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"If I know nothing beyond high school biology about taxonomy and nothing beyond a reasonably educated layperson about biology generally, is "The Vital Question"
by rsync 8y ago
"If I know nothing beyond high school biology about taxonomy and nothing beyond a reasonably educated layperson about biology generally, is "The Vital Question" accessible?"
I have not yet read _The Vital Question_ but I have read his previous books and I highly, highly recommend:
_Power, Sex, Suicide_
_Oxygen_
If I had to pick just one, it would be PSS.
- jhbadger 8y agoI'd avoid it because it is a rather misleading book whether or not it is accessible. Many people (but especially Carl Woese) led to our modern understanding of molecular phylogeny. Lane's main contact for his book was Bill Martin, who was a rival to Woese, which is fine, but the result is a story in which Martin made all the major discoveries and Woese literally gets one sentence. I'd strongly recommend Quammen's "The Tangled Tree" instead, which is a more balanced book.
- reubenswartz 8y agoIIRC, Woese gets a fair bit of credit in TVQ. Certainly far more than a sentence.