Dawkins (River Out of Eden, 1995, etc.), who now holds a Chair of Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, is at pains in this new work to refute creationists, who have long championed the argument that organs like the human eye could never have arisen "by chance" and that therefore a "Designer" must be at work. The point made early and oft repeated here is that creationists have got it all wrong: Mutations happen by chance (and are usually bad or at most neutral). But natural selection is not random: If the mutation confers an advantage, its possessor has the potential of leaving more offspring, allowing the mutation to spread. The book's title refers to Dawkins's metaphor for evolution: The process is, he suggests, somewhat like the act of climbing a mountain. One doesn't proceed by launching an immediate assault in a straight line from the base to the peak, but by necessarily working through a series of smaller hills first, attaining the summit gradually, in a seemingly roundabout way. Dawkins uses the evolution of eyes, of spider webs, and of wings, among other features, to press his argument, providing wonderfully rich examples from extinct and contemporary species. There are, however, some assumptions that may be questioned by other equally ardent Darwinists: For example, is evolution necessarily "good"? Dawkins seems to think so, and, of course, from a selfish point of view it is, since it produced us. But, as Stephen Jay Gould has recently pointed out, the most successful creatures on earth are bacteria and insects, species that have been around for eons and probably will outlast the rest of us complex critters. A second debatable assumption is that evolution necessarily proceeds toward complexity, when much evidence seems to suggest otherwise. Wonderful metaphorical trees examined in minute detail (including a tour de force on actual fig trees and their pollinating wasps), but Dawkins's evolutionary forest may be just a bit overpopulated with complex and improvable species.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-393-03930-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1996
An intriguing collection of essays covering much familiar ground, but with enough new insights and fresh perspectives to interest both Civil War buffs and casual readers. Boritt (Civil War Studies/Gettysburg College; Why the Confederacy Lost, 1992) assembles five essays by top specialists in the field, exploring the relationship of wartime Commander-in-Chief Lincoln to his leaders on the battlefield. The common denominator in those relations, the volume argues, was conflict, in part because of the inherent tension between civil and military authorities but also due to the personalities of Lincoln and those he chose to command. Stephen Sears (George B. McClellan, 1988) again examines ``little Mac,'' a supremely cautious man who never thought he had enough men or matÇriel to fight the Confederates; Lincoln removed him from command after he failed to exploit the narrow Union victory at Antietam. Mark Neely (The Last Best Hope of Earth, 1993) assays ``Fighting Joe'' Hooker, who led Union forces into a blundering defeat on bad terrain at Chancellorsville. Boritt looks at George Meade and the Battle of Gettysburg; like McClellan, Meade was cautious and slow, a trait that infuriated Lincoln and led him briefly to consider leaving Washington to take command of the Army himself. Michael Fellman (History/Simon Fraser Univ., British Columbia) writes about William Tecumseh Sherman, with whom Lincoln had distant and infrequent contact. Lincoln counseled Sherman to show mercy to Southerners—advice the general ignored, but his March to the Sea helped clinch Lincoln's re-election, which for a time seemed doubtful. Finally, John Y. Simon (History/Univ. of Southern Illinois) discusses Ulysses S. Grant, the general with whom it is often assumed Lincoln had the best relationship: The volume makes it clear that was true only in comparison with the president's other fractured ties. Five thoughtful and well-written essays, further grist for the mill of seemingly endless fascination with America's costliest war.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-19-508505-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The fundamentals of Einstein's theory of special relativity, presented in the form of a series of imaginary dialogues among scientists of three different eras. Fritzsch (Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich; Quarks: The Stuff of Matter, 1983) begins by sending a fictitious modern physicist, Adrian Haller, to England, where he meets Sir Isaac Newton, who has been returned to Earth. Newton is curious about developments in physics since his day, and the two men spend several chapters discussing Newton's concepts of space, time, and light. When the conversation arrives at the subject of Albert Einstein's contributions to science, Newton persuades Haller to take him for a visit to Bern, Switzerland, where they meet the father of relativity. The three physicists then engage in a series of dialogues on how Einstein modified Newton's ideas of the universe, and on how modern science has both verified and extended Einstein's own theories. While there is an unavoidable kernel of mathematics in any discussion of physical concepts, the derivation of Einstein's famous equation, E = mc2, should be within the grasp of anyone who passed high school algebra. The key ideas are presented clearly, and the discussion touches on such subjects as the source of the sun's energy, the future of nuclear and fusion power, antimatter, and the decay of the proton. Fritzsch's handling of the dialogues and of the flimsy narrative framework does not suggest that he should take up fiction as a career. But the ideas come across clearly, even entertainingly, in spite of what appears to be a rather pedestrian translation. Occasionally stiff, but always readable; a good introduction to modern physics for any reader willing to invest a little thought in the subject. (45 halftones, 41 line drawings, 1 table)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-226-26557-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Univ. of Chicago
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
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