Any good books on evolution/biology?
Posted on: January 15, 2008 - 12:37pm
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Any good books on evolution/biology?
Hey guys, I was just wondering if any of you might suggest a good book that is easy for people without degrees in a science field to understand. I admit I know only the basics of evolution and biology, but I want to understand it more in depth, to the point that I can argue about xtian misunderstandings of it. The only problem is that I don't know what book to get. Xtians have put out so much disinformation it's ridiculous. I don't want to get a book that is disguised as a science book, only to find out it's secretly a fundie plot in sheep's clothing. Any suggestions?
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I'm a non-scientist and this is where I found the greatness that is Richard Dawkins. He has an incredible ability to get his message accross to the simpelton and as you move through his books you learn more.
I would suggest starting with River out of Eden and then the Blind Watchmaker. Both are very easy reads. He has a lot of great books and if you progress through them (Selfish Gene before Extended Phenotype) you'll probably pick up enough to be able to keep up with anything you wnat to read after his stuff.
I give him a lot of credit on his ability to write to a wide audience, it's probably been the biggest difficulty in spreading information about evolution and other scientific matters (the language and educational barriers) but he does a fantastic job.
I've been reading Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker."
While you do have to pay attention, I am understanding it with no science background.
I can't recommend Carl Sagan's "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" enough. The vast majority of it is about primate evolution, so if you want to look in particular at the first single celled life and everything up to us, this isn't really the one. It has, however, been indispensable when I've been arguing against creationists that deny any connection to the rest of the animal kingdom.
The other one I liked is "The Ancestors Tale" by Dawkins, which basically tells the story of evolution backwards, pausing to describe the living descendants of each common ancestor at each branching (or, since he's going backwards, 'merging'
event. Some nice trivia in this one! This was a pretty decent sized book though, and was not as easy to read as the Carl Sagan one.
Also, I think it's safe to say that the lectures from Deludedgod are free of any theistic conspiracies:
Molecular Evolution Lecture Introduction and Section 1 i) The Laws of Biology
This is the first in what he says will be a 37 part series of lectures. At this stage I've only read the first two lectures, but so far in a nutshell they briefly sum up a high school level of education (in chemistry anyway).I will always recommend any book by Carl Sagan. I consider him the godfather of my atheism.
If it wasn't for that man there is a chance I could still be a theist. *shivers*
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
I was wondering whether to post here since most of the books have been covered. I read the following in this order and found them all great:
Dawkins - The Selfish Gene
Dawkins - The Blind Watchmaker
Dawkins - Climbing Mount Improbable
Dawkins - River out of Eden
Dawkins - The Ancestors Tale
Dennet - Darwin's Dangerous Idea
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
I wonder how many converts he had....
At the end of Billions and Billions his wife finished up the book talking about Carl.
She said that she had received numerous letter saying that Carl had led them to their "Awakening".
Maybe by that they meant awakening to reality and out of theism.
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Ironically, that is the latest book I've bought! Looking forward to reading it.