brings Darwin to date and with such varied sentence structures - style

This book is a decent update on the Origin of Species, taking the original format, the same chapter headings, and then evaluating the state of the science in the current world. It would be an easier way to introduce students to Darwin, since it is much more modern in writing style, and not burdened with the long-winded Victorian style that would set most modern youngsters groaning in despair. ( )

Absolutley fabulous book covering everything about how we know evolution is what actually happened; just brilliant, took me forever and a day to read it but it was never a slow read, just thick and dense with fascinating facts and explanations. Highly recommended. ( )

A look at Origin of Species from the vantage point of modern science. Lots of interesting facts, even if some, but not many, slightly dated already- the book was published 10 years ago. All in all, a huge affirmation of Darwin’s work and his achievements.
One complaint. Even though the book is very interesting, the style is sometimes convoluted. It doesn’t have the reading ease of Dawkins' books.

An interesting quote:

Too often, the notion of progress is used as a code word for perfection, the chain of being in a different guise. The term should be employed with caution. Some see an arrow of time in biology, as in physics, but in the opposite direction- a relentless tendency to improve, just as a universe has a built-in trend towards chaos and disorder. That is too optimistic. Some lineages get more complicated, some simpler, and much of life has to struggle to stay in the same place. If everyone is evolving, nobody can afford to stop, and there may be constant change with no overall advance at all. ( )

When I was reading Darwin's Origin of Species, I often asked myself if a particular fact or hypothesis were still accepted by scientists today. I'm not talking of evolution by natural selection, but of some fun stuff you can read in Darwin's masterpiece, such as the effects of use and disuse on variation. The title of Jones's book refers to what is probably the wildest speculation you can read in the Origins, where Darwin recounts what he heard about a bear behaving (almost) like a whale.

If (many) professional biologists don't read the Origins, ordinary people who read it are left to themselves in deciding which of Darwin's views have been abandoned by science. Jones bridges this gap, brings more examples and adds the relevant science. It is not a review of the current state of evolutionary biology but a useful, much needed companion to Darwin's book. ( )