Amazon.com (ISBN 0345422775, Paperback)

Biologists have a dirty little secret: while practically everyone knows of The Origin of Species (and owes much to it), almost nobody has read it. British geneticist Steve Jones wants to make the arguments contained in that great text accessible to modern audiences, and succeeds with the delightful Darwin's Ghost. Approximating the structure of Darwin's opus, Jones uses the original chapter headings and summaries as a scaffolding to build an up-to-date demonstration of the power of a few simple ideas. Heredity, variation, and natural selection are all you need to infer evolution over time, and now that Jones can fill in the gaps in Darwin's pre-Mendelian understanding of genetics, the case becomes airtight.

More than a polemic, though, Darwin's Ghost is nearly as pleasurable a read as its ancestor is--one suspects that part of Jones's mission is to inspire today's readers to turn back to the grand but humble Origin of Species. While he may not be able to quite match Darwin's vast erudition or hawk's eye for detail, he still makes the theory of evolution shudder and breathe on the page. Dog breeding, mass extinctions, and weird fossils of tiny elephants all march to his drumbeat and--just when you least expect it--return to the main point that all living things share a common ancestor. Whether you're one of the elite who's had the pleasure of Darwin's literary company or you'd like a taste of what you're missing, Darwin's Ghost will bring the spirit of the great man back into your world of ideas. --Rob Lightner

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0375501037, Hardcover)

Charles Darwin's masterpiece, The Origin of Species, is probably the best-known, least-read book. Un-questionably one of the most important achievements of the millennium, its publication in 1859 caused a sensation, because it forced mankind to see itself as part of the animal world--a notion that hundreds of millions still deny. Darwin's theory of common descent did for biology what Galileo did for astronomy: made it into a single science rather than a collection of unrelated facts. Those facts, however, are now a century and a half old, as are The Origin's illustrative examples and Victorian prose style. Writing as "Darwin's ghost," the well-known geneticist Steve Jones has drawn on our ever-expanding scientific knowledge and the brilliant logic set out in The Origin to restate evolution's case for the twenty-first century.
        
Jones has been called "the British Carl Sagan" because of his prominence as a popularizer of science. Using contemporary examples--the AIDS virus, the rules of the American Kennel Club, the sheep who never forget a face and the garbage that floats in the Pacific--he shows the power and imme-diacy of Darwin's great argument. Filled with anec-dotes, humor and the very latest research, Darwin's Ghost is a popular, readable and comprehensive account of the science that makes life make sense.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0385259093, Paperback)

In Darwin's Ghost, Steve Jones has taken on the exciting challenge of rewriting the book of the millennium: Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. Before The Origin, biology was a set of unconnected facts, but Darwin made it into a science, linked by the theory of evolution (the grammar of the living world). Darwin used the biology of the nineteenth century to prove his theory. Now, using the astonishing advances of the twentieth century, Steve Jones reargues the case. His "new version" of The Origin is a bold and fascinating tour of evolution's wonders, revealing ties between cancer and the genetics of fish, between brewing beer and inheriting disease, between the sex lives of crocodiles and the politics of Brazil.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0385259034, Hardcover)

In his new book, Steve Jones takes on the challenge of going back to the book of the millennium, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and updating it with the latest scientific findings. Before Darwin's pivotal book, biology was a set of unconnected facts. Darwin made it into a science, linked by the theory of evolution, the grammar of the living world. Evolution reveals ties between cancer and the genetics of fish, between brewing beer and inheriting disease, between the sex lives of crocodiles and the politics of Brazil. Darwin used the biology of the nineteenth century to prove his case. Now, that science has been revolutionized and his case can be reargued using the twentieth century's astonishing advances.

Filled with anecdotes, humour and the latest research, Darwin's Ghost is a popular account of the science that makes life make sense.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0385658672, Paperback)

In Darwin's Ghost, Steve Jones has taken on the exciting challenge of rewriting the book of the millennium: Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. Before The Origin, biology was a set of unconnected facts, but Darwin made it into a science, linked by the theory of evolution (the grammar of the living world). Darwin used the biology of the nineteenth century to prove his theory. Now, using the astonishing advances of the twentieth century, Steve Jones reargues the case. His "new version" of The Origin is a bold and fascinating tour of evolution's wonders, revealing ties between cancer and the genetics of fish, between brewing beer and inheriting disease, between the sex lives of crocodiles and the politics of Brazil.