I recently learned of this book (published Oct 15th of this year) through the National Center for Science Education. I contacted them and they put me in touch with the University of Chicago press and a day later I had a review copy of the book on my desktop.
The book is by Dr. Henry Gee. He is a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist and a senior editor at Nature. I honestly don’t know that much more about him. That being said, I took exception to an article he published. I didn’t know he was a senior editor of Nature. I still don’t much care. I think he made some mistakes in that article.
The reason I say this is because I don’t want anyone to think that this a glowing review because of who Dr. Gee is or his job or because I got a free book.
The book is The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution
Maybe it’s just me, but I read them. I look at them. I want to know what kind of reference a claim is referring to. Comparing this book and Darwin’s Doubt, because they both use end notes (and I mean notes at the end of the book, not the end of a chapter), I can’t help but get the impression the author is hiding something. I know that’s not the case. It may be publisher preference or author preference or just what the author was taught. Regardless, I don’t like them.
I want footnotes. I want them at the bottom of the page. I’d prefer to have reference hyperlinked to the page where I can download them directly to Read Cube. And while I’m wishing… I want a pony.
Anyway, back to the book.
It’s a good book. The writing is very clear. Gee includes numerous anecdotes and asides that are both humorous and still pointed. The writing style reminds me of a refined version of my own, very conversational.
Be warned though. An expert, even a casual student of human evolution won’t be impressed with the level of detail. It’s not really that kind of book. This is really for a beginner to evolution and human history. And it was perfect for me, I’m not one who studies human evolution much at all. I think it comes from a general hatred of primates.
Chapter 2 “All About Evolution” is just that, an introduction to evolution and the evidence. It’s not very technical, but easy to follow. I’d be happy using it as a lecture guide in an intro to biology course.
Many popular science books follow a common pattern. The first few chapters talk about the history of the concept. The middle section (usually the largest) talks about the current state of the concept. The last few chapters are for the author to speculate or discuss possible future research. One of my favorite science books The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry
The Accidental Species is somewhat like that. It’s going to take me a bit to explain because it took me quite a while to appreciate this book. The first chapters are a mix of history and current science. Gee does an excellent job of teasing out the reliable claims from the unreliable claims regarding everything from evolution to behavior.
The ending chapters of the book are, upon first impression, somewhat fanciful. While reading them, I was almost annoyed (the fact that I could glance down to see the references was really annoying). They seem fanciful. Gee spends several pages making up a story about the evolution of bipedalism. He freely admits that this isn’t The Cause of bipedalism, but to a purist like myself, it’s somewhat annoying.
And, I’m not unwilling to admit, that by this point I wanted to find things that I didn’t like about the book. The first chapters were so well done and suddenly there’s these stories.
But when I finished the book. I sat and thought about it for a good long time. Then I realized something. The title of the book is not an accident. It’s not a cutesy title to draw attention. The title “The accidental species” is the central theme of this entire book. Everything about it is focused on the fact that it’s nearly pure chance that Homo sapiens.
Scientists may not like to talk about it and creationists make like to use is it as a red herring, but this book is full of evidence that humans are not special. We aren’t that unique, even in terms of brain power (tool use and sentience). Language isn’t unique to humans. Nor is how we think, with our ability to consider others and how they view actions.
This book contains a lot of discussion on contingency. That is, in science, a technical term for luck. I may not like it, but there’s supporting evidence and it’s something that bears thinking about. Another book I read and enjoyed (though it is significantly more technical) is called The Emergence of Life: From Chemical Origins to Synthetic Biology
Throughout our history, we were one volcanic explosion away from extinction. Some years ago there was a great deal of excitement over the discovery of the so-called “Hobbits”, Homo floresiensis. It appears that a volcano wiped them out. Since it had survived almost to present (12,000-13,000 years ago), it’s not impossible that had there not been a volcano, they would still exist.
Dr. Gee ends with the book very, very suddenly. I was shocked that he just stopped. He even mentions it in the afterword.
Several people who read excerpts of the draft of this book have, understandably, been distressed that I should walk away from this extended dustup without leaving even one tiny crumb of comfort.
And it’s true. If you read this book and really think about it, you should come away slightly depressed. It’s not a lighthearted, but trope laden romantic comedy. It’s reality. And reality is not all that friendly to humans… or any species for that matter. Well over 99% of every species that has ever existed is extinct. We’re not special. Homo sapiens has only been around for an eye-blink compared to others. Even hominids as a group haven’t been round all that long, barely 20 million years.
Even myself, an ardent skeptic, is saddened by the reality that humans are not special. It’s a telling statement about the built in biases that we all have.
In short, this book is going to make you think. It should, whether you want to think about it or not. I am still not sure if I can stand up in a room full of creationists and say, “Yep, that’s right, we’re nothing more than an accident.” But I might be able to do that soon.
Finally, I’d like to thank Dr. Gee for my new favorite line about creationists (and for him specifically stating that creationists have taken him out of context and missed the point of his previous books).
That said, I refuse to modify my thoughts for fear of being quote- mined by idiots. I tend to regard creationists as an occupational hazard, rather in the same way that those who go walking in the dark, looking up at the stars, will occasionally tread in a pile of dog shit.
In short, I encourage you to read the book. It’s not long, it’s not technical, but it will make you think. It’s a good read.
