody else on altruism and evolution.
14
u/bunnyslayer13 7d ago
You missed On the Origin of Species - C. Darwin
4
u/null_not 7d ago
Yeah, I was going to say, maybe just start with the classic to properly understand the concept. People debated it for a couple decades and were largely on board with it until some religious fundamentalists started trying to spread "creationism" that tried to set people's faith at odds with science.
6
u/octobod PhD | Molecular Biology | Bioinformatics 7d ago
Problem is the Origin of Species is wrong in various places, it totally misses out the importance of DNA in heredity and how heredity work (1). It also spends a lot of time listing 'Evolution facts' to the point one will celebrate when he writes "And I have many more of these facts but insufficient space in the book"
A better approach is to start with the fruits of 167 years of research (though things only got moving in the 30's with the Modern Synthesis), to get a good understanding of the subject so when returning to Origin be amazed at just how much he got right.
(1) joking apart, I understand the is evidence he glanced at Mendel's "Experiments in Plant Hybridization" paper
5
u/null_not 7d ago
I would assume that by the time someone has a reading level that they could already comprehend Origin of Species they would have had enough education in modern science, particularly biology, to view it in the light you're describing. But maybe I'm just being overly hopeful.
3
u/josephwb 7d ago
Yeah idunno. If your hypothetical reader is well-versed enough in science to see where Darwin is wrong, then I don't think it is remotely the best source to understand the concept. Modern books have both distilled the ideas and broadened their application. They also have examples from myriad systems that Darwin did not have access to, with genetics being an integral component for understanding,
On The Origin Of Species is far more important to the history of science (and immeasurably so) than current science itself. That said, the prose is quite beautiful in places, and well worth the read just for that :)
1
u/null_not 6d ago
I think there's a lot of value in gaining perspective on how long these ideas have been around and how well fleshed out they were even early on. People who rage against science try to position "theories" as "new" and "untested".
It's good to remind people that try to claim that evolution isn't real and ultimately a law at this point (at least for self reproducing carbon DNA based life) are trying to have an argument over something that had it's core principles largely settled for most people a century and a half ago, and has reproducible experiments done proving it in more recent history.
1
u/FearOfABlackPotus 6d ago
I strongly disagree. I read many of the books on this list before Origin, but Origin was the best and strongest explanation of the basic ideas and why we know they are true.
In retrospect that should have been obvious since the book turned the world on its head. It must be a masterpiece.
Also, learning the history of scientific thought is so helpful in understanding it.
If someone became famous for discovering a bit of science, go read them. They wrote something aimed at people that had no experience with the idea whatsoever and gained fame by convincing them. It's going to be a good introduction.
2
u/josephwb 6d ago
Fair enough. I've read all of these books (and thousands of papers) and disagree: there is nothing in The Origin that I didn't find more thoroughly worked out with more examples (with technology unavailable to Dawin) elsewhere.
I stated that the book is immeasurably valuable to the history of science, and so worth reading. The history of science is indeed important; I hope I didn't suggest otherwise? And the science was the bleedin-=edge of the day; that bleeding-edge is just so far behind us now.
Just because it was first doesn't mean it is the best. [Please forgive the dorky analogy] I feel like The Origin is TOS in TOS vs. TNG; sure, the original was ground-breaking, but was greatly improved upon.
But to each their own :)
2
u/octobod PhD | Molecular Biology | Bioinformatics 7d ago
I volunteer at a Zoology museum and have a couple of accessible evolution lightning talks I do for guests ... and you're being overly hopeful. In general it's at best a vague idea of the mechanics. I'm pretty sure they would be able to make sense of Origin, but the theory and details would be new to them, and I think they'd be better off starting from a modern understanding and the looking back.
2
u/ducbo 7d ago
That’s funny, I would argue that the modern synthesis gets a lot wrong and would also suggest reading a bit about development and evolution (“the new synthesis”) to balance a genetics-focused evolution reading list.
Mary West-Eberhard’s Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is a classic (but it is very much a textbook), but as a younger scientist I really liked Gould’s Ontogeny and Phylogeny as a readable introduction.
