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The Ancestor's Tale
A Pilgrimage To The Dawn Of Evolution
by Richard Dawkins
The renowned biologist and thinker Richard Dawkins presents a comprehensive look at evolution, ranging from the latest developments in the field to his own provocative views. Loosely based on the form of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," Dawkins's Tale takes us modern humans back through four billion years of life on our planet...The Ancestor's Tale is at once a far-reaching survey of the latest, best thinking on biology and a fascinating history of life on Earth. [Houghton Mifflin]
Houghton Mifflin, 688 pages
10/27/2004
$28.00
ISBN: 0618005838
Nonfiction
Science & Nature
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Booklist Bryce Christensen
Lively and daring, a book certain to draw even casual readers deep into the adventure--and controversy--of science. [1 Oct 2004, p.289]
Kirkus Reviews
One of Dawkins's best: a big, almost encyclopedic compendium bursting with information and ideas.
The Guardian Matt Ridley
Extraordinary.
Publishers Weekly
This clever approach to our extended family tree should prove a natural hit with science readers.
San Francisco Chronicle Ian Garrick Mason
But understanding the complexity is worth the effort, for it is Dawkins' convincing portrayal of life's interrelations, of its grand cousinage, that is perhaps the most deeply affecting aspect of the book.
The Independent Marek Kohn
The result is not just a wealth of ideas about how living things evolved, but a strong sense of the urgency and absorption with which science is done.
The New York Times Book Review Carl Zimmer
Despite these shortcomings, this is an ambitious, important book rich with fascinating insights. Also, it couldn't come at a better time.
The Spectator Mark Ridley
The book is mainly a neo-Chaucerian, post-Darwinian history, with a scope of thousands of millions of years, but it should also inspire, or provoke, its readers into some new thoughts on current affairs.
Washington Post James Trefil
This is great stuff -- intriguingly written, honest about the controversies that exist, clear about the science. Dawkins does not dodge complexity where it is called for but keeps it to a minimum and winds up giving us as full and clear a picture of the way life developed on our planet as you are likely to find anywhere.
Los Angeles Times Richard Ellis
This is a rich, heavy plum pudding of a book, replete with zoological surprises...A trip through contemporary zoology, liberally seeded with prescient insights on evolutionary theory.
Library Journal Gregg Sapp
The book's scope and provocativeness are truly worthy of epic treatment, and Dawkins is skilled in simultaneously conveying cutting-edge science to the public and also contributing to its advancement. [15 Sept 2004, p.80]
Daily Telegraph Anthony Daniels
One of the strengths of his book is the ease with which he moves and establishes links between these different levels of biological thought and explanation.
Daily Telegraph Robert Hanks
No other book I have read has given me such a dizzyingly immediate sense of the vastness and strangeness of the changes brought about by evolution over the eons, or how intimately all life is bound together - far more intimately than we could have conceived a few years ago.
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Michael Ruse
The coverage of the animals is badly truncated. Dinosaurs, being extinct, get no treatment. And, since each branch gets roughly equal space, the farther back you go, the briefer the treatment of ever-larger groups of organisms. [16 Oct 2004, p.D19]
 The average user rating for this book is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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