Quantity:

More Buying Choices

19 used & new from �3.84

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species (Hardcover)

by Sean B. Carroll (Author)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

RRP:	�16.99
Price:	�10.19 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save:	�6.80 (40%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, February 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

16 new from �8.41 3 used from �3.84

Other Editions:	RRP:	Our Price:	Other Offers:
Hardcover			7 used & new from �13.56
Paperback	�8.99	�5.36	34 used & new from �0.91
Audio CD (Audiobook)	�17.94	�16.13	10 used & new from �12.10
Preloaded Digital Audio Player	�43.70	�43.08	7 used & new from �40.30

Special Offers and Product Promotions

See more Favourite Books at up to 50% off.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Making of the Fittest

by Sean B. Carroll

4.7 out of 5 stars (9) �5.39

Evolution: The First Four Billion Years

by Edward O. Wilson

�19.04

Darwin's Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England

by Steve Jones

4.0 out of 5 stars (5) �12.00

Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom

by Sean Carroll

4.1 out of 5 stars (7) �12.38

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution

by Nick Lane

4.8 out of 5 stars (6) �5.99

› Explore similar items

Product details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc (8 Jan 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1847247210
ISBN-13: 978-1847247216
Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 3.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 160,181 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

See Complete Table of Contents

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

(What is this?)

EPIC Angling & Adventure opens new browser window

www.epicanglingadventure.com - Offering Remote Alaska Peninsula EPIC Fly Fishing Adventures.

Product Description

Review

'Leaves you with an overwhelming sense of awe and respect for the most remarkable of creatures, the men and women who...gave us a profound sense of place among life on Earth' Guardian. 'A bracing tonic for those whose rational enjoyment of the natural universe currently seems in danger of being overwhelmed by the strident infantilism of creationists' Spectator.

Product Description

In 1809, when Darwin was born, much of the world was an unexplored wilderness. Our knowledge of the past was nonexistent, and our picture of our species' history little more than a set of fantastic myths and fairytales. But a new era was dawning. Five decades later, "On the Origin of the Species" was able to draw on the pioneering work of explorers and naturalists to produce a theory that revolutionized our conception of our world. And the revolution didn't stop with the publication of Darwin's masterwork.150 years later, his 'dangerous idea' is still headline news, denied by many, capable of enraging and dividing, even as biologists decipher the 3-billion-year history of life as written in our very DNA. This book tells the stories of the most dramatic adventures and important discoveries in two centuries of natural history - from Alexander von Humboldt's epic journeys in South America to the hi-tech genome-reading projects making headlines today - and how they gave birth to and have nourished the evolution revolution.

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

evolution(4)

evolutionary biology(2)

natural history(2)

anthropology(1)

biology(1)

charles darwin(1)

history of science(1)

popular science(1)

Agree with these tags?

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	85% buy the item featured on this page: Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species 4.0 out of 5 stars (4) �10.19
	5% buy Remarkable Creatures 4.1 out of 5 stars (61) �8.57
	4% buy The Making of the Fittest 4.7 out of 5 stars (9) �5.39
	4% buy Bad Science 4.5 out of 5 stars (233) �3.57

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable romp through key scientific discoveries, 5 April 2009

By	D. P. Mankin (Ceredigion, Wales) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was an entertaining and enjoyable romp through two centuries of discoveries. Fluent and well written it provides an excellent introduction to the most important breakthroughs in our understanding of evolution. I'm not a scientist and last studied anything scientific in 1972 (biology 'O' level!) so I found this book an excellent primer before moving onto some of the recent publications on Darwin. I would have given it five stars but I actually felt that it could have been made slightly longer without necessarily losing any of it's fluency. Mind you that is often the sign of a well written book. Recommened as a very good read.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report this | Permalink

Comment Comment

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disney style treatment of evolution, 6 Oct 2009

By	George Taylor (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) - See all my reviews

Other reviewers describe this as "an entertaining romp" and state, truthfully enough "there are interesting facts to be found in the book". Well, ok, that much I had expected, but I was really hoping for a slightly more in-depth and analytical treatment. At 300 pages it isn't exactly superficial, though it moves far too rapidly over a wide range of topics. A single paragraph in the chapter on Java Man gives the flavour: "He had done it." And two paragraphs later: "He renamed his find Pithecanthropus erectus "erect ape-man". It was time to tell the world."

