All living organisms, including ourselves, are the product of how their dead ancestors lived and the diseases and deprivations they suffered.
Whether we are talking about a lizard that spends its days scurrying across hot Sahara sands, or a human being working in a Manhattan skyscraper, we are all a Genetic Book of The Dead, waiting to be read.
That book is complicated, and, for now, much of it remains illegible to science. We can, however, read those parts of the book that explain why we – all living things – look the way we do. Why a leopard has spots, a porcupine has spiny defences, or a given human has dark skin.
In time, the author says, it will be possible for scientists to be able to also read those parts that explain our internal make-up; the bits that tell us why our organs are the way they are, or even why the biochemistry of a single bodily cell is the way it is.
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Richard Dawkins is on solid ground in this book, sticking to the science of his fascinating topic – exploring where we all came from and where we are going. Mostly, he wisely resists the temptation to have a go at his old foes – the “creationists” – for refusing to accept that science can explain all.
The book is beautifully illustrated and contains engaging, often witty tales about how creatures like the elephant seal, angler fish, bonobo monkey, or the octopus came to look and behave as they do.
One criticism would be that at times, the author appears to assume that his readers know more science than they might actually do. This may discourage non-scientists who are unable to easily follow the text.
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In the end, the author leaves us with the proposal that our genes – and those of all living things – are nothing more that a collection of viruses, “good companions” that have long shared the same destiny as ourselves.
These genes want us to survive, sure, but only long enough for us to reproduce so that they can be passed on to the next generation, and then the next. Our genes, thus, achieve genetic immortality, while we – their temporary mortal vessel – are left behind to wither and die.
