X-Message-Number: 32242 Subject: New evolution book by Jerry A. Coyne Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:55:36 -0500 From: ----------MB_8CC508EB2C6D1A4_2948_7162E_webmail-m049.sysops.aol.com While this is not directly applicable to cryonics, I know that many of our readers are interested in evolution. *Why Evolution is True* by Jerry A. Coyne (Viking, 2009) is a well-written, fascinating discussion of the subject. In a non-warlike style, Coyne carefully details the evidence for evolution and shows that the arguments against evolution and for creationism hold no water. But it is not simply -- or even mostly -- a defense of evolution. It is also a basic explanation of both Charles Darwin's original theory and the many ways in which it has been expanded and clarified over the last 100 years. Coyne is a professor at University of Chicago. One example of a detail I didn't know: Many people have pointed to our genetic similarity to chimpanzees as being proof of an evolutionary relationship. But Coyne warns that this is based on a weak and misleading statistic. While the difference in protein sequences between human and chimps average about 1 1/2 percent, that does not mean that we are 98.5% the same. Coyne notes that if you change 1% of the letters on the page of a book, you alter more than 1% of the sentences. Since the differences in protein sequences are spread out over the entire genetic code, it turns out that more than 80% of the proteins shared by the two species are different in at least one amino acid. He also notes that "More than 6% of genes found in humans simply aren't found in any form in chimpanzees." Coyne is careful to note many places what we still don't know and which "proofs" in the past are misleading. The book is fair, authoritative, and very interesting reading. Steve Bridge ----------MB_8CC508EB2C6D1A4_2948_7162E_webmail-m049.sysops.aol.com Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=32242