Evolution

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View books by Donald R. Prothero.

Completely recommended! - Rated
What a fantastic book....and yet, extremely sad and worrying. The author explains with extreme clarity the scientific method, evolution, transitional fossils, etc. It's lovely reading, I only wish I had such a concise, concentrated series of effective chapters when I was an undergraduate student! What's the sad part? Despite the overwhelming evidence...well, there are a lot of people out there who would wish us to stay in the Dark Ages. I had no idea (as a British citizen) how well organised, funded and determined these Creationists types are. It's very worrying indeed. This book acts as a perfect example to what is required - an affordable book with explanatory laymen's terms - to all scientists out there, never mind the next paper - get writing like Prothero, a scientific literate society NEEDS YOU, urgently. Well done, an excellent book!

A little additional help - Rated
I am not reviewing the book per se but writing to say that Donald Prothero has written a cover feature for the New Scientist 1 March 2008, and if the book is as good as the article it is worth buying. Using the phrase, perhaps used in the book, of the previous reviewer, the article is called "What Missing Link?", and shows from ten examples, some well known, some more obscure, that there are excellent sequences of fossils, and some, like the movement of reptilian jaw bones into the ears of mammals are quite irrefutable, and inexplicable by those who persuade themselves God is not intelligent enough to design Nature sensibly!

Finally an evolutionist who talks evidence - Rated
I have read many books by supporters of evolution, many of the authors were distinguished scientists. But this one is by far the best because the author, who is an expert on fossils, really describes the evidence. He goes through may topics in detail, origins of dinosaurs, birds, and mammals. Probably the best part is when he focuses on the semi recent past (50 MY ago) when the various types of modern mammals appeared. The fossil record is at its best so there are lots of transitional forms or "missing links", which actually are NOT missing, which really demonstrate that evolution did occur. This is the book I have been waiting for for years. Bravo