The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life Hardcover – January 1, 2016

One of the most detailed books on evolution for a non scientific publicum I have ever seen. And even for biologists, it has lots of information and interesting insights.The way Dawkins leads the reader through a backwards history of human evolution is original and amusing. The points he chooses as "rendevouz" are used to explain basic concepts in biology, evolution and related sciences, even good explanations on mathematical tools used in evolutionary studies.After he completes the backwards journey to the origins of life, the last quarter of the book is a little "dry" to read, but this is probably a misperception due to the easy reading of the rest of the book.A good reading for curious non-biologist and also for biologist looking for new ways to teach evolution.

Like all Richard Dawkins' books, The Ancestors Tale makes you feel like you've just downed a brain tonic - an exhilarating joy ride through time. Only criticism is that it leaves you hungry for more!

This is a splendid book. The concept is original using Chaucer's Caterbury Tales as a loose structure for the book. What appealed to me was the retrograde search through paleontology for the last common ancestor. Although this is a widely addressed topic, the process of taking the reader on a backwards journey, gradually meeting fellow pilgrims (related species) kept me hooked throughout. The book was also refreshingly (almost) devoid of Dawkins' usual religious rants, with his atheism explicit, but not expressed with his previous missionary zeal. For anyone with an interest in evolution, this is an excellent read.

This is a well written and illustrated book that, while quite technical in many places, explains itself quite well. My only complaint is that this 500+ page tome weighs about five pounds and it is quite a handful in bed...

As with all of his books that I've read Dawkins is thorough in his arguments to the point of slow and long winded. Luckily the content is such that thoroughness is not only needed, but desired, and the topic so fascinating and well described by Dawkins that you are absorbed by the book anyway.If you want an everyday understanding of evolution this is the place to go, but be prepared to put some time in.

This has been my favourite book since I happened upon it in 2010, and will probably remain so for my lifetime. Just had to have it on my phone!

I couldn't put it down. Love the writing. Learned so much! The Peacock's tale is fun to read. Inspiring. Will read the book again & again. Many thanks Richard Dawkins, for all your books. You're my favorite author.

Want to know what the real story of evolution is. That a Chimp is probably your 500,00th cousin and many other mind-bending factoids. Get the good oil here, together with all the current scientific arguments about the exact details. After carefully reading this you will stop believing in the Noa's Ark fairy tale if ever you did!

A tour de force by Professor Richard Dawkins, taking us on a delightful and truly amazing trip up to billions of years ago to meet our ancestors.This book, not always an easy read for those who like me are not directly involved in some way with biology, leaves no doubt about the veracity of evolution and the force of natural selection in the shaping of life on earth. In this incredible journey backwards, Professor Dawkins clearly pursues, unlike the creationist mind, not his truth based upon personal belief but the truth based upon the abundant known facts available to science today, therefore never forgetting to point out other possibilities and different points of view with a wide range of new rearrangements to be disclosed in the future.In his own words, "my objection to supernatural beliefs is that they miserably fail to do justice to the sublime grandeur of the real world." And this is exactly one of the main aims of this book, to excite the human mind and curiosity with the wonders of the real world, making us simultaneously more humble and better human beings.

This classic work on the natural selection processes in evolution has been brought right up to date in this new edition by the joint authorship skills of Dawkins and Wong. While it has not, in any way, been dumbed-down, it explains fully all the new developments that have come to light yet is still fully accessible to anyone interested in the amazing sequences of life development on Earth. It journeys in reverse. It starts at the present day and travels backward through time. It contains a wealth of both coloured and black and white photographs, maps and line drawings which supplement the text and aid understanding. The fascinating fractal illustrations work well to explain the diversity of life in a compressed format, but, to get the most impact from the fractals, you should visit the book's web page. At the back you will find a comprehensive index and a great bibliography. If this is the only Pilgrimage you undertake during your lifetime, I'm sure you will find it a most rewarding one.

I have had the original edition of this excellent book which I rate highly and I hope that the narrative and argument will live up to the standard set by that first edition. I welcome the new material. However I am disappointed by the production quality of this book, the paper is coarser and thicker resulting in print that lacks crispness and makes the book rather thicker than it need be. I have loaned my first edition to another so am unable to compare content across both.

