The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
- ISBN-10
- 1476776636
- ISBN-13
- 9781476776637
- Category
- Science
- Pages
- 480
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2019-08-06
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Author
- David Quammen
Description
In this New York Times bestseller and longlist nominee for the National Book Award, “our greatest living chronicler of the natural world” (The New York Times), David Quammen explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology affect our understanding of evolution and life’s history. In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field—the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level—is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important; we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived sideways by viral infection—a type of HGT. In The Tangled Tree, “the grandest tale in biology….David Quammen presents the science—and the scientists involved—with patience, candor, and flair” (Nature). We learn about the major players, such as Carl Woese, the most important little-known biologist of the twentieth century; Lynn Margulis, the notorious maverick whose wild ideas about “mosaic” creatures proved to be true; and Tsutomu Wantanabe, who discovered that the scourge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a direct result of horizontal gene transfer, bringing the deep study of genome histories to bear on a global crisis in public health. “David Quammen proves to be an immensely well-informed guide to a complex story” (The Wall Street Journal). In The Tangled Tree, he explains how molecular studies of evolution have brought startling recognitions about the tangled tree of life—including where we humans fit upon it. Thanks to new technologies, we now have the ability to alter even our genetic composition—through sideways insertions, as nature has long been doing. “The Tangled Tree is a source of wonder….Quammen has written a deep and daring intellectual adventure” (The Boston Globe).
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Tangled Trees: Phylogeny, Cospeciation, and Coevolution
By Roderic D. M. PageTangled Trees provides an up-to-date review and synthesis of current knowledge about phylogeny, cospeciation, and coevolution.
-
The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution
By Carl ZimmerUsed widely in non-majors biology classes, The Tangled Bank is the first textbook about evolution intended for the general reader.
-
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution (Great Discoveries)
By David QuammenTraces the twenty-one-year period between Charles Darwin's original idea about natural selection and the publication of "On the Origin of Species," in an account that offers insight into his experiences as a cautious naturalist.
-
Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind
By David QuammenOlson's fatal mistake was that while visiting a village on the Baro for a larkish vacation with some Peace Corps ... section of Time magazine: “Died: William H. Olson, 25, Cornell graduate ('65) and Peace Corpsman since last June who ...
-
A Tangled Tree: My Father's Path to Immortality
By Aiyanna Sezak-BlattWhen Moshe leaves, Aiyanna is left with a lifetime of pages to be written. But the book she writes is far from the reflection Moshe expected.
-
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
By David QuammenWolfe, Nathan. 2011. The Viral Storm: The Dawn ofa New PandemicAge. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt. Wolfe, Nathan D., Claire Panosian Dunavan, and Jared Diamond. 2004. “Origins ofMajor Human Infectious Diseases.” Nature, 447.
-
Wild Thoughts from Wild Places
By David QuammenThis collection of twenty-three of Quammen's most intriguing, most exciting, most memorable pieces introduces kayakers on the Futaleufu River of southern Chile, where Quammen describes how it feels to travel in fast company and flail for ...
-
The Christmas Tree Tangle
By Margaret MahyThis is a delightful tale to read along with Children at the festive season.
-
Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature
By David QuammenIn conversation with the journalist Robert D. Kaplan, as quoted in Kaplan's book The Ends of the Earth, Homer-Dixon said it more vividly: “Think of a stretch limo in the potholed streets of New York City, where homeless beggars live.
-
Tree: A Life Story
By David Suzuki, Wayne GradyThe richly detailed text and Robert Bateman’s original art pay tribute to this ubiquitous organism that is too often taken for granted.