I read this almost a decade ago as an undergrad interested in evo bio, now I’m a postdoc in evo bio. I read it after having already read more popular stuff like Coyne and Dawkins. At the time I did learn quite a bit but I also thought Mayr’s style was overly repetitive and dry, I think in retrospect that’s partly because of his age. But in retrospect I appreciate it more as you do because I do think he explains fundamental concepts here better than most popular stuff. I think it was with this book that I first thought of evolution as a two step process (e.g. generation of variation by mutation and then selection) where one step may be random and the other not (though the second step can be e.g. genetic drift so both would random). And I think here we referred to Darwin’s theory of evolution as really multiple different theories (e.g. universal common descent and natural selection are distinct ideas) and I still think back on that. Definitely this was the first book where I ever learned about the importance of gene duplication in evolution (though I needed more resources later to really get it) and about speciation as it’s own field of study, and the importance of allopathy and reproductive isolation. Again, at the time I thought it was sort of interesting but only in retrospect realize it’s affected my life a lot as I studied speciation in my PhD. I don’t study it now but I suppose (like evolution) where you are now always depends on where you were before so it’s led me to my current research. I’ve tried to read more classics in the last few years. If you haven’t already, Origin of Species is still absolutely worth reading even if wrong on certain points. You get more out of it the more you know of current evo bio and you see how much Darwin almost got to. Mayr’s Systematics and the Origin of Species and Dobzhansky’s Genetics and the Origin of Species are both good too but could be harder to understand without better knowing both the ideas floating in their time and how we understand that stuff now. I’m of the opinion that the Dobzhansky book is about on the same level as Darwin’s work, but that’s hard to explain and I’ve already written a lot. I’d like to read more Fisher, Haldane and Wright at some point.
Man, I wish I would have seen this comment three months ago! I really appreciate you sharing. I have been wanting to read On the Origin but I'm afraid of being confused because I won't know which things he says didn't end up being correct. Do you know if there are any versions of it that are annotated by experts, (and NOT creationists lol) Because that book is absolutely on my list. Darwin is one of my "heroes" for lack of better term, and I haven't read his most important work yet. Any recommendations you might have would be very much appreciated. Thank you again for taking your time to share your thoughts.
@@noeditbookreviews Thanks! I haven't read an annotated version of the Origin but I remember seeing one at my former university's library that looked good. It's called "The Annotated Origin" and the annotator is James T. Costa. Another book that should be interesting is one called "The Origin Then and Now" by David N. Reznick. I had to read a few chapters for a class and it was pretty good, I never got around to the whole thing. There are chapters in the book that are basically recaps of chapters in the Origin of Species and give information on our modern understanding of the subjects discussed in those chapters, so seems perfect if your goal is to know what is or isn't "correct" by modern standards.
Nice commentary. I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read this one yet, but I've seen it referenced quite a lot. As far as older books go, "What is Life?" by physicist Erwin Schrodinger and "Chance and Necessity" by chemist Jacques Monod helped me to think about biology in different ways. I'm really into genetics, so I've also enjoyed the old Dobzhansky stuff I've read.
Oh, yes! I have that first book! I'll have to bump it up on the TBR. And that other one sounds pretty interesting, too. I appreciate that feedback. Thank you!
Yeah that cover is rough. I've heard of the name but not the specific book. I agree with the short chapters and sections with more academic stuff. One of the oldest writers sort of related to biology of read is Gilbert Whites Natural History of Selbourne. He wasn't a scientist, more just and observer and causal naturalist in the 1700s but I found his thoughts and writings delightful. It's also interesting to see how they approached some questions and phenomena that were not yest answered back then
Ooh, what a great question. I might say something different on another day, but I'm going to go with: 5. either Wonderful Life by Stephen J. Gould or The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins 4. Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne 3. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin 2. The Social Conquest of Earth by E.O. Wilson 1. What Evolution Is by Ernst Mayr
![일상 속 기분 좋음 [Proto disco meme]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DwmEIaZ7XGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I read this almost a decade ago as an undergrad interested in evo bio, now I’m a postdoc in evo bio. I read it after having already read more popular stuff like Coyne and Dawkins. At the time I did learn quite a bit but I also thought Mayr’s style was overly repetitive and dry, I think in retrospect that’s partly because of his age. But in retrospect I appreciate it more as you do because I do think he explains fundamental concepts here better than most popular stuff. I think it was with this book that I first thought of evolution as a two step process (e.g. generation of variation by mutation and then selection) where one step may be random and the other not (though the second step can be e.g. genetic drift so both would random). And I think here we referred to Darwin’s theory of evolution as really multiple different theories (e.g. universal common descent and natural selection are distinct ideas) and I still think back on that.
