Just Finished Reading: In Praise of Walking – The New Science of How We Walk and Why It’s Good For Us by Shane O’Mara (FP: 2019) [183pp] 

I’ve walked everywhere all of my life. I guess that part of that was because neither of my parents had learnt to dive and getting anywhere meant on my own two legs. My father was also a great walker. On weekends he’d take my older brother and I on LONG walks (I have clear memories of us kids both complaining and my dad saying – just around the NEXT corner) just about everywhere we could get to. As I grew up poor (but unaware of how poor we were) it was a very cheap day out. I liked it much more than my brother did which is probably why he did learn to drive as soon as possible and bought a car the moment he could afford one. 

We are an unusual species in the way we get around. Whilst other primates CAN walk for short distances and for particular reasons, we can walk mile after mile almost as efficiently as you can get. Through millennia of human evolution we have been designed to walk with minimal effort, and it shows in almost every facet of the human body. Once we learnt to walk (as a species) there was little that could stop us ultimately populating the planet. Distance certainly wasn’t any object. At a slow family pace of just 5km a day can cover 1500km in less than a year. To walk from the west coast of Liberia to the eastern Pacific coast of China – a distance of around 13,590km – would take a mere 9 year amble. So, it's not surprising that we spread far and fast once we started walking. 

The brain is wired to talk and walk. It is just a matter of time before bum shuffling becomes standing with assistance as nonsense words become language. I’m constantly amused when I see new walkers out in the world. I LOVE how indignant they get when a parent scoops them up or tries to persuade them back into their pushchair. They way they look (and complain) says VERY clearly: I learnt to WALK damn it! I’m going to walk everywhere at a snail's pace until I can RUN away from everyone! One thing that did honestly amaze me about toddlers learning to walk is that, on average, they fall something like 17 times an hour! If I did that today, in any other task, I’d have given up a LONG time ago. Toddlers are committed walkers. They’re tenacious! 

Going in I had assumed that it was obvious (and in obvious ways) that walking was good for your general health – cardio and all that. But it doesn’t stop there. Walking is, apparently, important for improving and maintaining your cognitive skills. One of the experiments that stuck out was were two groups of students (as usual) had been given some puzzles to solve. One group sat at a desk whilst the others took the test standing up. The second group scored consistently higher. Get them to take tests whilst walking – any test – and the scores go up again. The old idea of solving a problem by going for a walk has an increasingly understood scientific basis. 

Oh, I almost forgot... There's some pretty cool stuff in here about how we navigate and how to do it better!

For such a thin book this is PACKED with information and insight into an activity I’m sure that most of us take for granted. If you’re a walker already it’ll confirm many of the positive ideas you already have. If you’re a reluctance pedestrian it might change your mind about this simple pleasure with a built-in health benefit. Definitely recommended. You can thank me later.   

Just Finished Reading: First Steps – How Walking Upright Made Us Human by Jeremy Desilva (FP: 2021) [274pp] 

I have LONG been interested in Evolution since reading Dawkins back in my 20’s. Not surprisingly, I’m particularly interested in the evolution of my own species. One of the most signature differences between ourselves and our Ape cousins is the fact that we walk upright, we’re bipedal whereas the other apes move around, by and large, on all four limbs. So, what gives – and more importantly what’s the advantage of two legs over four. 

At first glance moving around on two legs rather than four is a distinct DISADVANTAGE. Not only can chimpanzees, for example, run much faster than we can they can also climb much faster than us. But with such obvious disadvantages how did we compete successfully with similar quadrupedal ancestors in the deep past? What use is two legs after all is said and done? One advantage is that an upright posture allows a much better survey of the ground locally. Seeing threats further off allows even slow pre-humans to make it to the nearest cover. Furthermore being ‘hands-free’ allows bipeds not only to carry things that our quadruped ancestors couldn’t - allowing more food to be carried over longer distances as well as the ability to throw things accurately over distances to ward off predators and enemies alike – which must have come in very handy at times (no pun intended!).  

Along with the advantages there were, inevitably, downsides. Standing upright meant a compromise between energy efficient walking – chimps typically expend FOUR times as much energy per mile travelled – and the ability to give birth relatively easily, most especially as our brains and heads expanded over the millennia. This was, and still is, a significant risk in being female. Interestingly, the difficulty of per-human birthing might very well have led to group co-operation which boosted not only individual survival rates but boosted the evolutionary fitness of the entire species. 

As the process of evolution has, of necessity, to work with what it has and modify it as it can, compromises must be made – even beyond the restrictions in the birth canal. Even today humans die by falling much more than you’d think. Added to that is the commonality of sprained ankles, dislocated kneecaps and torn ligaments. We are a cobbled together species and our bipedalism is no exception. 

I really enjoyed this book. Not only did I learn a great deal about our pre-human ancestors, but I realised that the number of them has increased greatly since I last checked in. Some of them were familiar (now much more familiar) to me but some were quite new. Another thing I found very interesting indeed were later chapters on the impact of shoe wearing and the health benefits of walking – both mental and physical. It made me want to put the book down and go for a walk! If you have a general interest in human evolution or a particular interest in the development of upright walking or even walking in general, this is definitely the book for you. Highly recommended and a highlight of the year.  

Just Finished Reading: Spying on Whales – The Past, Present and Future of the World’s Largest Animals by Nick Pyenson (FP: 2018) [256pp] 

Whales are strange creatures, which is probably one reason why they fascinate us so much. For one thing they’re the largest mammals on the planet – by far – and are, indeed, the largest animals to have ever lived, including the dinosaurs. Another thing that often surprises is that they were once (much smaller!) land mammals before they returned to the world's oceans around 50 million years ago. In the first section of this intriguing and often fascinating work the author, who is a Palaeontologist, looks at how evolution has shaped whales for their environment, including reasons for their gigantic size in several species as well as the development of the baleen system of feeding, echolocation especially in dolphins and, of course, how whales ‘sing’. 

