Dawkins: Ancestor's Tale. Evolution backwards from us.

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redshirt

Shaun Johnston:
In modern times we've made two revolutionary discoveries. One is, how changes in physical matter can be accounted for in terms of physical laws that can predict precisely what will happen next. Having given rise to science (how this can be studied) and industry (how it can be applied) this revolution is well under way.

The second revolution is, how emergence of species of living creatures can be accounted for in terms of them evolving from one another. This revolution, despite its promise of how much it could tell us about ourselves, remains stillborn through the mistaken application to it of principles coming out of the first revolution--reductive physicalism.

For this second revolution to advance it should be taken from under the wing of science and studied on its own terms. Tip: one recent product of evolution is creatures with minds. Minds are better studied through methods of the humanities than through those of science. Tell me, does this interest you?

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Richard Dawkins

The Ancestor's Tale: a Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution

If you're looking for a one volume summary of what happened in evolution, this could serve. Dawkins' overview has several unusual and important features. First, it traces our ancestry specifically, which is helpful when it's the origin of the human self you're interested in. Second, it begins with us and traces our ancestry backwards in time, which is helpful if you're concerned to trace signs of human nature back through the course of evolution. Third, Dawkins measures time in years, instead of in periods or aeons. And fourth, of course, it's by Dawkins and his team of research assistants, well-written and authoritative.

I recommend skipping quickly through Dawkins' initial set-up of the "ancestor's tale" metaphor and, later in the text, his tedious endorsements of Darwinism. Interspersed with coverage of creatures, though, is an otherwise painless coverage of many aspects of evolution.

Below, microdata:

Shaun Johnston Evolution for the Humanities
The Ancestor's Tale Richard Dawkins evolution