This book is a splendidly illustrated and thoughtfully constructed
account of one of the greatest ideas ever conceived by the human mind --
evolution. Eldredge has cleverly combined our knowledge of living
organisms with instructive insights into the fossil record to
convincingly argue that evolution is, indeed, the grand unifying idea of
biology. -- Donald C. Johanson, Founder of the Institute of Human
Origins, and author of From Lucy to Language
Extinction and Evolution recounts the work and discoveries of Niles
Eldredge, one of the world's most renowned paleontologists, whose
research overturned Charles Darwin's theory of evolution as a slow and
inevitable process, as published in On the Origin of Species in 1859.
Darwin had concluded that evolutionary changes happened very slowly over
millions of years. Eldredge's work, however, convinced him that Darwin
was wrong and that major evolution of life forms does not happen to any
significant degree until after a mass extinction event, thus disproving
the traditional view of evolution.
Eldredge's groundbreaking work is now accepted as the definitive
statement of how life as we know it evolved on Earth. This book
chronicles how Eldredge made his discoveries and traces the history of
life through the lenses of paleontology, geology, ecology, anthropology,
biology, genetics, zoology, mammalogy, herpetology, entomology and
botany. While rigorously accurate, the text is accessible, engaging and
free of jargon.
Extinction and Evolution features 160 beautiful color plates that
bridge the gap between science and art, and show more than 200 different
fossil specimens, including photographs of some of the most significant
fossil discoveries of recent years. This is a book with appeal to a
broad general audience, including natural history readers and students.
