Some assembly required : decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA /
Neil Shubin.
- First Edition.
- xii, 267 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Over billions of years, ancient fish evolved to walk on land, reptiles transformed into birds that fly, and apelike primates evolved into humans that talk and write. For more than a century, paleontologists have searched for links in the fossil record that show how such changes have happened. We have now arrived at a remarkable moment - fossil discoveries coupled with new DNA technology has given us the tools to answer some of the fundamental questions of our existence: Is our presence on Earth the product of mere chance? How do evolutionary leaps happen? This new science reveals a multibillion-year evolutionary history filled with twists and turns, trial and error, accident and invention. In Some Assembly Required, bestselling author of Your Inner Fish Neil Shubin takes readers on a journey of discovery, as explorers and scientists seek to understand the origins of life's immense diversity.