Eve

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon, 624 pages

In this fascinating exploration of evolution and natural history, Bohannon delves into the science of various mammalian and human traits and behaviors and explains how these things may have come to be because of the female of the species. From milk production to bipedalism to the development of language and story, there's a strong argument for each of these originating and developing because of our female ancestors. While there are a few things I questioned while listening to this audiobook (brilliantly read by the author), overall it was a wonderfully thought-provoking book that has me thinking about many historic and contemporary issues from a new angle. Highly recommended!

A Short History of Nearly Everything

 

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson 544 pp.

Bill Bryson takes on the history of our world from before the beginning. The focus begins with the creation of the universe and the various theories leading to and about the Big Bang. The story then moves on to the solar system, the Earth's changing geology, plate tectonics, volcanos, etc.. Finally Bryson moves on to the evolution of the first creatures and eventually Homo sapiens. Interspersed in these scientific theories are the stories of the scientists who spent hundreds of years trying to explain it all and the conflicts and arguments over who was correct. I found the science in this book fascinating because of the bits I didn't know and anecdotes about the personalities of those who did the research. But I admit that, had I not listened to the unabridged audiobook version, I probably never would have finished it.  

Sapiens

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari, 443 pages

In this fascinating book, Harari presents a concise yet comprehensive history of humans from the origins of our species all the way through the 20th century, touching on milestones such as the cognitive revolution, the agricultural revolution, and the industrial revolution. Throughout, Harari presents a thoughtful consideration of how each of these have impacted humanity — were they actually good for our species, and our well-being? What an excellent, thought-provoking book, and I'm kicking myself for not reading it before now.

The Doors of Eden

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 627 pages

Four years ago, Mal disappeared while monster-hunting on a moor with her girlfriend, Lee. Lee assumed that Mal was dead, but as it turns out, she was simply trapped on an alternate Earth, living with the dinosaurs there. It turns out that there are several Earths, each with a different evolutionary path that branches off at different catastrophic points in time. Oh, and the walls between them are slowly becoming more and more porous, leading to what may be the final, all-Earths catastrophe. 

Massive in scope and insanely creative, this book brings together the smartest (or at least most dogged) beings from several Earths, fending off their own prejudices (and evil opportunists) to try to solve the problems of the multiverse. I particularly liked what Tchaikovsky had to say about human intelligence, as well as our consideration of "the other." The interstitial chapters from an academic book about the multiverse are sometimes a bit plodding, but they're much shorter than the action-filled chapters and they do have a point, so it's better to read them as you go. It's a big book, but for someone looking for a new take on evolution and the idea of parallel universes, it's definitely worth the time.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson  544 pp.

Bill Bryson takes on science in this book that covers a bit of everything from the big bang to biochemistry. Obviously it's not an exhaustive and detailed overview but it hits upon salient points on the evolution of theories about life, the universe, and everything (with apologies to the late Douglas Adams). I listened to the audio book version and found it lacking. Bryson is known for including humor, frequently of the dry sort, in his writing. The narrator of this book, Richard Matthews, besides being distinctly British reads much of the book in the same tone throughout. You have to listen very carefully to catch Bryson's humorous conjectures among the facts especially in the first half of the book. I don't know if the narrator became more comfortable with the work as he went along or I just got used to his way of reading. But it seems to me he loosened up a bit as the book went on.

The Kingdom of Speech / Tom Wolfe, 185 pp.

Apparently, Darwin was nearly scooped by a lowly field worker on the whole evolution thing. That's OK, though, since he got a bunch of important stuff wrong.

So says Tom Wolfe in this hilarious somewhere-between-an-essay-and-a-book publication. The upshot is that the emergence of language in humans, what Wolfe frequently refers to as the Word, represents a clean break with evolution, in that other animals have nothing even close to linguistic facility. Moreover, most of our anatomy which is differentiated from other apes, such as our (almost) hairlessness and relatively poor fighting strength, proffers an evolutionary disadvantage rather than the reverse. Language is a tool that humans developed rather than a mutation. Or something like that.

Complicated, engaging, and quite fun, many will disagree with Wolfe, but they will do so with far less verbal flair. Don't know if that proves his point, but it makes this title worth a read.

How to Fake a Moon Landing: Exposing the Myths of Science Denial

How to Fake a Moon Landing: Exposing the Myths of Science Denial
by Darryl Cunningham
172 Pages

The next time someone says, "If we evolved from monkeys, how come there are monkeys still around?", take a moment to wince and face-palm, and then kindly refer them to this book; the author does a fantastic job of simplifying and providing clear summaries of the biggest "controversies" of our time, and there are nice pictures, too!  The term "controversy" is used loosely, because, as the author points out, much of what occurs in the public dialogue is faux debate, heavily influenced by moneyed interest groups, as is the case with think tanks who claim climate change either isn't real or isn't man made, while not being called out for taking money from oil companies.  Even more crucially, the media tends to give the same credibility to an ideological stance and/or opinion as it does to fact-based scientific evidence, thereby legitimizing uninformed and often disingenuous talking points.

Not as acerbic in tone as I might make it out to be, this book is an entertaining reaction to the general trend in society of throwing critical thinking by the wayside and refusing to recognize evidence that challenges one's assumptions and world view.  

Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee 129 pp.

I don't know how many times I have read this play. It is one of my favorites, as is the 1960 film starring Spencer Tracy & Fredric March. It is based on the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee--"The Trial of the Century" (or one of many). The essential arguments of whether or not scientific thought that may directly conflict with Biblical principles could be taught in the schools. The play pits logic and freedom of speech against belief. At the heart of it is the argument of whether everything in the Bible should be taken literally. Much of this version is taken from actual trial transcripts. I'm not sure if my favorite lines in the play are from those transcripts or created by the playwrights. ("Figure somebody pulled off another creation, over in the next county?" and "Does a man have the same privileges that a sponge has?) I enjoyed it just as much this time as I have all the other times I read it.

Charles and Emma

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman  268 pp.

When you think of Charles Darwin the first thing that comes to mind is not "love story" but that is exactly what this is. Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, had a 43 year marriage that was an stunning example of what a good marriage could be. They were devoted to each other and their ten children in spite of their religious differences. Charles' agnosticism bothered Emma a great deal because she worried that they would not be together in Heaven after their deaths because Charles did not believe in such things. During their lives they suffered many misfortunes, including the deaths of three of their children, but never wavered in their commitment and love for each other. This is a charming book that shows an unexpected side of the amazing scientist and theorist.