The second section looks at present day whales – those who through luck or for other reasons escaped the cull of the last few centuries and who have started to recover in numbers (some more than others). Much is made of, as you can imagine, the problems of pollution, global warming – and how it impacts things such as food supply, ocean currents and so on. Likewise, the drop in species diversity – caused by so many being taken out of the picture by hunting – is recognised as a problem going forward. 

The last section looks at the future of whales. Although recovery is underway, it's not entirely certain that some species of whales will survive much longer. Two in particular might already be extinct (actually somewhat difficult to prove conclusively) or be close to it. Even those apparently in more favourable circumstances may not be out of the woods yet. Their environment is changing, and quickly, due to our influence. Not only is the chemical nature of the oceans changing – with chemical run-off, plastics and the gradual acidification of sea water – but global warming is threatening both krill populations (a primary food source of the baleen whales) and their breeding grounds. Their survival is not guaranteed. 

As you might imagine, this was a much more scientific book than my previous read and I probably enjoyed it more because of that. I certainly learnt a lot about the life cycle of whales and how they fit into the oceanic ecosystems. I learnt quite a bit about Orcas (killer whales) too, much of which was completely new to me – which I really liked! This is a must read for anyone interested in these mammoths of the sea and will give you both insights and plenty to mull over. Definitely recommended. 

Special mention of the impressive line drawings throughout by Alex Boersma. 

Just Finished Reading: The Book of Humans – A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War and the Evolution of Us by Adam Rutherford (FP: 2018) [233pp] 

We are, according to Charles Darwin, the paragon of animals. But what makes us so? Many animals are faster, stronger or more prolific. There are animals that can fly, swim, dig in the earth much better than we can. So, what makes us so special? An age-old answer is that we are tool users. But over the years this has been shown to be far less unique than we first thought. Not only were other Homo species also tool users but the precursors to the whole Homo genus seemed to use tools too. Likewise other living creatures are tool users – not only other primates but birds, dolphins and numerous insects. Even our use of fire no longer seems exclusive any longer. Again, other primates use fire for their own ends and even birds have been recorded spreading fire deliberately to flush out game or feast on the cooked remains of animals who couldn’t escape the flames. War seems to be a defining ‘quality’ of humanity, but chimps especially engage in long running campaigns to eradicate opposition and take their land. We are likewise notoriously sexual beings but have nothing on some of our fellow primates who use sex far more frequently and in far more inventive ways than even we do. Even homosexuality, long considered to be a so-called ‘perversion of nature’ is nothing of the kind, indeed it is so common throughout the animal kingdom that it is hardly worth the mention. About the only thing that is substantially different – in scale rather than kind – is our use of culture and especially our use of language. In both these areas we far outpace any other creature on Earth. Our language(s) allow the passage of information – often in great detail – to exist at levels can only be dreamt of by other animals. Our culture can be preserved in writing and can cross boundaries in both time and space than have never existed before and, therefore, can be built on over the millennia allowing us to both expand across the whole planet and build entire civilisations on the foundations of those who have gone before. Although some has been lost much has been retained and expanded over the ages. 

This is a really good start to the years reading (although I actually read it about 2-3 weeks ago). I have a long-standing fascination with human evolution which never seems to fade. Despite there being still much to discover about our tangled origins and both our precursors and our contemporaries on the evolutionary tree, we are slowly filling in the gaps and, interestingly, pushing back the timelines of ‘firsts’ - tool use, painting, burial rituals and so on – that enrich our past. I was particularly struck here by the discussion on the origins of language in our earliest ancestors both from a genetic point of view and from a physiological one. Language use is so important to our early dominance of the world that it's interesting to see the genetic ‘quirks’ that gave rise to a brain capable of such complex vocalisations. 

If, like me, you’re always looking for new information or new insights into our species you could do far worse than pick up this often-fascinating book. The only thing I’d warn some readers about is that there’s quite an extensive (around 60 pages) look at sex – human and non-human – which might put some people off. But it does help to illustrate that there’s little new under the sun. You might not look at giraffes quite the same way though... Recommended and more to come, both on the topic and by this author.   

Just Finished Reading: The Re-Origin of Species – A Second Chance for Extinct Animals by Torill Kornfeldt (FP: 2016) [211pp] 

There was much talk, some years ago, about bringing mammoths back. A fairly intact baby mammoth had been discovered in the Siberian permafrost and it looked like viable DNA could be extracted from it. Bringing back animals that had gone extinct has a romantic quality to it. It’s a mixture of almost godlike power as well a moral righteousness of putting something right – most especially when it was us who made the creature extinct in the first place. There’s also, naturally, the scientific challenge or challenges as well as the possible financial payoff. In the background of everything else is, rather inevitably, Jurassic Park. Whenever any recovery of any species comes up it’s only a matter of time before dinosaurs and Michael Crighton come into the conversation – as the author of this interesting book discovered for herself. 

Intrigued initially with the talk of herds of mammoths wandering the Siberian steppe she decided to find out for herself exactly where the science stood and what exactly those involved in these cutting-edge projects had in mind. She was, as I was, both intrigued and rather disappointed with the results. Although there are indeed ongoing projects to bring back mammoths, the passenger pigeon, and even dinosaurs there’s one HUGE problem hanging over all of them – getting viable DNA from creatures that became extinct hundreds, thousands and sometimes millions of years ago. Apparently, they have indeed extracted usable DNA from mammoths. Although they haven’t managed to get DNA from a single specimen, they have managed to piece together a full mammoth genome from multiple individuals. So far so good. But, and this surprised me greatly, the scientists involved had no intention of using this information to eventually ‘clone’ a mammoth. No, they intend to genetically modify an Asian elephant, bit by bit, to *resemble* a mammoth. To me, that’s not exactly ‘bring it back’. That’s creating something completely new. Likewise with the passenger pigeon, they propose to use genetic information to modify an existing pigeon to more *resemble* its extinct cousin. With the holy grail of dinosaurs, it gets worse. So far it has proven impossible to derive ANY dinosaur DNA from ANY source. It’s just far too old to have survived – yes, even in amber. So, the idea is to ‘regress’ chickens to more *resemble* their dinosaur ancestors. Any resulting ‘dinosaurs’ will be both heavily modified chickens and tiny. Maybe they’ll sell well as exclusive pets?  

