Editorial Reviews
Product Description
The Beginner Books -- "Their cartoon format and irreverent wit make difficult ideas accessible and entertaining."
-- Newsday
aking us through the upheavals in biological thought which made The Origins of Species possible, Jonathan Miller introduces us to that odd revolutionary, Charles Darwin -- a remarkably timid man who spent most of his life in seclusion; a semi-invalid riddled with doubts, fearing the controversy his theories might unleash; yet also the man who finally undermined belief in God's creation. Along the way we meet a fascinating cast of characters: Darwin's scientific predecessors, his contemporaries (including Alfred Russell Wallace, whose anticipation of natural selection forced Darwin to publish), his opponents, and his successors whose work in modern genetics provided necessary modifications to Darwin's own work.
Splendidly illustrated, this clever, witty, highly informative book is the perfect introduction to Darwin's life and thought.
From the Inside Flap
The Beginner Books -- "Their cartoon format and irreverent wit make difficult ideas accessible and entertaining."
-- Newsday
aking us through the upheavals in biological thought which made The Origins of Species possible, Jonathan Miller introduces us to that odd revolutionary, Charles Darwin -- a remarkably timid man who spent most of his life in seclusion; a semi-invalid riddled with doubts, fearing the controversy his theories might unleash; yet also the man who finally undermined belief in God's creation. Along the way we meet a fascinating cast of characters: Darwin's scientific predecessors, his contemporaries (including Alfred Russell Wallace, whose anticipation of natural selection forced Darwin to publish), his opponents, and his successors whose work in modern genetics provided necessary modifications to Darwin's own work.
Splendidly illustrated, this clever, witty, highly informative book is the perfect introduction to Darwin's life and thought.
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (born 21 July 1934) is a British theatre and opera director, author, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in 1962 when the British comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe (written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Miller himself) came to Broadway. Despite having seen few operas and not knowing how to read music, he began stage-directing them in the 1970s and has since become one of the world's leading opera directors with several classic productions to his credit. His best-known production is probably his 1982 "Mafia"-styled Rigoletto set in 1950s Little Italy, Manhattan. He has also become a well-known television personality and familiar public intellectual in the UK and US.
Borin Van Loon is a freelance illustrator (since 1976). He is an author, collagist and surrealist painter and has worked for a wide variety of clients in editorial, publishing and promotion. He has created an eclectic collage/cartoon mural on the subject of DNA and genetics for the Health Matters Gallery in London's Science Museum.
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让我印象最深的是这本书对于“不确定性”的坦然接受。很多科学普及读物总试图把所有结论都描绘成板上钉钉的事实,但这本书却非常诚实地展示了科学研究中的争议、未解之谜以及理论的局限性。它没有给我们一个“标准答案”,而是引导我们去思考“我们是如何知道这些的”以及“我们还有哪些不知道”。书中花了大量的篇幅去探讨那些曾经被推翻的理论,以及它们是如何被新的证据所取代的。这种对科学思想流变过程的细致描摹,极大地锻炼了读者的批判性思维。它教会我们,科学不是僵化的教条,而是一个不断自我修正的动态过程。这种开放性的态度,比任何坚硬的结论都更具启发性,因为它鼓励读者保持永恒的好奇心和质疑精神,而不是盲目地接受既有观点。
评分这本书的结尾处理得非常高明,它没有以一个宏大的、总结陈词的方式收尾,反而是将焦点重新拉回到我们日常生活的细微之处。作者似乎在暗示,那些深奥的自然法则,其实早就渗透在我们身边的每一个角落,从我们吃的食物到我们与他人的互动模式,无不投射着那些宏大的自然选择的影子。这种“由宏大归于平凡”的处理方式,非但没有削弱理论的重量感,反而让这些知识变得更加贴近、更加“可用”。它激发了一种强烈的愿望:想要重新审视我们周围的世界,用一种全新的、更具洞察力的眼光去看待那些习以为常的事物。这让我读完后不是感到知识的满足,而是一种智识上的唤醒,仿佛世界突然多了一层可以被解读的“代码”,非常令人回味和震撼。
评分这本书在图文结合方面做到了教科书级别的范例。我不是说它堆砌了大量的彩色高清照片——事实上,很多插图是手绘的素描或历史文献的复制品——但每一张图、每一张表格,都像是经过精心挑选和设计的“信息节点”。它们的作用不是简单地解释文字,而是作为一种视觉锚点,帮助读者在大脑中构建起知识的地图。比如,在介绍物种迁徙路径时,作者没有使用现代卫星地图,而是采用了一种仿古的、略显粗糙的等高线图,反而更能让人感受到那种跨越大陆的艰辛与漫长。更棒的是,很多图表的设计简洁到极致,只保留了最核心的数据关系,避免了信息过载。每次看到一个关键的图示出现,我就知道接下来的内容将是全书的重点之一,这种对视觉叙事的掌控力,是很多同类书籍所不具备的。
评分这本书的封面设计实在是太抓人眼球了,那种复古的插画风格,带着一丝神秘感,让人忍不住想翻开看看里面到底讲了些什么。我尤其喜欢封面上对自然元素的处理,线条流畅又不失细节,色彩的搭配也十分和谐,让人一眼就能感受到一种对自然探索的敬畏感。拿到手里的时候,纸张的质感也出乎意料的好,厚实且带有微微的纹理,阅读起来触感非常舒适。翻开内页,排版设计也显得格外用心,字体大小适中,行间距处理得当,即便是长时间阅读也不会感到眼睛疲劳。这本书的装帧工艺也相当精良,书脊的粘合处非常牢固,看得出是经过精心制作的,完全不像一些平价书籍那样读几次就松散了。整体而言,这本书光是作为书架上的一个装饰品,都已经算是上乘之作了,光是这份对实体书的尊重,就已经让我对内容充满了期待。我期待它能像它的外表一样,带给我一场视觉与知识的盛宴。
评分这本书的叙事节奏把握得相当精准,它不像某些科普读物那样上来就堆砌晦涩难懂的专业术语,而是用一种近乎讲故事的方式,将复杂的概念层层剥开,让你在不知不觉中就领悟了核心思想。我发现作者非常擅长运用生动的比喻和恰到好处的幽默感来解释那些原本可能让人望而却步的理论。举个例子,在描述某个进化过程时,作者居然拿我们日常生活中遇到的排队买咖啡的场景来类比,瞬间就将抽象的“选择压力”具象化了,这种处理方式极大地降低了阅读的门槛。而且,作者对于历史背景的交代也极其到位,让你清楚地知道某个理论是在什么样的时代背景下被提出的,以及当时学术界对此持有什么样的态度,这种历史的纵深感让整个知识体系显得更加立体和可信。读完某一章后,那种豁然开朗的感觉,简直让人想立刻找人分享自己的新发现。
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