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Endless Forms Most Beautiful
- The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
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Publisher's Summary
The gene that causes humans to form arms and legs is the same gene that causes birds and insects to form wings, and fish to form fins; similarly, one ancient gene has led to the creation of eyes across the animal kingdom. Changes in the way this ancient tool kit of genes is used have created all the diversity that surrounds us.
Sean Carroll is the ideal author to lead the curious on this intellectual adventure--he is the acknowledged leader of the field, and his seminal discoveries have been featured in Time and The New York Times".
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What listeners say about Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Terry A. Gray
- 05-26-10
Challenging but rewarding
This is a book that requires close attention and a good working knowledge of genetic terms. It may be frustrating or just plain too difficult for those not versed in at least the basics of genetics, developmental biology, especially some basic embryology, and modern evolutionary theory. The specialist's terms come fast and furious in spite of a very able narrator. If you are hopelessly lost when someone says "homeotic Hox gene" then perhaps easing into this topic would be better than trying to listen to this book, or at least have the Wikipedia handy and be prepared to stop and do a lot of term checking. For the experienced student it is outstanding. Even for the uninitiated generalist, however, the final chapters on human evolution and evolutionary science vs. fundamentalist ignorance are outstanding.
12 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Thomas
- 03-13-10
Better in Print
I love audio books, but this one should be read in print. The narrator is fine. It is just too hard to visualize while doing anything else. And if you're not doing anything else, why not read a book? There may be important diagrams, I don't know. Tantor audio books refer you to their web site for visuals. Not this one.
As for the science and thought, could not be better. Great work by a fine scientist about a critically important branch of biology.
11 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Joan
- 04-10-10
Good science, needs pictures
As a professional biologist, I enjoyed the book very much. But, and this is a big but, if you don't know any developmental biology I'm afraid you'll get lost. I checked the hard copy out of the library so I could see the pictures. My advice is to borrow the book and look while you listen.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Harry
- 07-22-11
Keep your finger on rewind...
I am not a biologist and I had only a passing familiarity with evo-devo in my head -- but I still found this book intensely engrossing and readable. You have to really pay attention and learn the terminology as you go (i.e. not necessarily a good read in the car because I think you may need to rewind & re-listen quite a bit -- I listened to it while hiking and had my Ipod in my hand the whole time) because the narrative builds heavily upon early information rather steadily throughout the book. Perhaps you have heard the term evo-devo before, or epigenetics, or read something about HOX, or toolkit, genes. Perhaps you also found other titles on evolution good reads -- like "Why Evolution is True" (Coyne) and "Greatest Show on Earth" (Dawkins) -- but their material was a bit too basic for you. Then, I think this book is a great "next step" on the topic of Evolutionary theory for the layman. It may not be quite the "casual read" that the Coyne and Dawkins books were, but, if you want a readable introduction to evo-devo, I think Carroll did a wonderful job at introducing the topic to the non-professional in this book. I loved it.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Nathan
- 10-04-09
Try the author’s other books first
After enjoying to all of Sean Carroll's audio books, this is my least favorite. It's not a book where you try to catch every detail that the author is communicating, but listen for the general conclusion.
6 people found this helpful
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- S. Yates
- 01-09-17
Educational, dense, but worthwhile
Any additional comments?
4.5 stars. Excellent book on evolutionary development. The author distills much of the findings of the last two decades in this area of study, and guides the reader through what the discoveries mean and how they further bolster the theory of evolution. For readers interested in biology and evolution, Dr. Carroll is an excellent teacher and guide, offering a brief primer on genetics, explaining how mutants and malfunctions act as a window into gene function, covering how small changes over time via gene activation and adaptation inexorably led to current lifeforms, and ending with an impassioned and all-too-timely argument in favor of scientific literacy. Highly recommended.
1 person found this helpful
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- Kalle Järvenpää
- 10-28-21
Great book but pdf needed
The book is very good and well narrated, but the lack of an accompanying pdf is a grave deficit.
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- C. Pettis
- 12-04-20
Accessible and compelling
It made evo-devo understandable and well illustrated with examples. I cannot recommend highly enough. The author knows his material, as a conversational tone, and takes you on a tour of important concepts. If I had learned this story in school, I would have pursued this field.
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- TuyoIsaza
- 04-19-18
changed my view on life.
amazing. a must read for all ages. specially growing minds. please pay special atention to the last chapter and what we must have in mind as a challenge for future minds.
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- Terri Fuqua
- 02-21-18
fascinating history
It was very easy to understand and follow for scientific informative literature. The author explains in layman terms so as any audience would be able to grasp the ideas put forth. I enjoyed it very much. The only issue would be it is not as updated with the most current information as a more recently published book may be.