Every 'chapter' of this unusual book is fascinating on its own and, taken together, the stories link to become a story of humanity's amazing upward climb from the very beginning to our present 'perfection?' I haven't read it all yet because, like I said, each chapter stands alone as a good read and the many fractal diagrams add to the fascination. But I have read enough to know that I love the unique approach, which even though the amount of brand new knowledge is limited, puts it all in a fresh and comprehensible perspective. So yes, I think The Ancestor's Tale is excellent for any non-specialist interested in the story of evolution. Buy it and be fascinated, but I think that only the hard-back version will allow you to see every detail of the fractal diagrams. Without seeing the illustrations clearly it will be difficult to gain full understanding of the text ! The fractals also help you realise what a tiny fraction of the whole story we really understand.

This is my first Dawkins book but it won't be my last. He has such a clear way of explaining things that you feel he is chatting to you. And with good humour too. He largely avoids his arguments with creationists and simply sets out the detail of the science, all the time correcting any common misunderstandings about the workings of nature with great integrity. He is quick to say when details are uncertain, and also to acknowledge areas where there may be differing opinions.Treating the story as he does, as if we are on a pilgrimage to meet our ancestors whilst meeting other pilgrims on the way, is a brilliant idea. He does go into some of the science in quite some detail, and a couple of times I did get slightly lost. Some prior knowledge of biology is definitely an advantage. By the end of the book I felt I had a very clear understanding of the entire span of the evolution of life and this seems to me to be the current definitive guide to the history of life on earth. I now just need to choose which of his books I'll read next.

I randomly picked up a copy of this book whilst visiting The Wellcome Trust in London. I started reading a few pages and was immediately hooked. I've never read anything by Richard Dawkins before but I like his writing style; conversational yet clear and succinct with his explanations.It being such a large book, I bought a copy for my kindle. A few of the reviews have been negative about the quality of the images on the kindle. Whilst I agree that they don't work so well on my paperwhite, viewing the charts & images via the Kindle Cloud Reader works excellently, and I suggest you take the time to view the various "plates" that way; you get view the images in colour and the hyperlinks work.I will leave you with a quote from the end of the book, I hope it will entice you to start from the beginning..."If it's amazement you want, the real world has it all. Not to stray outside the covers of this book, think of Venus's girdle, migrating jellyfish and tiny harpoons; think of the platypus's radar and the electric fish; of the horsefly larva with the apparent foresight to pre-empt cracks in the mud; think redwood; think peacock; think starfish with its piped hydraulic power; think cichlids of Lake Victoria, evolving how many orders of magnitude faster than Lingula, Limulus or Latimeria?"

I'm a lazy reader and tend to 'cheat-read' books by getting the audio CD version, which has the virtue of being quicker and good for car journeys. In this case however, I have BOTH read AND listened to the book since the author had the foresight to provide good versions of both (which is surprisingly rare). Hence I have two reviews - this one and 'Imagine no Religion' (see below).The first thing that struck me about these CD's is that they are different to the book. Not only are they abridged but the language is changed to emphasize different points and to be more palatable to the ear. With reading the book, a lot of the stuff flew over my head (e.g. Cholanoflagellates) and I'm glad such things are abridged here.The second is the presence of Lalla Ward, who seems to cover the large quotations Dawkins often uses in his works and also seems to read the more technical (or rather more mundane) parts of the tales. Having listened to the whole of  Origin of Species , I am thankful that the narrator varies a bit as occasionally Dawkins can read things as known that are unknown to his wife (& so read differently).In terms of content there is still the rich variety of tales (including my favourite: the Duck-billed Platypus) and I can only recall a few interesting Gambits which have been left out (e.g. Eve evolving 40,000 years before Adam & the Paedomorphosis of Man story).My one criticism is that the Ancestor's tale is very detailed and involves lots of left-brain work. If you are listening to this in a car (or even typing a review!) then it is hard to fully follow the reasoning. Maybe this is because Men can't multi-task, but I'd be bold enough to suggest that even women may find this difficult...To conclude then, audio CD's are often overlooked as a medium and it is to this one's credit that it is adapted to the ear, just as the book is adapted to the eye. If you know of anyone who hasn't read the book then I'd suggest giving them this as a starter, and the hard backed version of the book (with its shiny pictures) as a main course. As one of my fellow reviewers says: 1 copy of this book should be given to every member of mankind, to put the doubts about evolution to rest. Whatever you can do to play your part is to your credit.***Imagine No Religion****Having read 3 or 4 Dawkins books, I get the distinct impression that he majors on 2 subjects: atheism and evolutionary biology. The great virtue of this book is that Dawkins is waxing lyrical about something he loves rather than something he hates (bar the final chapter) and hence shows what a great scientist he really is.Whether this was intentional or not is hard to fathom but I feel that his magnum opus is Biology and the beauty of the wording combined with the immense depth of his research remind you of the flipside to this book -  The God Delusion .Before I started this book I was skeptical as to evolution and didn't believe in Bio or Abiogenesis. Since I have read it, I have found the measured tone and skillful combating of creationism in this book have won me over and I'm am now a far bigger fan of his than I was before.Of course, there is the last chapter where the supernatural is derided as not adding to the beauty of evolution. But even this chapter is measured and subtle, rather than polemnical.As the cliche goes: if you don't believe in evolution, read this [Dawkins] book. But further to this, if you think Dawkins is Satan's son and is not an excellent scientist, then this book should also be top of your reading list rather than the latest CS Lewis... Origin of SpeciesThe God Delusion