Oddly the most interesting and hopeful example in this book was the American chestnut. Apparently, it has been pushed to the edge of extinction by the unintentional introduction of a foreign fungus which almost eliminated it save for a few hold-out clusters that are endangered every day. With the ‘simple’ addition of a fungus resistant gene from wheat it looks like it’s possible – at the time of publication – that the newly bolstered variety could start expanding again. At least that would be an only slightly modified original species rather than the re-created versions mentioned above. 

Full of interesting science, interesting (sometimes rather odd) scientists and a healthy dose of philosophy and moral dilemma, this was a fascinating if rather sobering read. One thing it did make clear – an actual Jurassic Park with *real* dinosaurs is a LONG way from being realised, which is a bit disappointing. But there’s much food for thought here – not only about if we can do it, but also if we should do it. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the topic. 

Translated from the Swedish by Fiona Graham 

Just Finished Reading: Jurassic Mary – Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters by Patricia Pierce (FP: 2006) [196pp] 

For some at least, fossils were a problem. For others, like Mary Anning, they were both a source of wonder and speculation and a much need way to earn some money. Born in the coastal village of Lyme Regis in 1799 she was forced, after her father died, to turn her ‘hobby’ of fossil hunting into a full-time profession to help feed her mother and brother. Luckily for her, and for posterity, she was very good at her job with a keen eye for the unusual and exotic. Whilst fossilised sea shells and small ammonites could bring in a few pennies her larger finds changed hands for the equivalent of hundreds or even thousands of Pounds in today’s money. Whilst such finds kept a roof over their heads and food on her table, what they didn’t do was bring her anything like the reputation and recognition she deserved. Although the great geologists and paleontologists of the day presented her finds at scientific meetings, the name of the finder was rarely mentioned. After all, not only was she an uneducated woman she was also ‘in trade’ and had merely sold her skill to her ‘betters’ - so why would they mention her in polite and educated circles? 

But the ‘problem’ of who procured the fossils was the least of their problems. The biggest problem, for the great and the good in the new disciplines of Geology and Paleontology, was explaining them. Most people recognised the fact that the finds were of creatures previously unknown to mankind. Most even recognised the fact that these creatures had not been seen before because they were extinct but this caused a larger problem and more questions. It was still, largely, believed at the time that the Bible correctly set out the origins of life on Earth and that, it followed, God’s special creation resulted in all species of animal in their fixed and eternal forms. But here was seeming evidence of species extinction. So why would God create a species only to extinguish it later? Then there was the problem of the age of the fossils. It was generally agreed that the Earth was created less than ten thousand years previously. But the fossils discovered so far appeared to be from a much earlier age. Not only before Man but, impossibly, before the existence of Earth itself. If they could not be dismissed as fakes and could not be identified as casualties of the Biblical Flood then the inescapable conclusion, disturbing as it was, was that the Earth was MUCH older than the Bible seemed to indicate. If that was true, then what else had we been wrong about for so long? Where would such questions lead and should they be allowed to lead there? 

Fortunately for Mary, a devout non-Conformist, such conundrums were rarely asked of her. She found her fossils, identified them, often reasoned her way to placing them in biological context with their living ancestors and, very occasionally, published her considered musings (though not, of course, in recognised Scientific journals!). With her findings over decades of beachcombing, Mary presented the world with some of the first irrefutable evidence of Evolution. Later used by Darwin and others to revolutionary effect it changed forever our perception of our place in the world. Told with a passion for the subject and a desire to ensure that Mary herself is not forgotten, this is an excellent insight into both the importance of her discoveries and Mary herself. Definitely recommended.  

Just Finished Reading: Transcendence – How Humans Evolved through Fire, Language, Beauty and Time by Gaia Vince (FP: 2019) [243pp] 

A great many events, accidents and preparation made us the global species we are today. Without them we would still be the minor hominid we were for most of our existence. Indeed, without the ‘luck’ of the asteroid impact 65 million years ago that led to the ultimate demise of the dinosaurs we, as the species we know and love/hate, wouldn’t be here at all. 

In this fascinating look at the very earliest history of our species the author looks at 4 themes that have influenced our evolution: Fire, Language, Beauty and Time. Fires seems to be the most obvious factor that made us so formidable in the survival stakes. We saw it naturally occur and clear large areas of brush and imitated it to startling effect (so much so that regular burning of scrubland led to the greater expansion of grassland that favoured vast herds of herbivores), we corralled it and used it to cook our food – making it both more edible (leading to an increase in brain size which increased our overall survivability) and greatly reducing the impact of parasites – and we used it to produce the first pottery which allowed us to store and transport food and liquids vastly more easily. Later fire allowed us to extract the first metals and produce (at first) crude weapons and cutting tools which increased our power even further. All of these advances fed into each other in positive feedback loops driving our evolution forward and forever separating us from our less able primate contemporaries. 

Fire also allowed us to protect ourselves against predators and changed the way we spent the dark dangerous nights. Rather than up in the trees away from predators we stayed on the ground, huddled around the fire, and talked to each other. Language developed as a tool for social interaction, social grooming, social bonding. We became better organised, better coordinated, able to hunt in teams with an understanding of what we hoped to achieve, powered by imagination and foresight. 

On our hunting trips we saw things of beauty and, if possible, brought these beautiful things back to the group. Shell necklaces have been found in graves and caves going back to the very dawn of mankind. Possibly worn as status symbols and certainly traded across hundreds of miles – shells with bore holes for various types of cord have been found a LONG way from any coast – things of natural or enhanced beauty were probably the foundation of trading systems. 

