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The Ancestor's Tale
 
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The Ancestor's Tale [Audio Download]

by Richard Dawkins (Author, Narrator), Lalla Ward (Narrator)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Audio Download
  • Listening Length: 8 hours and 54 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Abridged
  • Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited
  • Audible Release Date: 9 Oct 2007
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002SQDGUA
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)

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Product Description

The Ancestor's Tale is a pilgrimage back through time - a journey on which we meet up with fellow pilgrims as we and they converge on our common ancestors. Chimpanzees join us at about six million years in the past, gorillas at seven million years, orangutans at 14 million years, as we stride on together, a growing band.

The journey provides the setting for a collection of some 40 tales. Each explores an aspect of evolutionary biology through the stories of characters met along the way or glimpsed from afar: the Elephant Bird's Tale, the Marsupial Mole's Tale, the Lungfish's Tale. Together they give a deep understanding of the processes that have shaped life on Earth: convergent evolution, the isolation of populations, continental drift, and the great extinctions.

©2004 Richard Dawkins; (P)2004 Orion Publishing Group Ltd
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First Sentence
History has been described as one damn thing after another. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
74 of 76 people found the following review helpful
Life explained. 10 May 2006
Format:Paperback
This pilgrimage through 3 billion years of life on earth is one of the most amazing books I have ever read on the subject of evolution. Starting with us, Dawkins takes us on a journey back through time meeting up with our increasingly distant common ancestors (concestors) along the way until we get back to the beginnings of life itself, a point in time that is marked by the first steps along the molecular road of heredity. Each chapter has a tale to tell about the process of scientific discovery, of the wonder of evolution, told through the example of a particular member of the latest pilgrims to join.

There is so much information in this book that every day I was reading it I'd find some nugget to relate to my wife and children: how did we learn to walk bipedally; why are we hairless and drink milk; what do platypuses use their bills for; how are animal bodies segmented; what did the first vertebrate look like; what have whales and hippos got in common. Why we know what we know through phylogenetic, taxonomic, molecular and fossil data is explained fully in the chapters that deal with our meeting with each successive concestor, but Dawkins is also careful to note where there are gaps in our knowledge and offers possibilites for their solution.

This book is truly impressive.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wow! If you are looking for a masterclass on the evolution of life on earth, look no further. This magnificent, weighty tome is science as high art. Packed with comprehensive scientific detail and discovery, and hugely impressive in its scale, it is nevertheless written in a highly accessible style. Don't be put off by the size of the book! Step-by-step, Dawkins takes us back through history: from the development of modern man, through the families of primates and mammals, stopping off to explore the worlds of reptiles and insects, right back to the earliest bacteria and to the origins of life itself. A series of "Tales", illustrated by particular species, brings the science vividly to life and illuminates the path as we seek out our common ancestors.

This book is a "must read" for a modern understanding of evolutionary theory.
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52 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read most of Dawkins's previous books, "The Selfish Gene", "The Extended Phenotype" and "Climbing Mount Improbable" plus others. He is a scientific author of rare lucidity, explaining complex subjects using simple metaphors and crystal clear explanations. I can say without doubt that he, along with Matt Ridley, have changed my world view.

Some popular science books require mulitple readings of each paragraph to fully understand the book, (a certain wheelchair bound genius springs to mind!), or spread the facts/info out over agonisingly long chapters.(Horizon!)this is not the case with Mr Dawkins whos pace is almost perfect.
This is not to say that he avoids complex subjects, far from it, this book contains the most use of technical biological terms so far, giving examples of each species encountered in our journey from each ancestoral meeting point and explaining how they worked out the ancestoral tree.

He always explains the terms/concepts prior to using them, and continues to use metaphors whilist using the term to remind us of its meaning.

The final chapter gives theories of the origins of life.

The book showcases each of our mutual co-ancestors, ie the ancestor of Humans and chimpanzees, then they join our pilgimage back to the next co-ancestor. Until all life joins the final origin.

If your at all interested in HOW we are here, read this book!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Superb
If you love evolutionary biology, then this is your book. A very comprehensive and broad exploration of natural history, that was enjoyable to read.
Published 1 month ago by chelsea
Evolutionists Bible
"The Ancestor's Tale" is an interesting ,but often difficult book. I think you really need to know some advanced biology to fully follow Dawkins' exposition of life on Earth, but I... Read more
Published 2 months ago by L. Davidson
Very good, but the abridged version may be better for newbies
I'll keep my review short and simply say as an evolutionary overview this book is surely unmatched, however I feel Dawkins gets tempted (as in some of his other books) by the need... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gavin Day
Ancestors
I am really pleased with this large tome.It is in excellent condition and Richard Dawkins is so acessible and easy to understand
Published 6 months ago by A. M. Milton
Superb panoramic view which opens many vistas of thought
Another excellent book by Dawkins here, highly readable, easily accessible. His writings draw me to want to know more. I like that he gives various points of view. Read more
Published 7 months ago by A.
Facinating
Dawkins traces the story of life backward , to our evolutionary roots, going backwards through time to write about our common ancestors - so, for example, where mankind diverged... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Captain Kirk
If you've come this far, buy it.
Another brilliant book by Dawkins that is digestible for both Biology students and anybody with a general interest in the world and its inhabitants' workings. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jake
Origin of Our Species
There's just enough of the QI quotient to keep this running along in a manner that doesn't get too textbook like. Read more
Published 8 months ago by nicholas hargreaves
A marvellous story
The Ancestor's tale by Richard Dawkins is certainly one of the books that makes you want to read it again. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Romano
Ancestors Tale
Brilliant book. Very interesting if you are interested in evolution and how our ancesters are found. It gives each animal its story as well as explaining how the image is found. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lucy
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