Synopses & Reviews
The most important aspect of evolution, from a philosophical viewpoint, is the rise of complex, advanced creatures from simple, primitive ones. This vertical” dimension of evolution has been downplayed in both the specialist and popular literature on evolution, in large part because it was in the past associated with unsavory political views. The avoidance of evolutions vertical dimension has, however, left evolutionary biology open to the perception, from outside, that it deals merely with the diversification of rather similar creatures, all at the same level of advancedness” from a common ancestorfor example, the classic case studies of finches with different beaks or moths of different colors.
The latest incarnation of creationism, dubbed intelligent design (or ID), has taken advantage of this situation. It portrays an evolutionary process that is constantly guidedespecially in its upward directionby the hand of an unseen Creator, who is able to ensure that it ends up producing humans. Creatures of Accident attacks the antiscience ID worldview, mainly by building a persuasive picture of how unaided” evolution produces advanced creatures from simple ones by an essentially accidental process. Having built this picture, in the final chapter the book reflects on its religious implications. Wallace Arthur is a professor of zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The author of seven previous books, he also serves as European editor of the journal Evolution and Development. In Creatures of Accident, an expert on the new science of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo, for short) addresses the most important unanswered question in evolutionary theory today: How do complex, advanced creatures arise from simple, primitive ones? This "vertical" dimension of evolution has been downplayed in both the specialist and the popular literature on evolution, in large part because in the past it was associated with unsavory political views. The avoidance of evolution's vertical dimension has, however, left evolutionary biology open to the perception, from the outside, that it deals merely with the diversification of rather similar creatures, all at the same level of "advancedness" from a common ancestorfor example, as in the classic case studies of finches with different beaks or moths of different color. The latest incarnation of creationism, dubbed intelligent design (or ID), has taken advantage of this situation. It portrays an evolutionary process that is constantly guidedespecially in its upward directionby the hand of an unseen Creator, who is able to ensure that it ends up producing humans. Creatures of Accident attacks the antiscience ID worldview, mainly by building a persuasive picture of how unaided” evolution produces advanced creatures from simple ones by an essentially accidental process. Having built this picture, the author reflects on its religious implications in the final chapter of the book. "Creatures of Accident richly deserves to be read widely. With biology teaching becoming increasingly reductionist, it offers the (gloriously coined) 'megaevolutionary' perspective. Lay readers will find plenty of surprises, and those with a more scientific background will find Arthur's straightforward and non-posturing style hugely enjoyable."Matthew A. Willis, Nature "Creatures of Accident richly deserves to be read widely. With biology teaching becoming increasingly reductionist, it offers the (gloriously coined) 'megaevolutionary' perspective. Lay readers will find plenty of surprises, and those with a more scientific background will find Arthur's straightforward and non-posturing style hugely enjoyable."Matthew A. Willis, Nature "From analyses of the structure of life forms and the complex methods of evolution which are neither predictable nor straightforward to conflicts between creationism and evolutionary theory, this book provides both general readers and science readers with an easily-understood set of explanations, making it a top pick."The Midwest Book Review
"Creatures of Accident is no accidental book. It is an elegantly wrought piece of science writing from one of the leading thinkers on the evolution of animals. Arthur deftly guides us through the history of biology, from before Darwin to the latest discoveries of DNA, to create a fascinating argument about how complexity arose on Earth."Carl Zimmer, author of Evolution: The Triumph of An Idea and Soul Made Flesh
"In Creatures of Accident, Wallace Arthur gives us a lively and original account of the evolution of complex life forms, and takes on the attacks of Intelligent Design creationism on the integrity of science. This book will be an enjoyable one for both the general reader with a scientific bent and the scientific reader of a general bent."Rudolf A. Raff, professor of biology, Indiana University, and author of The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form
"Crisply written, Prof. Arthur's book makes a powerful case for the liberal humanist approach to scientific investigation of biological patterns and evolutionary 'advancement.' It deserves to be read as a corrective by those interested in the Intelligent Design controversy."Richard Fortey, Visiting Prof. of Palaeobiology, University of Oxford, and author of Earth: An Intimate History
"Creatures of Accident is a vibrant exposition of what biological evolution is really all about, and how it works to result in something as wondrous as a human being. Arthur argues convincingly that the chance duplication of genes and body parts is the raw material from which natural selection produces major increases in biological complexity. What's more, the book is so accessible and well-written that it's fun to read."Fred Wilt, author of Principles of Developmental Biology