Definitely this was the first book where I ever learned about the importance of gene duplication in evolution (though I needed more resources later to really get it) and about speciation as it’s own field of study, and the importance of allopathy and reproductive isolation. Again, at the time I thought it was sort of interesting but only in retrospect realize it’s affected my life a lot as I studied speciation in my PhD. I don’t study it now but I suppose (like evolution) where you are now always depends on where you were before so it’s led me to my current research.
I’ve tried to read more classics in the last few years. If you haven’t already, Origin of Species is still absolutely worth reading even if wrong on certain points. You get more out of it the more you know of current evo bio and you see how much Darwin almost got to. Mayr’s Systematics and the Origin of Species and Dobzhansky’s Genetics and the Origin of Species are both good too but could be harder to understand without better knowing both the ideas floating in their time and how we understand that stuff now. I’m of the opinion that the Dobzhansky book is about on the same level as Darwin’s work, but that’s hard to explain and I’ve already written a lot. I’d like to read more Fisher, Haldane and Wright at some point.
Man, I wish I would have seen this comment three months ago! I really appreciate you sharing. I have been wanting to read On the Origin but I'm afraid of being confused because I won't know which things he says didn't end up being correct. Do you know if there are any versions of it that are annotated by experts, (and NOT creationists lol) Because that book is absolutely on my list. Darwin is one of my "heroes" for lack of better term, and I haven't read his most important work yet. Any recommendations you might have would be very much appreciated. Thank you again for taking your time to share your thoughts.
@@noeditbookreviews Thanks! I haven't read an annotated version of the Origin but I remember seeing one at my former university's library that looked good. It's called "The Annotated Origin" and the annotator is James T. Costa.
Another book that should be interesting is one called "The Origin Then and Now" by David N. Reznick. I had to read a few chapters for a class and it was pretty good, I never got around to the whole thing. There are chapters in the book that are basically recaps of chapters in the Origin of Species and give information on our modern understanding of the subjects discussed in those chapters, so seems perfect if your goal is to know what is or isn't "correct" by modern standards.
@@nicholasbailey6622 wow, I really appreciate that, thank you! Also, nice memory!
Nice commentary. I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read this one yet, but I've seen it referenced quite a lot.
As far as older books go, "What is Life?" by physicist Erwin Schrodinger and "Chance and Necessity" by chemist Jacques Monod helped me to think about biology in different ways. I'm really into genetics, so I've also enjoyed the old Dobzhansky stuff I've read.
Oh, yes! I have that first book! I'll have to bump it up on the TBR. And that other one sounds pretty interesting, too. I appreciate that feedback. Thank you!
Excellent review. Purchased!
Yeah that cover is rough. I've heard of the name but not the specific book. I agree with the short chapters and sections with more academic stuff. One of the oldest writers sort of related to biology of read is Gilbert Whites Natural History of Selbourne. He wasn't a scientist, more just and observer and causal naturalist in the 1700s but I found his thoughts and writings delightful. It's also interesting to see how they approached some questions and phenomena that were not yest answered back then
What are the top 5 books on evolution in your opinion?
Ooh, what a great question. I might say something different on another day, but I'm going to go with:
5. either Wonderful Life by Stephen J. Gould or The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
4. Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
3. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
2. The Social Conquest of Earth by E.O. Wilson
1. What Evolution Is by Ernst Mayr
@@noeditbookreviews Thank you!
Will u do a review on the material world by ed conway
I'm not familiar with the name. Who is Ed Conway?