No doubt as we looked at the sky, we quickly saw patterns in the movement of the sun, the phases of the moon and the sweep of the night sky. We learnt to discern the days, months and seasons knowing when to plant, about tides and we began predicting events such as migrations of prey animals and much else besides. Knowledge of time led to questions about causes and speculation led to experimentation. 

The above hardly does justice to this total gem of a book. Despite its comparative shortness there’s a LOT packed in here covering millennia and the whole planet. Not only did I discover (or become reacquainted with) an updated view of humanities earliest times but the beautifully written text left me (again) fascinated with the whole subject – so brace yourself for more of this sort of thing! Definitely one of the best evolution/anthropology books I’ve read to date and definitely the science highlight of the year (so far!). A MUST read for anyone interested in humankind and the processes behind what made us the species we are today. Very highly recommended.  

Just Finished Reading: Life’s Grandeur – The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin by Stephen Jay Gould (FP: 1991) [230pp]

I tried reading this some years back and failed miserably. Part of the reason for DNFing it back then was that I quickly discovered it wasn’t the book I thought it was. I actually have no clear recollection of *what* I thought it would be but it wasn’t that. The other issue was my confusion about Baseball.

The first section – which is, I think, one reason why I didn’t get too far into this slim volume – is called: A Baseball Primer for British Readers. Not being a sport person in general and having no knowledge (or interest) in Baseball I pretty much baulked at that point. But on my 2^nd attempt I actually found the baseball bit to be at least readable. I was more than a little curious where the author was going to go with this so read on…. SJG is not only a self-confessed Baseball fan but, like so many other fans, he’s a stats freak too. Of course he’s also a scientist whose oeuvre is Evolution. So, what’s the connection? One of the questions that SJG gets a lot is about complexity and the seemingly purposeful direction of Evolution over the eons of producing more of it. Complexity is, it seems, a good thing and is being actively selected for. The ‘direction’ of Evolution is, again it seems, for steadily increasing complexity – ending up with, ‘naturally’, US! Which means that human level complexity was pretty much inevitable – right? Nonsense, says SJG, and here’s why – BASEBALL.

Apparently (although this had definitely passed me by), there is MUCH debate in the world of Baseball statisticians about the demise of the 0.400 batting average. Personally I’d never heard of it but I was willing to be educated on the point. This proved to be unexpectedly fascinating. It seems that in the early decades of baseball it wasn’t completely unknown for exceptional (and not always exceptional) players to break 0.400 in any given season. [Side note: I was impressed by how many famous baseball players mentioned in the book were familiar to me – at least by name] However, in modern times such a score has become little more than a nostalgic twinkling in even the best batters eyes. Why? Without going into too much (and surprisingly fascinating) details it’s all about skewed distribution curves. Standard distribution curves it seems do not stand in naked isolation divorced from reality. Not only can they be skewed left or right they can come up against walls at either end. The seeming death of the 0.400 batting average is a result of a right hand wall reflecting the limits of human excellence – in batting, fielding and much else besides. This is not unlike achievements in other sports which begin with records broken seemingly every day and then after months, years or decades until you get to a point where previous records broken by minutes are sliced down to tenths of a second. Once you hit the right wall the only way to go is backwards. But what does this have to do with the evolution of complexity.

It seems natural, looking out at the world, that biological complexity is everywhere and everywhere it is dominant. Looking from our perspective, looking back down the evolutionary and fossil record, our signature hubris sees countless pieces of evidence for increase complexity over time culminating in the very species looking back in time. What could be more satisfying? Except, as SJG explains brilliantly, it’s simply not true. For one thing we forget that the VAST majority of Earth’s history has been dominated by the humble bacteria. Worse, even today it’s estimated that the VAST majority of life on Earth – however you cut it – is still very much bacterial. Being relatively simple creatures it’s understandably difficult to produce anything significantly LESS complex. Which means that bacteria are pretty snuggly against the far left wall. The ONLY way to go on the drunkard’s walk of random mutation in increased complexity. Once more complex creatures randomly appear there will be, again through random mutation, a slow creep towards the right side of the graph – increasing complexity – as part of the natural process. Most of the mutations will stay around the centre of the distribution curve, some (where possible) will become less complex and some will become more complex. No plan, no direction, no inevitability of humanity. Just the random drunkard’s walk of mutation and natural selection at work.

Although it did take a little effort (being a Brit!) getting into the whole Baseball themed metaphor I did find both it and the description of how Evolution produces a thin rightward ‘tail’ of complexity compelling and elegant. It’s reassuringly easy to see direction or a plan in the apparent chaos of Evolution and take comfort from it. Such is, unfortunately, a kind warm illusion that, as SJG explains, is actually nothing of the sort. Overall a VERY interesting read. The only downside is that now I’ve become interested in the history of Baseball and have already added a few books to my Wish List!      

Just Finished Reading: The Wolf Within – The Astonishing Evolution of Man’s Best Friend by Bryan Sykes (FP: 2018) [259pp]

I’ve always thought, despite being at heart a cat person, that dogs are something special. I don’t remember our first dog, a German Shepard, but my sister had a dog growing up who was a lot of fun. Not only was he bat-shit crazy at times (and therefore hilariously entertaining at times) he was incredibly loyal both to my sister and her kids and I honestly think he would have died for them if he saw a need to. That kind of loyalty is rare in people but all too common in dogs. So, where do dogs come from and why do they have such a special place in the lives of humans – even cat lovers like me.