"A short, reader-friendly discourse on the accidental rise of creatures great and smallemphasis on accidental. Which is to say that invertebrate-zoologist Arthur tackles the issue of complexity. How do we account, he asks, for the development over eons of bigger organisms with diverse cells and organs? Before Darwin, the answer was God and nature's ladder, which had a rung for every living thing from lowest bacteria to highest human beings. Darwin went far to discredit the ladder, but it has taken modern genetics and embryology to come up with a nonreligious explanation for why evolution has produced complexity over time. This happened initially, Arthur notes, by a random mutation that allowed single cells to clump together to become multi-cellular. Then came mutations that changed simple critters' shapes from round to bilateral, which allowed for left and right halves of the body, a rear and a head end that oriented the creature forward. Over millions of years, some creatures got bigger, and their heads got packed not only with mouths for food, but with eyes and ears and noses, the better to explore the environment, and a brain to control them. Copying mistakes could account for all these changes, Arthur observes, particularly duplications of genes that create redundancies of function. Fish have four gill slits on each side but don't need that many to breathe. So in some species, the forward pair evolved to become jaws. Besides examples from nature, Arthur points to the commonality in the sets of master genes that program the development of the embryo, from fruit flies to humans. He emphasizes that evolution is messy, neither gradual nor saltatory, in prose that is always gentle and professorial . . . Elegantly and persuasively makes the case that 'evolution is part lawn, part bush, part tree, part ladder. It defies simple models.'"Kirkus Reviews "Discussing the evolution of life in this spry work, Wallace advances the argument that the process tends toward greater complexity over time. If the existence of complexity is seemingly self-evident, explaining it often leads to diverging theories, which Arthur, a zoology professor in Ireland, critiques in accessible fashion. He gives short shrift to creationism and so-called intelligent design but tackles at length the view, espoused in the oeuvre of biologist Richard Darwin, that evolution is simply an aimless series of micro- and macro-biological events without any bias toward complexity. Writing in a conversational manner, Arthur sketches out the main structural attributes of complexity in animals, from the cell to organs to embryology to body forms, and when they appeared. In considering these anatomical traits, Arthur inveighs repeatedly against the intrusion of philosophical casts of mind. Championing naturalistic clarity, Arthur's precision about the processes of evolution will benefit serious students of the topic."Gilbert Taylor, Booklist "A core tenet of the intelligent design movement is that some organisms are simply too elaborate and complicated to have evolved by chance. Arthur, a professor of zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway, aims to render this strain of creationism unnecessary by 'explaining, in a way that is accessible to a general readership, how the rise of complex creatures can be explained in terms of natural processes.' Creatures of Accident makes this case through a series of easily intelligible, chatty chapters, offering a way of understanding the emergence of animals (the most complex life form) without resorting to either the relativist idea that all life is essentially the same (with animals being, as Stephen Jay Gould once put it, 'a mere epiphenomenon') or the teleological view that if animals are uniquely complex, then some intelligent designer must have made them so. Drawing ideas and examples from the large (zoology) to the small (cellular biology), Arthur popularizes recent breakthroughs in the field of evolutionary developmentthe trendily dubbed 'evo-devo'to make the paradoxical case that complexity can, in fact, happen quite simply."Publishers Weekly
Review
"Creatures of Accident is no accidental book. It is an elegantly wrought piece of science writing from one of the leading thinkers on the evolution of animals. Arthur deftly guides us through the history of biology, from before Darwin to the latest discoveries of DNA, to create a fascinating argument about how complexity arose on Earth." --Carl Zimmer, author of
Evolution: The Triumph of An Idea and Soul Made Flesh"In Creatures of Accident, Wallace Arthur gives us a lively and original account of the evolution of complex life forms, and takes on the attacks of Intelligent Design creationism on the integrity of science. This book will be an enjoyable one for both the general reader with a scientific bent and the scientific reader of a general bent." --Rudolf A. Raff, professor of biology, Indiana University, and author of The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form
"Crisply written, Prof. Arthur's book makes a powerful case for the liberal humanist approach to scientific investigation of biological patterns and evolutionary 'advancement.' It deserves to be read as a corrective by those interested in the Intelligent Design controversy." --Richard Fortey, Visiting Prof of Palaeobiology, University of Oxford, and author of Earth: An Intimate History
"Creatures of Accident is a vibrant exposition of what biological evolution is really all about, and how it works to result in something as wondrous as a human being. Arthur argues convincingly that the chance duplication of genes and body parts is the raw material from which natural selection produces major increases in biological complexity. What's more, the book is so accessible and well-written that it's fun to read." --Fred Wilt, author of Principles of Developmental Biology "Beautifully Simplified and Readable." --Nature
Synopsis
The most important aspect of evolution, from a philosophical viewpoint, is the rise of complex, advanced creatures from simple, primitive ones. This "vertical" dimension of evolution has been downplayed in both the specialist and popular literature on evolution, in large part because it was in the past associated with unsavory political views. The avoidance of evolution's vertical dimension has, however, left evolutionary biology open to the perception, from outside, that it deals merely with the diversification of rather similar creatures, all at the same level of "advancedness" from a common ancestor--for example, the classic case studies of finches with different beaks or moths of different colors.
