Reviews for New touchstones, 11-14

The average rating for New touchstones, 11-14 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-03-22 00:00:00 Oleg Didyk I really like the idea of Darwin's Ghost, taking and updating Darwin's groundbreaking research, and often showing how relevant it still is, how little of it has actually been disproved. Often people who criticise Darwin haven't actually read On the Origin of Species, and so they have an inaccurate understanding of what he actually said. Steve Jones goes through all of this in quite a lot of detail, giving modern examples and correcting things where Darwin didn't quite get it right. That thoroughness does make the book pretty hard going, though. The topic doesn't have to be -- I've read another explanation of the early transmission and spread of HIV, for example, which wasn't boring at all (though it had other faults) -- but Jones' writing ends up feeling rather stodgy. I'm completely fascinated by the subject, and reasonably knowledgeable about it, so if I thought that... I don't know what other readers would make of it. The main effect seems to have been to make me really want to read On the Origin of Species; I'm told that Darwin's prose is quite readable and even interesting, and comparing it to the view of it I got from this book will be interesting.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-01-05 00:00:00 Terry Jackson Damn wonderful book, honestly. I started reading it a little before the strike ended and was immediately glad for the little treasure box ofchances to refresh last year's ecology and taxonomy material. You'll find everything in Jones' book; ecology, evolution, genetics, microbiology, bacteriology, history, poetry, logic. Jones' style is wonderfully readable and elegantly addictive but most of all, it's simple and informative with a healthy dash of good, sharp humor. With very, very little mindless judgment to anyone (not even the 'monster' of creationism as so many american scientists are rediculously buzzing about) every argument for and against evolution is well represented, dealt with and explained in deep but not boring details. There wasnt a dull moment in this book and it managed to keep my attention without lapsing into petty anecdotes or meaningless detail scattering. A great, highly recommended book alltogether.