It seems obvious on first glance that dogs must be descended from wolves but such a link was only confirmed comparatively recently. Charles Darwin, much interested in dog breeding, thought that we might never know for certain where the ancestors of dogs came from, but that was long before the discovery of DNA and investigations into the canine genome. That, genetics and the compilation of the canine family tree, is the focus of this interesting book. Starting with a rather (admitted by the author) romantic musing of the origins of how man and wolf met and ended up co-operating with each other the author moves onto discussing the sparse but fascinating evidence for the incorporation of the dog into human society to the mutual advantage of both. I particularly liked the speculation around two sets of footprints in the rear of a cave in France. Side by side, in what must have been a darkened part of a cave complex are imprints of a child’s footprints next to those of what is obviously a dog or dog-like creature. Although dating both prints to exactly the same time is difficult if not impossible it appears to be clear that the dog/wolf was not actually hunting the child. It’s easy to imagine a parent watching the child wander off and telling a nearby resting dog to ‘go with’ the child to keep a watchful eye on them. After all it’s what it would do for one of its own pack mate’s cubs.

Wolves and humans have broadly similar social structures and comparable hunting styles so it’s understandable that a wolf/dog would have an easier time of fitting into a ‘pack’ hierarchy than many other creatures. You really couldn’t see this happening with lions for example. Of course once they started being integrated you’d get specialisation – hunting dogs, guard dogs and war dogs. From there the diversity exploded across the world as wherever we went our dogs would go with us. It’s a fascinating story which is at least touched on here, from evolution to breeding and from owner’s relationships with their animals (both pets and working dogs) to the idea of cloning dogs for a kind of immortality. Being the person I am I enjoyed owner stories somewhat less than the studies of canine genetics and evolutionary family trees but there’s something for everyone here. It has certainly given me some interesting insights into my second favourite ‘pet’ and I think any dog owner will find it at least as interesting. Recommended. More on wolves to come!       

Just Finished Reading: The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being – Evolution and the Making of Us by Alice Roberts (FP: 2014)

Well, I hardly know where to start unpacking this fascinating tour through the human body. Its 356 pages are dense with information so much so that you have to slow down so as not to be overwhelmed by it all. The route she follows is equally interesting – moving literally from head to toe, starting with the basic questions like ‘Why do we have a head?’ and uncovering how the fertilised egg slowly becomes you!

Each section brings with it its own questions and the answers supplied call on embryology, anatomy, anthropology, primate studies and palaeontology. We learn about the development of the nervous system, the evolution of eyes, where your ear bones come from, how our fish ancestors are responsible for some very quirky plumbing (the author can’t stop herself having a dig at creationists from time to time when she points out just how badly ‘designed’ our bodies are), how we ‘mirror’ others in our own heads in order to model their behaviours and make predictions of what people are going to do next, how children learn by watching as much as by trying and doing, why our eyes are at the front (with neat stereoscopic vision) rather than at the sides of our heads, the history of our speech box and why men have deep voices (I disagreed with her on this one and though she overlooked something quite basic), human segmentation – along with practically every other complex creature on Earth, why we have so many back problems, chest cavities, shoulder blades and upright walking, the big headed birth problem and the spirit of compromise, why we have four limbs, not six (or more or, indeed, less), why feet are so important especially the big toe, standing on our own two feet (habitually) and the ability to outrun horses, arm movement and the ability to throw accurately, and how we are linked to all other life.

As a first book introducing you to the wonders of human biology I doubt if much could beat this. You could spend days combing it for information, cross referencing with other areas of science and moving deeper from there – always returning to this work for your next biological assignment. It is, indeed, an excellent overview of where we are in the study of ourselves (and how such a study has changed over the last 100 or so years – especially since the discovery of DNA. If you’re new to the subject or haven’t picked up a biology or evolution book since school, but wondered what else had been discovered since your teens, or maybe you want to help your kids with their homework and need a quick refresher course this is definitely the book for you. Much more on this fascinating subject(s) to come. Highly recommended.  

Coming Next: The Black Panthers.

Just Finished Reading: Endless Forms Most Beautiful – The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom by Sean B Carroll (FP: 2005)

The last time I studied biology in general or genetics in particular in any depth was around 35 years ago. Since then I’ve read the odd book or two on the subject so whilst not exactly out of the loop on the subject I’m not as familiar as I once was (or arguably still should be) with the ins and outs of the workings of DNA. In consequence I honestly struggled with the first half of this book. It wasn’t that it was badly written or poorly explained – it certainly wasn’t that – it was just that some of my mental processors had rusted up in the intervening decades of relative inactivity. Despite the amount of effort it took to keep up with the intricacies of DNA in action and the assimilation of new discoveries about how exactly wings, legs, eyes and eye-spots come into existence and change form and function over time I did manage to keep up – though sometimes only just – with this fascinating story. Facts inevitably came thick and fast, experiments reeled off and detailed photographs explained to show how the same gene(s) that gave rise to the eyes of a fly gave rise to the very different eyes in mice and men. All in all there was quite a lot to absorb even after you got over the wow factor and, sometimes, the yuk factor.

I was far happier with the second section of the book – or should I say more at ease – where the author applied everything he brought up in the first section. Here he moved on from the ‘pure’ genetics of Evo Devo (Evolutionary Development Biology) to its application(s) out in the real world. Here he looked at the questions that had baffled previous generations of biologists and showed how the new approach could offer solutions – problems like the Zebra stripes, the development of the eye (not ‘re-invented’ on multiple occasions as previously thought), the development of flight in insects and birds and the development of the human brain plus much else besides. I can’t possibly précis the amount of information held in this book nor will I attempt to do so. I can only suggest that you sit down in a quiet room with a good strong cup of coffee and some of your favourite biscuits and have at it. It will probably be hard going unless you’re a lot closer to your College biology class than I am. But it’s definitely worth the effort to get to know what’s been going on in the world of evolutionary genetics in the last few years. The myths that Darwinian evolution is falling apart, has hit an impenetrable impasse or has simply run out of steam are blown apart. Real solid progress is outlined on practically every page. The implications are sometimes quite staggering. Not only are we moving into an era where we have a much greater knowledge of how Evolution actually works on a day-to-day basis we are not that far away from being able to manipulate this process at a cellular level. Once we know for certain exactly what needs to happen to produce a butterflies wings or a fish fin we are in a position where we can truly design living beings. Not only will we be able to design bacteria to produce any chemical in any quantity we wish we can bring back extinct creatures and create new ones that have only previously existed in the human imagination. The power of this technology is incredible. We are, it appears, not too far away from creating life from scratch. It’s all very exciting and more than a little disturbing!