Reading this scintillating book is rather like watching an excellent nature documentary, with included CGI reconstruction of extinct life forms, added to an awe-inspiring, encyclopaedic account of the myriad of techniques and tricks in the biosphere.Dawkins vividly conveys an amazed humility, sense of wonder, and awestruck reverence..The book is laid out with a poetic narrative theme of a `pilgrimage', backwards through evolution, to the speculative origins of life (or as Dawkins prefers, `origins of heredity').It's a work of staggering scholarship, teeming with fascinating information. Interspersed between the purely informative chapters, Dawkins supplies a stimulating series of more reflective pieces, each `authored' by an appropriate character (e.g. the dodo's tale, the grasshopper's tale).To read it is to be delighted and inspired by nature's wondrous complexity, viewed through Dawkins' clear-minded lens, and to be overwhelmed by the astonishing beauty of the evolution story

If you've ever wondered about the Why? How? and Where about Human and Mammalian evolution then this is the book for you. It is complicated and it is, in some places difficult to understand the technical terms used by the author. However, if you just re-read the paragraph and use your brain to work it out then you will get there. Which by the way is also a summing up of the outcome of this book!Before I read the book I had very little time for the religeous "creationists out there, I now have absolutely no time for them, or their crackpot ideas! This book, and the subjects covered in it, should be guaranteed teaching in every school. Thank you Richard Dawkins, and colleagues for the opportunity to think and wonder!

This book contains all the information you expect and some color plates which add interest to the story. This edition is relatively cheap but this is reflected in the poor quality of the paper which was already discolored when it arrived. If you just want to read the book once this is fine but if you are looking for a book to add to your collection of Dawkins books you should consider a higher priced option.

A fascinating tale of human ancestory. The update could of brought in more detail around Neandertals and their origins and focussed a little too much on pre Cambrian guesswork. But a really worthwhile read.

Ordered on 15 June 2015I am a Richard Dawkins fan-boy, so this short review is not unbiased.This is brilliant and beautifully written, with a huge variety of short tales from different species' perspectives, stepping gradually further into the past.It also has some great pictures and diagrams to complement the writing, and to introduce each chapter.I just wish that everyone would read this book, and think about how incredible the world is. Buy it, enjoy it, and share the enthusiasm you take from it.

I was expecting an epic tale, historical drama, that moreover is based on reality, the history of evolution from a conscious observer each stage of evolution. Such as a voice from the past, how they might have seen the world back then.However, each stage, briefly covered was not to my expectation. :-/However. in its own way, it was a good book. I only wish certain things were expanded upon.But of course, Story telling isn't want Richard wrote this. Its science that is Dawkins passion. On that front it delivers.

Arrived in good time, started reading straight away!! Information about us as a race is always interesting & Richard Dawkins is a gold mine of information. So far so good

This book is by far my favourite Dawkins book so far, an excellent and in-depth account of evolution.Dawkins' writing style lends itself to easy understanding - the book is very easily read. He even panders a little to the human desire to believe evolution is working towards us by writing as a human looking at all of the other 'Lesser' (blah) lifeforms who 'join' us on out pilgrimage backwards in time to ultimately find out where the origin of life was. It is illustrated nicely with some nice and up to date phylogenetic trees to provide a nice accurate view of how all of life is connected and when coupled with Dawkins' very clearly written explanations for many feats of evolution and how they connect certain species, genera and phyla, this book is a definite must have for anyone, for those versed in evolution & for history deniers alike!