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    Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species
    Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species
    Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species
    Audiobook9 hours

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

    Written by Sean B. Carroll

    Narrated by Jim Bond

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    About this audiobook

    National Book Award Finalist: A biologist's "thoroughly enjoyable" account of the expeditions that unearthed the history of life on our planet (Publishers Weekly).

    Not so long ago, most of our world was an unexplored wilderness. Our sense of its age was vague and vastly off the mark, and much of the knowledge of our own species' history was a set of fantastic myths and fairy tales. But scientists were about to embark on an amazing new era of understanding.

    From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Big Picture, this book leads us on a rousing voyage that recounts the most important discoveries in two centuries of natural history: from Darwin's trip around the world to Charles Walcott's discovery of pre-Cambrian life in the Grand Canyon; from Louis and Mary Leakey's investigation of our deepest past in East Africa to the trailblazers in modern laboratories who have located a time clock in our DNA. Filled with the same sense of adventure that spurred on these extraordinary men and women, Remarkable Creatures is a "stirring introduction to the wonder of evolutionary biology" (Kirkus Reviews).

    "Charming and enlightening." —San Francisco Chronicle

    "As fast-paced as a detective story." —Nature

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2009
    ISBN9781423378082
    Author

    Sean B. Carroll

    Sean B. Carroll is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His scientific discoveries have been featured in "Time, U.S. News & World Report" and "The New York Times", and Carroll himself has written articles for "Natural History" and "Playboy". His first book, "Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo", was a 2005 Top Popular Science Book of the Year ("USA Today"). He and his wife and children reside in Madison, Wisconsin.

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    Reviews for Remarkable Creatures

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Part suspense/thriller, part biography, part historical reference, part travel guide, completely delightful. Remarkable Creatures chronologically follows evolutions greatest discoveries through the life and times of the scientists themselves. This is not just another dry, in-fact science book, but one that lends to the emotional struggle and reward of those involved.
    • 4/5
      This is a very entertaining and informative look at the lives, careers and discoveries of scientists who have contributed to our understanding of evolution in the last 200 years, beginning with Alexander von Humboldt's travels in South and Central America, through Darwin, and then to a host of others who have expanded on a science which in 150 years has changed our understanding of the places Earth and humanity have in the universe. The book's not perfect. The treatment is uneven, with some chapters having much more detailed science while others read like a boy's life of a famous person (I'm dating myself there). The old photos are reproduced on regular paper, so some are difficult to make out. There are no numbered footnotes, but there are extensive chapter bibliographies at the end of the book as well as a detailed index. All-in-all, this is a wonderful introduction for the general reader.
    • 2/5
      Darwinmania! Evolution is hot, hot, hot! So everyone is writing about the man, his ideas or his science. Sean Carroll’s book reads like any other cash-in book. It is not really about Darwin and it is not really a history or study of Darwinism.This book is a collection of stories about various adventurers who have in some way advanced our knowledge of evolution. Each is written like a Sunday supplement article for easy reading over brunch. Not enough science and not enough history for my taste.This would, I suppose, be a good book for an early teenager to get a taste of what adventure is really like in the world.
    • 4/5
      In Remarkable Creatures Sean Carroll takes you on a ride through the history of biology and the development of the theory of evolution. He uses the stories of many fascinating and intrepid explorers to guide us all the way from the discovery of many new species all the way through paleontology to DNA mapping. The book includes a lot of heavy-duty science with very complete descriptions of how the theory of evolution developed and the fossil records that helped support it. Interspersed are the stories of the many explorers and scientists who often risked everything to find the answers to some of the most compelling questions in biological studies. Carroll shares with us their triumphs, but also their romances, family lives, and struggles, showing us the whole picture. I really enjoyed this book! I learned a lot about biology and especially about paleontology. I loved hearing about the wives and families that often played key roles in discovering important fossils.