I have more evolutionary biology books in the pipeline which will, I hope and expect, both deepen and widen my knowledge of this ever fascinating subject which informs both where we came from and, probably, where we are going. Along with Quantum Mechanics the subject has long had a hold on me which refuses to let go. Long may it continue. 

Just Finished Reading: Your Inner Fish – The amazing discovery of our 375-million-year-old ancestor by Neil Shubin

It is, of course, difficult for me to resist a book with such an intriguing and playful title. I certainly recognise my inner child (not being very far from him for the last 50+ years) but hadn’t really considered my inner fish (especially as I’ve never been overly fond of water. This book changed all that.

Shubin is one of those scientists (and science writers) who can communicate on several levels simultaneously. His fascinating book is at one level his own story of the search for the ‘missing link’ between fish and amphibians – effectively the first land creature that pointed the way 375 million years later to you and me. One another level it’s the story of how, over many millions of years, creatures such as the Tiktaalik (described wonderfully as the first fish capable of push-ups) slowly and painfully evolved into humanity and what the legacy of those developments are – including hiccups and that annoying problem of choking on our food and drink. On yet another level the book describes the decades long unravelling of the Human Genome and how developments in the research into other terrestrial inhabitants throws a great deal of light on not only how we develop the way we do but, far more importantly, exactly why we and our ancestors have developed the way we and they have.

Not only is this book a delight to read it is also absolutely packed with revelation after revelation about our very intimate relationships to every other living creature on Earth and how those relationships developed over the millennia. It shows how our understanding of human anatomy and physiology can only be enhanced by an understanding of the evolutionary processes that led to them. Without an appreciation of our fishy past some elements of the very things that make us human remain a mystery. With such an appreciation we can look at the structure of the skull, the inner ear or the path of some of the major arteries or nerves and nod sagely because we understand why they look and behave as they do – because millions of years ago they served often very different functions in very different bodies but had been adapted – through the process of Natural Selection – to serve the purposes they now do in our bodies.

If you want to appreciate the explanatory power of Evolution you need look no further than this work. It is an intelligent, compelling and above all enthusiastic discussion of Evolution connecting two apparently very different beings separated by a vast span of time. By continually linking the present with the far past it manages to bring our ancestor to life before our eyes and helps us all to embrace our inner fish and be proud of the fact that 375 million years ago our long dead relatives dragged themselves out of the water and took a breath of terrestrial air – and never looked back.     

Just Finished Reading: The History of Life – A Very Short Introduction by Michael J Benton

Even I’m thinking that I should be reading science based books other than from the, actually excellent, VSI Series. Anyway we are were we are [grin].

As the book covers the last 4 billion years of life on Earth in 166 pages you would be correct if you referred to it as a bit of a romp. Rather sensibly the author decided to hit the highlights, or rather the turning points, in evolution starting naturally with the origin of life itself. Of course we know very little about this – or at least there is little confirmed knowledge of the event (or more likely series of events) – so he’s forced to speculate. After that he moves onto the more understood origin of that most important aspect of life – sex. The sharing of genes and the subsequent explosion in variation greatly increased the speed of evolution and the diversification of all types of life. The next highlight was the origin of skeletons. An internal support structure allowed larger creatures to appear and laid the ground work (pun intended) for the next leap forward – the invasion of the land. The author then moved onto flight before exploring several of the mass extinctions that seem to periodically almost wipe the slate clean. They are deeply fascinating events and, if the figures hold up, we may in fact be living through another mass extinction event right now. The last two chapters covered the rise of modern ecosystems – in the form that most of us would recognise and, rather inevitably, ended with the origin of humans.

This was very much an introduction to a very large subject indeed and, because of the shortness of the book reduced to giving the reader flavours and hints of things to follow up in further, deeper, reading. Life on Earth is something you could quite easily study for the rest of your life so you really shouldn’t expect that this book would be enough to learn very much from – except maybe what a huge subject it is. If you are new to this area then use this book as an eye-opener. If you haven’t studied this subject use it as a refresher course. Those who already have significant knowledge of this area should use it as a pleasant way to spend a few hours rather like listening to a well know piece of music enjoying it for its familiarity as much as for anything else. Recommended.   

Just Finished Reading: Why Evolution is True by Jerry A Coyne

As the author rightly points out early on, this is a book that should not have needed to be written. However, because opposition to Darwin’s great idea is so widespread (and possibly growing) he felt that his hand was forced. Normally I wouldn’t read this sort of book. All too often I find author’s who are basically preaching to the choir – which couldn’t be more boring. As one who has fully accepted Evolution, and everything that goes with it, it seems rather redundant that I read books in its defence. I did however relent for two reasons – first I had read a review of this book some time ago which sold me on reading it and second I felt that I might have become out of touch with the latest thinking on the subject which could possibly leave me open to the accusation that my ‘belief’ in Evolution is based on nothing more than childhood indoctrination in our secular school system (oh, and Richard Dawkins!).