This slightly cartoonish treatment is also exemplified when describing the career of Roy Chapman Andrews. Carroll says: "... on the day of his graduation he announced to his parents that he was going to New York to try to get a job at the natural history museum. (Next paragraph) "The day after he arrived in New York, Roy made his way to the museum for an appointment with Dr. Bumpus the director." It reminds me of the Classics Illustrated or Readers Digest breathlessness I recall from periods of enforced convalescence. Except that I actually remember a lot of the Classics Illustrated stories. Reviewing the chapter on Dubois in Indonesia I couldn't actually recall who he was or what he'd done.

There are less whirlwind passages and certainly some new and interesting information. There are nice diagrams too. However, the book is by no means "beautifully written" as another reviewer says. I found it clunky and awkward in places, long sentences with strings of "and"s; characters repeatedly "making a pitch" to influential directors or being "felled" by illness. The natives are "rumoured to be dangerous" and the various heroes' companions invariably "quit" before the job is done.

The jacket says that "of all the scientists in the world today there is no one with whom Charles Darwin would rather spend an evening than Sean Carroll". On the basis of this book I can't imagine anything less likely, but in any case I should have been warned by the style of assertion. Entertaining and popular, but there are more satisfying and even accessible books on evolution.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report this | Permalink

Comment Comment

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Champions of natural history , 28 Jan 2009

By	Rama Rao "Rama" (Annandale, VA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book chronicles the adventures of some of the great paleontologists, evolutionists, and molecular biologists in search for the origin of species. The book is described in three major parts; the first part focuses on the origin of species in general; the second part on particular kinds of animals; and finally the origins of human beings. In part one, the epic voyage of Charles Darwin, Alfred Wallace, and Henry Bates who laid foundations for the theory of natural selection and origin of species is vividly explained with the drama, tragedy and adventurism encountered during their long voyages into the far corners of planet. The second part describes the major expeditions for hunting fossils, and spectacular finds in paleontology that sheds light on the evolution of animal species. The last part dealing with natural history of human beings, track discoveries from the archeological, paleontological, and genetic studies that shed much light on the evolution of man. For a general reader this part is perhaps most interesting and especially chapter 13 entitled "Neander Valley" which examines if Neanderthals and humans have any biological connection; the discussion analyses very latest results from archeological, genetic and fossil studies. It is an exciting chapter to read.

There are interesting facts to be found in the book; when Darwin arrived in Galapagos Island his personal diary indicate he was unimpressed by the island. Alfred Wallace, another evolutionist who worked at the same time as Darwin made original contributions to the early ideas of natural selection. Henry Bates who had special fascination for butterflies studied adaptation in predator-prey relationship. He found that species of moths and butterflies imitate in certain ways that the predator avoids them. For example a large caterpillar raises its head like a poisonous snake to scare off the predator. It also had black dots and segments to give the appearance of snake. He also found that some parasitic bees and flies mimic the forms of nest-building bees and live in their nests "all expenses paid." Recently it has been demonstrated in the case of harmless scarlet king snake which is adapted to look like the poisonous coral snake (Chapter 4).

The year 2009 marks the birthday of Charles Darwin and this discussion is a celebration of the ideas and achievements of the greatest naturalist and leader of a scientific revolution. This book is highly recommended.

1. The Origin of Species (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature)
2. The Making of the Fittest
3. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom
4. The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution
5. Microbe Hunters
6. GODS, GRAVES AND SCHOLARS: THE STORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY
7. George Gaylord Simpson: Paleontologist and Evolutionist

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report this | Permalink

Comment Comment

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 4 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them
This book is a chronicle of the greatest adventures in natural history in the last 200 years. The author Sean Carroll, a professor of genetics at the University of... Read more

Published 5 months ago by A. Drakou

› See all 4 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }