In the Blink of an Eye: How Vision Kick-started the Big Bang of Evolution [Paperback]

Fascinating as the story is, Parker fails to fully explore other theories, while simply discounting them as 'obviously wrong', where his explanation will apparently astound us with how obvious is is, and leave us wondering why no one thought of it before. His arrogance I find irritating throughout the entire book, which is a real shame. As I'm sure many others will realise, his own theory can be shot down just as easily as he discards others, using his simplistic arguments.

Further distracting from the aim of the book is the 100 pages or so dedicated to totally irrelevant information. It would not have been difficult to have used relevant examples, and if he were to go for the totally irrelevant, in a popular science book he would have done well to choose ones which may interest the non-scientist.

Finally, I find it brilliant that he knows the 'correct' view of everything. It must be wonderful to have all the answers. In a couple of pages he even gives the reason for the Permian extinction! Amazing, as this is still controversial, with no single theory more accepted than a variety of others at present. He'd better get out there and let those poor scientists know that the answer has already been decided for sure, by him (despite missing one huge flaw in the theory he accepts... the total absence of explanation of the initial factor of sea level rise - at least in his version...).

I thouroughly recommend his book, if you really want to know about his brilliant theory. However - ONLY read it if you can cope with his arrogance and absurd disregard for other people's theories, even when he himself knows little of the area of science discussed in many cases (for example, he seems to believe it totally acceptable to extrapolate an entire animal from a single jaw, and a single specimen, and rewrite history... anthropologists, palaeontologists and evolutionary biologists aware of the Ramapithecus blunder will know the full dangers of such presumption). If you aren't sure, borrow it from the library, like I did.

Parker presents his theme with verve. "Let there be images!" is a concluding example. New ideas in science tend to use a forceful approach. Since he's laid a firm Darwinian foundation for this exclamation, perhaps his enthusiasm is warranted. He explains much about early life, the nature of light and how animals have adapted body plans to use light effectively. Parker shows how new research tools can analyse fossils to reveal the past wasn't the soft, dull, colourless world often portrayed. Some of the tricks developed by Nature millions of years ago weren't duplicated by human technology until very recently. Light, he explains, was both an attractant and a repellent in the shallow seas of early oceans.

The mortar binding the facets of Parker's idea is predation. Both eaters and eaten needed to detect each other to survive. In parallel with the eye, bodies changed to avoid detection and deflect biting mouths. Survival in evolutionary terms, he reminds us, means more than eating or avoiding being a meal. Vision enhanced the process of sexual selection, with the new body forms exhibiting colours to attract mates. These and other factors combine to provide what Parker calls his "Light Switch" view of the Cambrian period. As a foundation for his hypothesis, Parker joins the ranks of Eldredge and Gould's "punk-eek" [punctuated equilibrium] cabal of evolutionary biologists. This step is taken to grant eye evolution a rapid pace in line with the many changes the Cambrian Explosion seems to evidence. That's unfortunate, since it isn't necessary and he refutes the idea many times in citing his own evidence. A species span of
120 million years without a bump is equilibrium indeed!

Parker's ebullient prose is supplemented by excellent line drawings and photographs. These provide both background and examples of his points. His style, while ardent, is a bit rambling, although this can be forgiven in a book covering so many aspects of evolution's path. What cannot be forgiven is the lack of any bibliography or notes. This lack is outrageous and insults the reader. Although many researchers are presented, few titles grace the pages, leaving the reader with the task of seeking further information or confirmation almost from scratch. The publisher has no excuse for allowing this lack. Read this book, reflect on Parker's ideas, and remember there are other proposals for the cause of the Cambrian Explosion equally or better presented.