So, I took this slim volume on my recent holiday and began reading. I need not have worried about it being boring. Far from it, this book was actually rather fascinating and was full of evolutionary quirks and details that intrigued me – for instance that ants are descended from wasps! But I digress…… Throughout the 250 page tract the author lays out, step by step, discovery by discovery, the mountain of evidence to support Darwin’s early idea. In almost everything Darwin was spot on. Where modern evolutionary studies differ – slightly – are in areas where Darwin was completely ignorant, for example in genetics or the mechanics of Continental Drift. After defining evolution (in a whole chapter) Coyne begins with the evidence to support it – the fossils, so-called ‘missing links in the move from aquatic life to land-based creatures and, inevitably, the origin of flight from reptiles to birds (Archaeopteryx being one of the most famous examples of this process) and the rather peculiar evolution of whales from land mammals to the giant sea creatures we see today. There follows an interesting chapter on vestiges (the appendix for example), embryos (and their similarities to ancestral forms and (my particular favourite) examples of bad ‘design’ where evolution has had to ‘make do’ with the available material to construct something else (and often quite different). Next time you choke on something that went ‘down the wrong way’ blame our fish ancestors who’s branchial arches produced their gills and our throat structure. Oh, and ask any surgeon about the mess that is our circulatory system around the heart – you can blame fish for that too!

Of course I have no intention of paraphrasing the entire book – even if I could – but needless to say it bolstered my already firm acceptance of Darwin’s evolutionary theory (which is also a fact – or as near as we get in science). Of course if it was only a matter of argument and evidence it would be ‘case closed’. Unfortunately it’s not quite that simple. As the author stated late on after giving a talk to American businessmen who had been very impressed by his presentation but still unconvinced, it’s not about the bones or the DNA its about the persons beliefs and how acceptance of Evolution would challenge or even change them. This, of course, totally negates one possible reason why this book has been written at all. It will never convince those who do not base their beliefs (for want of a better word) on evidence, reason or fact. It will however certainly support those who might already accept evolution without fully understanding it and may convince those who are wavering on the sidelines. All in all this is a very interesting and very well presented book on a central topic. It’s definitely worth the time and possible effort to read it – even if you’re already a believer.      

Just Finished Reading: Human Evolution – A Very Short Introduction by Bernard Wood



I think that the thing that most surprised me about this book is the fact that, prior to the burying of our dead some 100,000 years ago, there have actually been very few discoveries of human fossils. At one point the author described how the total human fossil collection pre-dating 100KYA would easily fit into a shopping trolley. No wonder then that the full detail of our origins is largely missing and that arguments rage unresolved about which particular ancestor gave rise to recognisable Homo Sapiens.


Ideas of our origins are as old as human culture but it is only in the past 400 years or so, since the emergence of science, that we have actually been able to slowly piece together where we came from. With the framework provided by Darwin’s Evolutionary theories we are able to place humans on their correct taxonomic branch of the tree of life. With it we are able – as best we can – to place our evolutionary ancestors going back to the point where we spilt from the other apes and Great ape and arrive at the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees some 5-8 Million years ago. Again I was surprised to discover that we know almost nothing about the evolution of chimpanzees – the only fossil evidence we have (at the time of the books publication) are 700,000 year old teeth from a site in Kenya. The evidence to the parting of the ways comes primarily from genetics rather than from the fossil record. This is something that I will definitely need to read more about. Of course the lack of fossils – for both early humans and chimpanzees is easy to account for. Before we buried our dead they would have been discovered by carrion eaters and scattered to the four winds. The very earliest bones were often discovered in caves – not because our ancestors lived there – but because scavengers took bones there to eat later. It is lucky that we have any fossils of early humans at all.


With so few fossils to examine it is hardly surprising that there is much debate as to whether these remains constitute different sub-species of humanity or if they simply represent natural variation within a species. It appears that at this stage we cannot know this with any certainty. Of course this leaves the actually evolutionary path of humans rather undefined. There is most definitely more work to be done here. What does seem certain though is the ‘Out of Africa’ hypothesis. It appears, from the evidence that we have so far, that humans first evolved in Africa and spread to the rest of the world from there in successive waves probably caused by climate change.


I found this book both fascinating and rather surprising. I had thought that we had a reasonable handle on our early evolution but this appears not to be the case. There is still much to discover and many debates to be settled. I definitely need to read up more about this and will attempt to do so in the coming year – so, as always, watch this space.

Just Finished Reading: The Dragons of Eden – Speculations on the Evolution of Intelligence by Carl Sagan

I’ve seen Carl Sagan many times on TV but have never read any of his books. This, I thought, was an ideal way to start. Sagan begins with a brief discussion of deep time comparing, the age of the Earth to a single day. We are, he states, a very new kid on the block. Over geological time he shows how brain size, both in absolute terms and in relation to body mass, has tended to increase and also how the brain has developed with the addition of layers on top of existing earlier brain types. This is very important in explaining why we do the things we do and behave in ways that we do. Earlier brains are not ditched by evolution and replaced by better ones. Evolution provides us with upgrades built upon existing older foundations. This, Sagan uses, to explain not only our emotions but also our dreams.

Sagan provides many examples, and quite a few entertaining diversions along the way, to explain how we arrived at our understanding of brain function. Of course this book was published in 1977 so some things have moved on quite a bit since then. Some of his speculations – from what happened to the dinosaurs to the future of computer technology have proven to be very wide of the mark. Such is the pleasure, at least for me, of reading old books about science and technology. As far as I can tell, not being a biologist, his knowledge of brain functions and brain evolution is sound. This is one of the few recent books I’ve read on the subject – having been rather neglectful of my science education of late. However, I will be addressing that deficit (in spades) over the coming year.

Overall I found this book an easy read and a fairly gentle re-introduction to the subject. For anyone approaching evolution for the first time or after a long break this is a good book to ease yourself into things. But you should always be aware that this is only one slice of the cake and a rather out of date one at that. Use it as a springboard to other works that will both deepen and broaden your knowledge. I know that I’m going to do just that. Recommended.

Review: Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne

From New Scientist by Rowan Hooper

05 January 2009

The first "why" that struck me on seeing Why Evolution is True was why do we need yet another book on evolution? There are lots of good ones out there already and nothing less than a mountain of evidence to support the reality of evolution by natural selection.