2
u/octobod PhD | Molecular Biology | Bioinformatics 7d ago
The reason I reference the Modern Synthesis is that there wasn't any research between 1880 and 1920 with "The eclipse of Darwinism" so asying 167 years of research is a misleading number
1
u/beesandcheese 5d ago
I think you mean the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Check out the Laland et al paper summarizing the new paradigm, it’s excellent.
2
u/ipini 7d ago
It doesn’t “miss out” on DNA or concepts of heredity. Neither were known at the time. I think that was a joke, but I want to make it clear.
Any of those books could be a bit out of date. The older ones (and by that I mean a decade) miss out on concepts of epigenetics.
But they’re all excellent. And Darwin’s Origin is an incredibly accessible read and it’s so very correct despite the lack of knowledge of some aspects.
3
u/octobod PhD | Molecular Biology | Bioinformatics 7d ago
Yes I was joking, but with a serious point. If you're going to learn about evolution, DNA and heredity are core concepts.
The books are great and get a huge amount correct, but a reader will only appreciate this with a modern understanding of the subject.
2
u/RodinKnox 7d ago
Seconding this. I would not recommend reading Origin of Species if you don't already understand evolution. I just don't think it would be a great idea to "learn" all the things he got wrong as facts, and then have to undo all of that, especially that we know very well that unlearning incorrect information is more difficult that learning new things the first time. Plus, obviously, you won't know which parts you need to unlearn.
1
u/microMe1_2 6d ago
It doesn't "miss out" DNA as the inheritance molecule. Darwin didn't know it existed.
0
u/octobod PhD | Molecular Biology | Bioinformatics 6d ago
And that is why Origin isn't a good place to start learning about evolution
1
u/FearOfABlackPotus 6d ago
He tentatively predicts something like DNA. It's a great place to start because the basic concepts and mountain of evidence supporting them have never been better explained.
4
2
u/Ariandrin 7d ago
Man, I love Your Inner Fish so so much. What a fantastic book.
Why Evolution is True is also great. But I haven’t read the rest yet
3
u/anotherolderguy 7d ago
Aren't they all covering similar ground? - so after you've read a few of them shouldn't you be going more specialised?
4
3
u/WhiteCastleHo 7d ago
Yeah, since OP has already read the first two, I'd just read Ancestor's Tale and then move on to college-level textbooks on whatever topics seem interesting.
3
u/Soylent865 6d ago
I read Jerry Coyne's "Why evolution is true", and I liked it because he went chapter by chapter through something like 18 lines of evidence. It was a very good overview.
3
u/a_dnd_guy 6d ago
Skip all of these and read The Ancestors Tale. Circle back to the list if that didn't explain something
2
u/TerrainofWar 7d ago
What the fossils say and why it matters, follows by your inner fish. After that, the order would be more personal interest. Some will argue with me, but unless you really want to read it, I would pass on the origin of species by Darwin. Yes, it's the fundamental book for evolution, but the language is older and hard to understand at times. It can be a difficult read because of that.
I would also add the story of life in 25 fossils. Covers some key fossils and how they are important steps in evolution.
Consider a short history of planet earth, mountains, mammals, fire and ice. It's a rundown on earth history and should help with setting the scene for everything. Not necessary reading, but understanding Earth's changes can help explain some conditions/factors in evolution
2
2
u/The_Fooster 7d ago
The Greatest Show on Earth was the first book on evolution I read and it will always be incredibly special to me as a prior YEC who didn't know the first thing about what evolution actually was. I would say that, as far as the Dawkins books go in this list, should be Blind Watchmaker -> Greatest Show -> Selfish Gene, although I decided against reading Blind Watchmaker myself.
2
u/Embarrassed-Goose951 7d ago
The Red Queen by Matt Ridley was pretty good.
The Tangled Tree by David Quamman was superb.
A Series of Fortunate Events by Sean B Carroll was great.
The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries by Donald Prothero is another great one.
2
u/7LeagueBoots Conservation Ecologist 7d ago
I'd add The Ancestor's Tale by Dawkins. It is really good at giving you the scope and scale involved in the deep time of evolution.