The latest incarnation of creationism, dubbed intelligent design (or ID), has taken advantage of this situation. It portrays an evolutionary process that is constantly guided--especially in its upward direction--by the hand of an unseen Creator, who is able to ensure that it ends up producing humans. Creatures of Accident attacks the antiscience ID worldview, mainly by building a persuasive picture of how "unaided" evolution produces advanced creatures from simple ones by an essentially accidental process. Having built this picture, in the final chapter the book reflects on its religious implications.
Synopsis
The most important aspect of evolution, from a philosophical viewpoint, is the rise of complex, advanced creatures from simple, primitive ones. This vertical dimension of evolution has been downplayed in both the specialist and popular literature on evolution, in large part because it was in the past associated with unsavory political views. The avoidance of evolution's vertical dimension has, however, left evolutionary biology open to the perception, from outside, that it deals merely with the diversification of rather similar creatures, all at the same level of advancedness from a common ancestor--for example, the classic case studies of finches with different beaks or moths of different colors.
The latest incarnation of creationism, dubbed intelligent design (or ID), has taken advantage of this situation. It portrays an evolutionary process that is constantly guided--especially in its upward direction--by the hand of an unseen Creator, who is able to ensure that it ends up producing humans. Creatures of Accident attacks the antiscience ID worldview, mainly by building a persuasive picture of how unaided evolution produces advanced creatures from simple ones by an essentially accidental process. Having built this picture, in the final chapter the book reflects on its religious implications. Wallace Arthur is a professor of zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The author of seven previous books, he also serves as European editor of the journal Evolution and Development. In Creatures of Accident, an expert on the new science of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo, for short) addresses the most important unanswered question in evolutionary theory today: How do complex, advanced creatures arise from simple, primitive ones? This vertical dimension of evolution has been downplayed in both the specialist and the popular literature on evolution, in large part because in the past it was associated with unsavory political views. The avoidance of evolution's vertical dimension has, however, left evolutionary biology open to the perception, from the outside, that it deals merely with the diversification of rather similar creatures, all at the same level of advancedness from a common ancestor--for example, as in the classic case studies of finches with different beaks or moths of different color. The latest incarnation of creationism, dubbed intelligent design (or ID), has taken advantage of this situation. It portrays an evolutionary process that is constantly guided--especially in its upward direction--by the hand of an unseen Creator, who is able to ensure that it ends up producing humans. Creatures of Accident attacks the antiscience ID worldview, mainly by building a persuasive picture of how unaided evolution produces advanced creatures from simple ones by an essentially accidental process. Having built this picture, the author reflects on its religious implications in the final chapter of the book. Creatures of Accident richly deserves to be read widely. With biology teaching becoming increasingly reductionist, it offers the (gloriously coined) 'megaevolutionary' perspective. Lay readers will find plenty of surprises, and those with a more scientific background will find Arthur's straightforward and non-posturing style hugely enjoyable.--Matthew A. Willis, Nature Creatures of Accident richly deserves to be read widely. With biology teaching becoming increasingly reductionist, it offers the (gloriously coined) 'megaevolutionary' perspective. Lay readers will find plenty of surprises, and those with a more scientific background will find Arthur's straightforward and non-posturing style hugely enjoyable.--Matthew A. Willis, Nature From analyses of the structure of life forms and the complex methods of evolution which are neither predictable nor straightforward to conflicts between creationism and evolutionary theory, this book provides both general readers and science readers with an easily-understood set of explanations, making it a top pick.--The Midwest Book Review
Creatures of Accident is no accidental book. It is an elegantly wrought piece of science writing from one of the leading thinkers on the evolution of animals. Arthur deftly guides us through the history of biology, from before Darwin to the latest discoveries of DNA, to create a fascinating argument about how complexity arose on Earth.--Carl Zimmer, author of Evolution: The Triumph of An Idea and Soul Made Flesh
In Creatures of Accident, Wallace Arthur gives us a lively and original account of the evolution of complex life forms, and takes on the attacks of Intelligent Design creationism on the integrity of science. This book will be an enjoyable one for both the general reader with a scientific bent and the scientific reader of a general bent.--Rudolf A. Raff, professor of biology, Indiana University, and author of The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form
Crisply written, Prof. Arthur's book makes a powerful case for the liberal humanist approach to scientific investigation of biological patterns and evolutionary 'advancement.' It deserves to be read as a corrective by those interested in the Intelligent Design controversy.--Richard Fortey, Visiting Prof. of Palaeobiology, University of Oxford, and author of Earth: An Intimate History
Creatures of Accident is a vibrant exposition of what biological evolution is really all about, and how it works to result in something as wondrous as a human being. Arthur argues convincingly that the chance duplication of genes and body parts is the raw material from which natural selection produces major increases in biological complexity. What's more, the book is so accessible and well-written that it's fun to read.--Fred Wilt, author of Principles of Developmental Biology
A short, reader-friendly discourse on the accidental rise of creatures great and
About the Author
Wallace Arthur is a professor of zoology at the National University of Ireland,
Galway. The author of seven previous books, he also serves as European editor of the journal Evolution and Development.