Award-winning journalist Carl Zimmer collaborates with leading scholars to tell the compelling story of the theory of evolution—from Darwin to 21st century science Darwin’s The Origin of Specie s was breathtaking—beautifully written, staunchly defended, defiantly radical. Yet it emerged long before modern genetics, molecular biology, and contemporary findings in paleontology. This remarkable book presents a rich and up–to–date view of evolution that explores the far–reaching implications of Darwin's theory and emphasizes the power, significance, and relevance of evolution to our lives today. After all, we ourselves are the product of evolution, and we can tackle many of our gravest challenges –– from lethal resurgence of antibiotic–resistant diseases to the wave of extinctions that looms before us –– with a sound understanding of the science. Evolution is an indispensable asset to any serious reader with an interest in the life sciences, a passion for truth in education, or a concern for the future of the planet. “Readable...expertly written by science writer Carl Zimmer...does a better job of sorting out what is serious science and what, at this point, is an idea whose triumph remains up in the air.” - Natural History magazine “Offers answers to questions you’ll wish you had thought of.” - Discover magazine This remarkable book presents a rich and up–to–date view of evolution that explores the far–reaching implications of Darwin's theory and emphasizes the power, significance, and relevance of evolution to our lives today. After all, we ourselves are the product of evolution, and we can tackle many of our gravest challenges –– from lethal resurgence of antiobiotic–resistant diseases to the wave of extinctions that looms before us –– with a sound understanding of the science. CARL ZIMMER, guest editor, writes the Origins column for the New York Times . He is the author of fourteen books, including Life’s Edge and She Has Her Mother’s Laugh , both of which were finalists for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Zimmer has written for magazines including T he Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American . He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Journalism Award three times, and is a two-time winner of the National Academies Communication Award. Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale University Evolution The Triumph of an Idea By Carl Zimmer HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2006 Carl Zimmer All right reserved. ISBN: 0061138401 Chapter One Darwin and the Beagle In late October 1831 a 90-foot coaster named HMS Beagle lay docked at Plymouth, England. Its crew scrambled about it like termites in a nest. They were packing the ship as tightly as they could for a voyage around the world, one that would last five years. They rolled barrels of flour and rum into the hold and crammed the deck with wooden boxes that contained experimental clocks resting on beds of sawdust. The Beagle 's voyage was a scientific one: its crew would be testing the clocks for the British navy, which depended on precise timekeeping to navigate. Exquisitely detailed maps would be drawn on the voyage as well, so mahogany lockers were installed in the poop cabin and packed with navigational charts. The crew replaced the ship's 10 steel cannons with brass ones so that not even the slightest interference could confuse the Beagle 's compasses. Amid the flurry of preparations, a 22-year-old man picked his way. He moved awkwardly around the ship, not only because his 6-foot frame was oversized for the cramped quarters, but also because he felt profoundly out of place. He had no official position on the ship, having been invited to keep the captain company during the voyage and act as an unofficial naturalist. It was usually up to a ship's surgeon to act as the naturalist for a voyage, but this awkward young man had no such practical skill. He was a medical school dropout who, for want of any other respectable line of work, was considering a career as a country parson when the voyage was over. Once he had stowed away his preserving jars, his microscope, and the rest of his equipment in the poop cabin, he had nothing more to do. He tried helping the assistant surveyor calibrate some of the timepieces, but he didn't even know enough math to do the most basic calculations. The name of this awkward young man was Charles Darwin. By the time the Beagle returned to England five years later, he would be transformed into one of Britain's most promising young scientists. And out of his experiences on the journey, he would discover the single most important idea in the history of biology, one that would permanently alter humanity's perception of its place in the natural order. From clues that he collected aboard the Beagle , Darwin would show that nature had not been created in exactly the form it takes today. Life evolves: it changes gradually bu