The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us

I learned more about embryology and human evolution from this book than I did in 4 years of university (granted, I was a marine biology major) and in my years since as a biology teacher. This book is outstanding. It gets into pretty good detail, though not so much detail that the educated layperson should get bogged down. A decent biology background or a good healthy interest in biology is definitely helpful. If you have read and enjoyed such books as Neil Shubin's "Your Inner Fish" and/or Sean B. Carroll's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" then this book will be right up your alley.I'll say this: I've never been particularly interested in human evolution, human physiology, and human development, mainly because so many biology courses I took were rather human centered (for example, when I got to physiology in high school biology classes, they were pretty much human systems only). Later years of university exposed me to so much other life on this planet and I was sick of human stuff, and that has rather stuck with me ever since. This book has rather changed that for me. It ties our evolution so neatly into that of so many other organisms by talking about how we are, how others are, and how the common ancestors may have been, that it has started a fire to my interest in how we came to be that was kindled by Neil Shubin's book.I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in evolution, embryology, and development, human or otherwise, to anyone who is interested in the great tree of life and how we fit into it. I'll definitely be recommending this to my more motivated students and former students who have gone on to study biology and medicine in university.If you want to know how your body works, how it got to work that way, and how these workings relate to our relatives on other branches of the tree of life, then getting this book is a very good idea. :)

I saw a review of this book and decided to order it. It's so fascinating. Ms. Roberts goes into great detail about the development of the human race and how we share so much ancestry with simple organisms from hundreds of millions of years ago. As I sit here typing this and using my eyes and brain, I think about the chapters on our brain and our eyes and the incredible development that took place to get us to this point. I'd like to point out that I'm not finished with this book, just on page 105. It's not easy reading as the type is a bit small and the vocabulary is sometimes difficult as she talks about specific areas of the body, brain, and eyes, using unfamiliar words for me. I usually read this book in front of my computer with the online dictionary open in front of me. That helps me with the pronunciation and the meaning of the words.

I was assigned this book for an anthropology class I took last semester and I have to say this was one of the coolest books I've ever read. It's steered more toward the anatomical and biological evolution of humans but presents the information in a way that makes it seem so "incredible." Very good read and I would recommend to anyone, even those not in school or studying anthropology.

I bought this book for my daughter, who is an RN. Confession being good for the soul, I read it before I gave it to her for her birthday. It's very well written, a great history of humans and how we've evolved over the eons. It isn't light reading, but it does flow smoothly and is very interesting.

Beautifully written, and well organized in presenting such a complex topic. Funny too. Being a retired physician already familiar with developmental anatomy, physiology, genetic patterns of expression and inheritance, and having read a lot about DNA mapping and epigenetics might have helped me to appreciate this amazing book more than readers new to this subject.

I'm a molecular/cellular biologist and I bought this book for my family to help expose them to the in's and out's of evolution. Took me awhile to find this book, but very happy I bought it for them

I enjoy Alice Robert's books and tv programmes, she engages so well with her audience, never talking down to them. This is a fascinating read. So pleased I could locate it as it has been out for a while.

A wonderful book - really helps you understand why humans are what they are.Also, great that it provides lots of illustrations.Its a complicated topic - and the author makes it easy to understand.

I did enjoy this book immensely. As a retired doctor I remember most of it from my years studying for biology A level and the anatomy and embryology syllabus for the 2nd MB part of the medical degree. And Alice Roberts makes it all much more digestible than I remember it at the time. However, the reason I haven't given it five stars is because there are a few niggly things about the text that I would have expected an editor to have sorted out. First of all there are two glaring errors that I picked up (there could be more). Lactose is described as a milk protein - it is, of course a sugar. And on discussing the analysis of spear heads to see if they had been thrown or used as a thrusting weapon Prof Roberts quotes an impact speed of 1000 m/sec. That, of course is 3600 kph or just under Mach 3. I am sure our ancestors were talented but since modern javelin throwers can only achieve 100 kph I think there is a discrepancy. Occasionally anatomical parts are given technical names without explanation that I understand having studied the subject at university but I think would confuse a lay person - perhaps occasional footnotes would have been a good idea. And finally several points are repeated almost verbatim on subsequent pages - which may work for a text book which you dip in and out of at different points but is a bit irritating for someone reading the text straight through which I believe is how it was intended to be read. I only make these comments not because I think that they detract from the authoritative nature of the book but because they are clearly the kind of error that can creep into any text on first draft but should be sorted out by an editor. I hope that in subsequent editions they do get sorted out because otherwise this is quite an extraordinarily good book.

