The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution by Donald R. Prothero
First things first, I am horrible at writing reviews. If I like a book I like it but it is hard for me to describe why.
Overall I thought it was an excellent survey of the history of time. The author kept a clear writing voice that is easy to understand for both the average reader (like me) as well as for a specialist. There were times, especially in the later chapters, which the author’s tone read as a bit too preachy about his views. (Namely when talking about the threat of global warming or human evolution or anything anti-creationist.) I am likely the primary audience that would agree with these views; however, I believe that the writing could be written less bluntly or preachy, in a manner more similar to Steven J Gould. (If you do not know Gould and love reading about science you should read him immediately. Especially Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, which is referenced by Prothero.) I could be more nitpicky about what fossils he had chosen to highlight or ignore but I enjoyed what selection he curated for this book. I especially enjoyed the peppering of history or popular culture framing around each particular fossil. It is a good survey or general knowledge book. (Great as an opening text for an introductory course for instance.) I recommend it for anyone interested in the history of our world through our fossil record.
Overall I thought it was an excellent survey of the history of time. The author kept a clear writing voice that is easy to understand for both the average reader (like me) as well as for a specialist. There were times, especially in the later chapters, which the author’s tone read as a bit too preachy about his views. (Namely when talking about the threat of global warming or human evolution or anything anti-creationist.) I am likely the primary audience that would agree with these views; however, I believe that the writing could be written less bluntly or preachy, in a manner more similar to Steven J Gould. (If you do not know Gould and love reading about science you should read him immediately. Especially Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, which is referenced by Prothero.) I could be more nitpicky about what fossils he had chosen to highlight or ignore but I enjoyed what selection he curated for this book. I especially enjoyed the peppering of history or popular culture framing around each particular fossil. It is a good survey or general knowledge book. (Great as an opening text for an introductory course for instance.) I recommend it for anyone interested in the history of our world through our fossil record.
Great introductory guide to Girl Geekdom. I am already a proud nerd so much of this wasn't new information for me, nor was the section on feminism. There are great resources to check out if you are into geekery, such as what books to check out or guide to CCS code. I also liked the chapter about how to navigate a comic con. If your new to geek culture I would suggest this as a light read.
An intellectual and hypothesizing analysis of the evolution of the human mind. Carl Sagan has great prose but is sometimes a little too boggled down with technical terminology that his intended audience "the layman" might have some difficulty. It is an interesting read. I am more on the Gould camp (that human intelligence appeared out of chance and if you reset the cosmic clock we might not be here and our definition of intelligence might never exist) in regards to the evolution of human intelligence but I enjoyed it nonetheless. "Science is only the Latin word for knowledge...Knowledge is is our destiny."