Choice Review
What Darwin saw on his voyage around the world in the mid-1830s greatly enhanced his knowledge of how animals and plants existed, and led to his developing hypotheses as to how they had changed. Wills (Univ. of California, San Diego), an experienced evolutionary biologist, uses some of his own international travel and research efforts to show how, through evolution and migration, plants and animals worldwide have changed and how they currently live. In a rather eclectic set of chapters covering selected sea animals and various terrestrial areas, some of which have been subjects of intensive evolutionary study, he examines the effects of earthquakes, the distribution of continents as a result of plate tectonics, the effects of extinction, speciation, etc. A significant section examines human origins and migrations, especially movement to Indonesia and Australia, with a culminating chapter on the fossil "Hobbit" of the island of Flores. The book is replete with beautiful full-color photographs of fauna and flora along with vistas of the lands about which Wills writes. This is not a textbook, and although the text is sometimes a bit wordy, it can be read by a wide audience seeking an introduction to the causes of diversity and distribution. Summing Up: Recommended. All general and academic audiences. D. Bardack emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago
Library Journal Review
Wills (biological sciences, Univ. of California-San Diego), author of the best-selling The Runaway Brain: The Evolution of Human Uniqueness, offers an armchair world ecotour to the nth degree. Drawing on a career that involved visiting special places across the globe (with a heavy emphasis on Australasia), Wills explores flora and fauna from the perspective of figure (specific plants and animals) and ground (the ecosystems they inhabit and interact with) using the lens of evolutionary biology via known fossil and molecular records. He clearly explains through vivid examples why the world has its diversity today and why diversity matters and needs preservation. VERDICT The reader does not need a background in genetics or ecology to appreciate this last lecture-style book, but the storytelling of evolutionary biology is more palatable than the stories of Wills's travels. Chock-full of wonderful photographs, this book is strongly recommended for readers seeking insight into their world and the ecological places they visit.-James A. Buczynski, Seneca Coll. of Applied Arts & Tech, Toronto (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.