Roberts begins by stating that her view of life, the world and herself has been changed by her giving birth and becoming a mother. The professor’s scientific expertise has been tempered by personal experience and that appreciation is clear throughout the book. This review is of the nearly four hundred page paperback edition on not the best quality paper; for those looking for elaborate illustrations - typical of some of her other books - will be disappointed. There are very few illustrations and they are black and white drawings.However, for those interested in the text, there is a great deal to enjoy and from which to learn. Roberts’ background is cross-discipline and the book exploits that experience.The twelve chapters are: Beginnings, Heads ad Brains, Skulls and Senses, Speech and Gills, Spines and Segments, Ribs, Lungs and Hearts, Guts and Yolk Sacs, Gonads, Genitals and Gestation, On the Nature of Limbs, Hip to Toe, Shoulders and Thumbs, The Making of Us.The scientific method - clear throughout the book - is explained: “It pays to be cautious about linking particular bone features to specific functions without extremely good evidence to back this up. In facts, it pays to be cautious in many areas of science. We formulate hypotheses based on what we already know, but a good hypothesis is one that has withstood being tested.” (Pp 301-302) She then proceeds to analyse and explain Ardi, our 4.4 million year ancestor, to show that knuckle-walking is highly unlikely, drawing other conclusions on our ancestor.This detailed analysis is typical of the rest of the book. Recommended.

Alice has such a talent for communication, her passion and enthusiasm for this subject is infectious, each element of the topic is written with intelligence and authority, yet easy for the lay person like myself to understand. She describes the similarities between the developing human embryo and other species beautifully, the anatomical comparisons between ape and human superbly illustrated and explained, I found the drawings too really added a delightful and personal touch. Tamed is my next read.

A superb wonderful book. I have learned so much and I plan to read it again and again. This book shines as a light in the darkness of human stupidity and superstition. It is not easy but it is so full of wonderful fascinating fact that I intend to learn more about physiology and genetics and go back and understand the hard bits. Just reading about the wonders of HOX genes justifies purchasing this book and there is so much more.

It is a certainty that some of the views or conclusions proposed by Professor Roberts will be disputed by fellow academics, but this has been the fate of all discussions of evolution since Darwin surfaced. Though not an academic treatise, this isn't a vulgar "science made simple" book; some may find it indigestible, and at present I have to limit myself to smallish chunks to stand a chance of the main principles lodging in my memory. But it is worth it!Alice takes us on a complicated anatomical tour of what makes us what we are, from the brain downwards, introducing us to many hitherto wholly obscure parts of our bodies. The tour takes in where those parts came from (a detailed expose from within the womb, as bits separate, turn into something else and finally end up as distinct bits recognisable to most), and how and when they most probably decided to choose or be chosen to emerge with particular functions. And sometimes where they did not take an expected evolutionary path, debunking some theories many of us may have grown up with.Prof Roberts uses the correct medical terms, but is very gentle on the lay reader, introducing them with clear descriptions and drawings, and then choosing words likely to be understood and grasped. Her skill is in turning what could easily have been a baffling textbook into something sufficiently comprehensible for non-specialists to follow - and a truly fascinating story evolves out of her easy-to-read writing. Hence the title, no doubt, as it sums up exactly the thoughts which permeate each fresh twist in the tale of how we have arrived.Thoroughly recommended, provided normally fast readers make allowances for large chunks of pretty dense fact being thrown at them!