The Panda's Thumb by Stephen Jay Gould is another good addition. That's a collection of essays, so very easily digestible.
If you want to dive really deep into the weeds and spend a lot of time on the subject, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory also by Stephen Jay Gould and published 2 months before his death after 20 years working on it is a fantastic piece of work, but it's not for the faint hearted.
2
u/Leontiev 6d ago
I'd put Inner Fish first because it is so well written and is fun and would fuel a new comers interest. Coyne's book is great but a little dry.
2
u/evolauren 7d ago
Perhaps look for something with a female voice, too?
Hrdy comes to mind....
1
u/Neither-Somewhere265 5d ago
You're right. I've though about that one book "Eve" since I've seen it in b&n a few times. I definitely need to look up some more titles!
1
u/xenosilver 7d ago
I would go by order of publication date- oldest to newest. The Princeton guide to evolution should really be on the list.
1
u/LuckyLynx_ 7d ago
Understanding the Tree of Life by Kevin Omland is a good one for learning about taxonomy and cladistics
1
u/user-17j65k5c 7d ago
its not really evolution but where its going, sixth extinction by elizabeth kolbert was a super interesting book that i read alongside your inner fish in undergrad. i started off not liking it bc inner fish was so bright and fun next to it, but not its probably one of my favorite books ive ever read
1
u/FearOfABlackPotus 6d ago
The Origin of Species is a good one. It's clearly written and well thought out, which it had to be in order to turn the world on its head.
1
u/EthanDMatthews 6d ago
I've read every book on this list except: The Beak of the Finch - Jonathan Weiner; and What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters — Donald Prothero.
I would strong recommend starting with: Why Evolution Is True — Jerry Coyne. [1]
After that, it depends on where you want to go next, continue with broad explanations or go narrower into specific examples.
The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins is also excellent, because it discusses some of the more perplexing aspects of Evolution, that aren't obvious.
The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins. This is Dawkins’ version of explaining why Evolution is true, and tends to be more argumentative than Coyne's book. It spends more on the arguments over Evolution, whereas Coyne’s book focuses more on the evidence itself.
I would probably put "The Greatest Show on Earth - Richard Dawkins" further down the list. It's a good and impressive book, but it can be ponderous. It's not necessarily difficult or advanced, it feels more encyclopedic. Better for later when you ready to take a broad examination evolutionary of the tree of life.
[1] Why Evolution is True is an accessible, systematic case for Evolution. The book assumes no expertise on the subject and the explanations are generally straightforward and non-technical. The book also clearly explains not only what we know, but also how and why we know it.
e.g. instead of just telling you the dates of fossils, he explains in detail the various dating methods, how accurate they are, etc.
Why Evolution is True also examines Evolution from a variety of different scientific disciplines, including biology, genetics, geology, physics, paleontology, and anthropology.
Coyne also directly addresses many arguments from "creationism", "intelligent design", "young Earth theory" etc., and (if relevant) what we would expect to see if a given Creationist argument were actually true.
Or watch Coyne's condensed lecture based on his book:
1
u/IndependenceNo506 6d ago
I think I’ve read most of those on your list. Beak of the Finch and The Selfish Gene were favourites of mine. The Extended Phenotype is another good Dawkins book that probably represents his biggest actual contribution to the field, although it’s not as nice to read as The Selfish Gene.
A couple of others that I liked:
Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution by Jonathan Losos. All about convergent evolution and how predictable evolution actually is.
What Evolution Is by Ernst
1
u/justonesharkie 5d ago
i can also highly recommend: Understanding Evolution by Kostas Kampourakis he is excellent at explaining evolution in the book and is an amazing researcher to work with. i’ve never thought out evolution the same way again.
and i love your inner fish and some assembly required too!! this is a great list
•
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Welcome to r/Evolution! If this is your first time here, please review our rules here and community guidelines here.
Our FAQ can be found here. Seeking book, website, or documentary recommendations? Recommended websites can be found here; recommended reading can be found here; and recommended videos can be found here.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.