But we do need another, insists Jerry Coyne, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Chicago, because creationism is spreading. And he's right - creationism is all over the place, not just in the US, where it often gains huge amounts of publicity. In December, a UK poll found that 29% of science teachers thought that creationism should be taught in science classes alongside evolution; a state of affairs that Richard Dawkins called "a national disgrace". It is also on the rise in Islamic countries. Creationism, Coyne tells us in this wide-ranging, beautifully written account, is like a roly-poly clown that pops back up when you punch it. But he resists the temptation to punch. He seeks to persuade, by carefully leading the reader through the overwhelming evidence, that evolution is a fact. The audience is those who are uncertain about explanations of life's diversity. The book is not aimed at people who hold faith-based positions - Coyne considers them to be lost causes - but you have to wonder how many people who are "uncertain" will be won over.

Coyne describes, for example, giving a talk on evolution versus intelligent design/creationism to a group of rich Chicago businessmen. You would think that people in the business world might think that evidence for something is worth taking into account, but this was the response Coyne got from one audience member after his lecture: "I found your evidence for evolution very convincing - but I still don't believe it". It is unfortunate that there are large numbers of people for whom no amount of evidence and elegant argument will do. For those of us comfortable with the fact of evolution, even those already familiar with many of the arguments and the examples demonstrating evolution, there is much in his book that is new and stimulating, even refreshing.

I loved reading of how Raymond Dart was literally handed the greatest fossil find of the twentieth century - the "missing link" between apes and modern man - while dressing for a wedding. Other highlights include a section on the remnant signs of evolution, such as the vestigial tail at the end of our spines, and a fascinating account of how evolution and even speciation can be seen occurring before our very eyes in the lab. Coyne ends by asking where evolution leaves us, and shows that it ennobles us, that human civilisation has improved despite our animal nature. That's why, when creationism is spreading to the extent that there is even a creationist church in the main town in the Galapagos, of all places, that we need another book on evolution. This is a marvellous one.

[It certainly sounds marvellous. So much so that I bought it in hardback 3 days before Amazon said it was going to be published. I shall be reading it during the Summer & will post my review then.]

Just Finished Reading: Trilobite! – Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey

It’s something you can pick up cheaply in most gem shops – fossilised Trilobites that look like squished odd-looking insects encased in rock. I certainly knew of them before reading this book but I didn’t know that much about them. Trilobites were amongst some of the earliest fossils found back in the 17th Century starting the debate about their place in the scheme of things that eventually led to the Theory of Evolution. They also helped identify the ages of rocks across the whole planet. Once this was established it prompted ideas about plate tectonics and Continental Drift which is so important in understanding geological processes such as earthquakes..

Trilobites are fascinating creatures – the beetles of their time with hundreds of species spanning the whole globe and lasting some 300 million years – that’s 200 times longer than we’ve been around – so they where very successful whichever way you look at them. Part of the fascination of the narrative in this book is that its told as a very personal tale of discovery from the author as a small boy unearthing his first fossil to his life in palaeontology where not only did he have the privilege of naming newly discovered species but also got to name the long vanished oceans they swam in. His stories from all over the world – both personal and historic – bring the study of immense timescales down to a much more human dimension. His comments regarding the Cambrian Explosion – brought to the world’s attention by Steven J Gould – gave me some serious food for thought which will lead to further investigation.

I did struggle with this book a little possibly because it was slightly outside my normal comfort zone – not having read much real science for a while – or possibly that Fortey was so into his subject that he did tend to milk a subject area a little too much on occasion. One thing I do think though – that I might start collecting examples of these fascinating little beasts next time I see one on sale. I can already envisage the glass case full of interesting fossilised creatures. All in all this was a very good start to my anticipated science reading this year. It’s about time I read more things like this

Just Finished Reading: Darwin Among the Machines by George Dyson

Charting the early development of Machine Intelligence this quite fascinating and well written book was my bedside reading for most of the summer. Dyson surprising traces back the philosophical origins of Artificial Intelligence to the 17^th Century with the publication of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. I must admit that when I read a few bits of Hobbes last year I was rather taken aback by the mention of thinking machines – and had actually assumed Hobbes was using metaphor to describe something quite different. Following on from Hobbes, Dyson intrigued me further by discussing the 19^th Century publication of Erewhon by Samuel Butler which talked of the dangers inherent in AI. The bulk of the book however concentrated on the post World War Two drive to produce computer systems for defence in a Nuclear Age and had the figure of John Von Neumann striding through that period like the Colossus that he was. As you can imagine from the prominent mention of the great biologist Charles Darwin in the title the evolution of both the hardware and software of present and future machines is the central focus of this work. The author draws on biological examples of increasing complexity and increasing intelligence as a way to understand technological progress with the production of both Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence.

Of course AI has been promised as ‘just around the corner’ for sometime now yet we seem to be as far away from its realisation as ever. Machines are certainly ‘smarter’ today than ever before but I doubt if most people would regard them as exhibiting even the most basic intelligent behaviour. I think that this is because we have yet to understand the nature of intelligence itself. Without that basic understanding I think it will be very difficult indeed to create an artificial facsimile of it. Of course once we do understand how intelligent minds actually work I believe that the leap to fully functioning AI will be very rapid indeed. Whether that would be a good or a bad thing I’m still not sure. AI holds a great deal of promise but I also think that it holds some seriously dangerous threats too. Inevitably the military across the globe see AI as a future weapon – a force multiplier that needs no food, no sleep and no psychological counselling after combat. Designed in the right way AI’s could be the perfect killing machines. What is less clear is whether or not we would be able to understand our own creations and whether we could stop them if they decided that we posed a threat to them. You could easily accuse me of being paranoid and of reading far too much SF for my own good but I think that the threat is a real one and should not be underestimated. Handled in the right way AI will be a boon to future generations. Handled badly, those future generations (if there are any) will rightly curse our names.