My knowledge of Paleontology begins with a grade school trip to The Museum of Natural History and ends with seeing Jurassic Park eight or nine times. I don’t think I’m alone. Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean B. Carroll seeks to remedy this gap in public knowledge. The book is an overview of the history of Evolution, starting with Darwin (where else?) and ending in Space. It is well written, informative and mostly interesting. However, it does get off to a slow start.

Remarkable Creatures is divided into three parts. Part One, unfortunately, comes across as targeting young adults – which I don’t think was the author’s intent. Sometimes, even in science, life is about being in the right place at the right time. That becomes all too apparent in the book’s early chapters. Fossils and skulls seem to have been so thick on the ground in the beginning days of paleontology that a would-be naturalist only had to take three steps into the Gobi Desert to trip over a major find. Of course it wasn’t that simple (is it ever?), but Dr. Carroll’s writing in these early chapters has a sing-song, disingenuous quality to it that can be a tad too enthusiastic. Much of what these early naturalists did, though extraordinary, frankly isn’t all that complicated to explain… They researched what they were looking for, found the most suitable geological conditions on a map, and off they went. Nothing easier. Anyone can do it. Why am I reading this when I can be watching an Indiana Jones Marathon??? (Parts 1-3. We at BookSexy like to pretend that the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull NEVER happened).

Well, enjoy your false sense of superiority while you can. Approximately halfway through Part Two, in Chapter 8: The Day the Mesozoic Died to be exact, it’s over. Along with the more recent discoveries in paleontology you will learn a little lesson on humility. Dr. Carroll introduces the K-T Boundary: proof that a giant comet probably did kill the dinosaurs and **SPOILER ALERT** impacted off the Yucatan Peninsula. (Uh…yeah… anyone else think that was made up by Hollywood?) Suddenly you’ll be learning about things with names like Foraminifera, Isotopes, Tektites and that the half life of beryllium-10 deposits in clay is too short to be usefully measured after 65 million years. And that’s still just in Chapter 8! Later chapters go on to discuss the relationship between dinosaurs and birds, the discovery of the “fishapod“, and the use of DNA in tracing human origins. (I’m not ashamed to admit to wiping away tears of gratitude as I read the three page explanation of how DNA is decoded that the good Doctor so thoughtfully inserted into Chapter 12). The book ends with a too brief discussion on the continuing search for life in space and how its existence, or non-existence, will impact our own. The search for the origins of species is a science that is far from being exhausted.

Sean B. Carroll is one of those intelligent human beings who offers the rest of us the chance to become smarter. Because of that, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species is a great book. Dr. Carroll builds the story slowly and carefully, each section creating a foundation of knowledge that allows us to understand the section which follows. At its end, you still won’t be an expert. But you will walk away much smarter than when you started, with a deeper understanding of things most people know of without really knowing anything about. And while this may have limited applications socially – (“Hi! My name is _____! Did you know that mitochondrial DNA can in theory be traced back to a single maternal ancestor – a hypothetical Eve?” may not be the strangest pick-up line I’ve ever heard, I still wouldn’t really recommend it.) – when the topic of conversation does eventually come up you will definitely be ahead of the curve. Unless, of course, you’re meeting someone at the Museum of Natural History. Which really isn’t a bad idea at all. ( )

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

This book is a chronicle of the greatest adventures in natural history in the last 200 years. The author Sean Carroll, a professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, looks at the lives of people who had gone into the wild, with one purpose, to find evidence of evolution. He starts with Darwin and his voyage around the world. Darwin's passion for collecting and for exploring the unknown was remarkable, and helped him endure the loneliness, constant seasickness, discomfort, and dangers of the voyage.

Next is Alfred Russell Wallace with his two expeditions. Wallace spent in the Amazon four years and he almost lost his life when the ship that was bringing him in England caught fire and sank along with almost all the specimens he had collected. He was rescued, after ten days in a lifeboat, only to leave again, this time to New Guinea, where he spent eight years collecting. It was there, that he came up with the same idea Darwin did, about the evolution, of species.

One of most interesting portraits in the book is the one of Charles Walcott. Despite the fact that he never finished formal education, he developed a passion for fossils and became an expert on trilobites - they are arthropods that went extinct in the Permian. He was the first to explore and survey the rocks and the fossils in the Grand Canyon only with himself, a cook and a mule. The task was enormous, but it didn't deter Walcott to make one of the major discoveries in the field of natural sciences. He found the earliest fossil evidence of life; the simplest form of life, during the Precambrian period. Later, Walcott become director of the U.S. Geological Survey, and a trusted advisor to seven different presidents. He also played and significant role in promoting aviation in the United States, and helped in the creation of a new organisation called NACA which was the civil aviation authority in the US and 50 years later, developed into being NASA.

Carroll also talks about Eugene Dubois, who found in Java the missing link between apes and humans. It was a molar skullcap and a thigh bone of what we called today, Homo Erectus. Probably the most exciting portrait is that of Roy Chapman Andrews. He had an intriguing personality; an explorer and adventurer, a spy and gifted scientist. He was captivated by Mongolia and the Gobi desert. With his team he discovered the first nest of dinosaur eggs and several new dinosaur species, including Velocipartor and Tarborsaurus.

The book is beautifully written. The description of the adventures and struggles of the scientists to discover and fill the gaps in the natural history and human evolution is captivating, and easily grasps the attention of the reader, especially the younger ones. The photographs, maps and charts are useful supplement in the text. The reading list is extensive and comprehensive, and definitely you should go through it. In total, the book is highly recommended. ( )

Darwinmania! Evolution is hot, hot, hot! So everyone is writing about the man, his ideas or his science. Sean Carroll’s book reads like any other cash-in book. It is not really about Darwin and it is not really a history or study of Darwinism.

This book is a collection of stories about various adventurers who have in some way advanced our knowledge of evolution. Each is written like a Sunday supplement article for easy reading over brunch. Not enough science and not enough history for my taste.

This would, I suppose, be a good book for an early teenager to get a taste of what adventure is really like in the world. ( )

In Remarkable Creatures Sean Carroll takes you on a ride through the history of biology and the development of the theory of evolution. He uses the stories of many fascinating and intrepid explorers to guide us all the way from the discovery of many new species all the way through paleontology to DNA mapping. The book includes a lot of heavy-duty science with very complete descriptions of how the theory of evolution developed and the fossil records that helped support it. Interspersed are the stories of the many explorers and scientists who often risked everything to find the answers to some of the most compelling questions in biological studies. Carroll shares with us their triumphs, but also their romances, family lives, and struggles, showing us the whole picture.

I really enjoyed this book! I learned a lot about biology and especially about paleontology. I loved hearing about the wives and families that often played key roles in discovering important fossils. ( )

There are lots of great stories in the development of the science of evolution, and Carroll, a great biologist in his own right, covers the best in this short history. It's a very fine addition to the literature surrounding Darwin's 200th birthday. ( )