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The Evolution Revolution (Paperback)

by Kenneth J. McNamara (Author), John Long (Author) "It was a billion years since the Earth was born ..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 312 pages
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (24 Jun 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0471974072
  • ISBN-13: 978-0471974079
  • Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 16.9 x 1.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,004,650 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The past 20 years has seen a revolution in the understanding of the history of life on Earth. McNamara and Long round up the latest ideas on the very beginnings of microbial life over three billion years ago to the evolution of humans. Included are the first fish, the first land-going vertebrates and plants, and the evolution of the dinosaurs and of birds.

As professional palaeontologists at the Western Australian Museum in Perth, they are well placed to "cherry-pick" the best stories as soon as they appear in the academic press. Not many of these discoveries get into the public domain because the media tends to think that the public only wants dinosaur stories. McNamara and Long have had a personal involvement in some of the discoveries, notably ones involving fish, arthropods and dinosaurs. They fulfil their aim of sharing "the excitement and fascination that comes ... from making fossil discoveries" and write with an authority that is not always found in such books. When attractively written like this and suitably illustrated with simple but effective black-and-white drawings, even quite complex palaeontological stories can be explained for the general reader. References are provided for the more dedicated enthusiast.

In particular, McNamara and Long present a welcome antipodean slant to the history of life. Australia, along with India and the great southern continents of South America, Africa and Antarctica formed the Gondwanan supercontinent for many millions of years, and yet they contain some of the most geologically unexplored territory in the world. Their final thoughts mention the discovery of the oldest fossil ants and feathered dinosaurs--so rapid is the present rate of palaeontological discovery that within a few years any new edition would be able to present a whole new collection of stories. For now, though, this edition represents a fine summation of the current state of the art. -- Douglas Palmer



Product Description

The last decade has seen remarkable new discoveries regarding the evolution of life based on the fossil record—from new information about the earliest multi–celled animals to a new candidate for the ancestor of insects to landmark findings about the region and lifestyle of dinosaurs. This book aims to integrate all of these new findings in an overall evolutionary context, starting with new ideas on the evolution of life on this planet and progressing through the entire fossil record.
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It was a billion years since the Earth was born. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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4.0 out of 5 stars All the thrill of recent paleontological research!, 11 Nov 1999
By A Customer
In spite of its title, this is neither your run-of-the-mill account of life's history nor a low-profile, swift treatise on the theoretics of macroevolution, natural selection and the like... It's a much more original collection of highly informative essays about recent steps made in selected issues of palaeobiology. The book is really not for just a curious layreader though, for plenty of technicalities do turn out all over, and some good foundations in general biology and sedimentary geology are needed to fully appreciate its contents.. The style is pleasantly informal and I think the figure caption on page 52 makes for a great example of what the right attitude to making science should be sometimes: casual and humorous!! It can be fun... (Okay, this would still be hard in polymer technology, I know..) If this is the spirit of aussie scientifical research, the we've got a lot to learn from those down under! Additional merits of the book are the focus on the paleontological riches of Australia and the Southern hemisphere, rarely mentioned elsewhere in literature, and an up-to-date list of references, maily form the late 80's and the 90's, for those who wish more insight on the biology of squishy cambrian organisms!! Only a few quibbly criticisms... The origin of life should have been discussed in depth or skipped altogether, 'cause just the three pages it gets leave it badly maimed.. Also, I'd have liked one less chapter on dinosaurs making place for the permian and triassic radiation of mammal-like reptiles... Then again, about the origin of pterosaurs, "Thecodonts" no longer exists as a proper taxon, they were just a paraphyletic! Last, the serious letdown is that the evolution of plants is overlooked altogether, just one chapter out of 19.. And still it's not clear whether that chapter wanted to be about botany or the evolutionary palaeoecology of insects! Well anyhow... Just ignore my nagging!! The book is real fun to read and spills out most of the latest intelligence, so buy it right off !!!
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