I am excited because today, unexpectedly, I received a wonderful gift in the mail .. the gift of a book! This big, beautiful book, The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins (2004, Houghton Mifflin), is one that I've wanted for a looong time, so I am excited to finally have it! This book, a hardcover, was sent by a reader and was accompanied by this note; I read this one recently! It was wonderful! BTW I thought of you today while walking along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. There were three bald eagles hunting the river.
Thanks so much! I am so pleased to be surrounded by a bunch of great books, just waiting to be read. And I am especially pleased to know that someone out there is thinking about me, especially while looking at birds. Seriously, what could be better than that?
- Log in to post comments
I read it. It was good, but it didn't have the "wow" of the Selfish Gene, or the Blind Watchmaker.
Still a very nice book, however.
it was not a concept book, but rather a tour of natural history with tiny little concepts all throughout. different genre than his previous stuff, but lots of food for thought.
Congratulations! I've got that book (in hardcover as well), and I absolutely love it.
I enjoyed the book. I found the organizational premise to be interesting and it was an easy read. I still haven't read any of his other books, but both the Selfish Gene and the Blind Watchmaker are on my list.
I really enjoyed that book, it was definitely in my top 3 favorites that I read in 2005.
Some of Dawkins' best writing there - a pleasant mix of science and literature, not to mention his clever ability to interject a poke at creationists (and certain politicians) without breaking pace. And unlike The Selfish Gene, it won't leave you staring at your shoes for several months. It could only be better if it was illustrated, but who could pull that off . . .
You're welcome. Enjoy the book.
LM Wanderer
Fantastic book! I read this with very little knowledge about evolution going in. It has made it very easy to counter the arguments of silly creationists like 'Why are there still monkeys?' Well wriitten and perfectly aimed at 'intelligent laypersons.'
For a Dawkins book, it disappointed me very much. Dawkins simply can't resist out-of-place political jabs and constant references to his other books. The exposition is unclear in many places. Although it sounds cool, it's really a lousy way to organize a book. A third of it is about the apes. A lot of it is trite. A lot of it is boring. Definitely sub-par for Dawkins. That said, it was enjoyable on the whole and I learned a lot.