Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book. The author is exploring gene transfer and figuring out what a species actually is. It was a fascinating read, even though I don't know a lot about genomic evolution. It seemed to have too much in it though, the book was trying to be too many things at the same time. It's about evolution and species, but also a biography tribute to Carl Worse. It was a decent read, but maybe just not for me, with how much was going on. It was a little dry at times and dragged on. 3 out of 5 stars.

As usual, Quammen has produced a book that is both highly complex and absolutely clear, one that pulls together different moments in scientific history. If you're interested in the history of life and the ways scientists have conceived of it, this book is a must-read.

I found parts of this book frustrating. In particular, there was extensive discussion on how the Woese lab performed a significant amount of RNA sequencing using Sanger-sequencing. He even wrote out examples including uracil. However, this is misleading. We sequence the DNA, not RNA with Sanger. And while this may have been done to simplify the conversation, it was a pretty big jump to make without explanation.

It seemed like Quammen was trying to do too much. I wish he would stick to the main topic, horizontal gene transfer, which was what made me pick up the book. He covers every major topic in Microbiology, each in covered in a mere one paragraph. And they are so simplified that they serve no purpose. From reading these small snippets, I cannot tell if he simplified for the purposes of a popular science book or because he didn’t know what he was talking about. The author resides (at least part time) in a college town with strong microbiology department. It did not come across to me that he consulted this resource when writing this book.

I was actually offended two times so far when reading this book. One time, Quammen quoted van Niel “During those periods I would go home after a day in the lab and wish that I might be employed somewhere as a high-school teacher…it would give me some assurances that was I was doing was considered worthwhile.” Quammen concludes this must have indicated that must have indicated that van Niel was bipolar or new bacterial taxonomy very well. I find these conclusions confusing and can from experience that the majority of my PhD student peers have made statements such as, “If this doesn’t work out, I’m going to be a baker…or open my open restaurant…. or be a bookseller…. etc.” This in no way indicates that each PhD student in the sciences in bipolar. It reflects on the difficult nature of the work, infused with humor, self-deprecation and stress.

I did not finish this book. I really wanted to, however I could not bring myself to pick the book up again. In the future if I decide to read further, I will update my review.

Comprehensive, exhaustive, entertaining, at times gossipy, and altogether wonderful! If more science books were so rich with stories of the scientists, more students might be riveted to classes in genetics and evolutionary biology.

I cannot imagine the years of research that must have gone into the writing of this book. Interviews with authors living or then-living, now-dead, bring to life the drama and controversies and obstacles that beset even a rational scientist. Never mind scientific objectivity; emotions, and ambitions, fly high in humans of every field of endeavor.

I have hundreds, literally hundreds, of passages in my Kindle, highlighted, waiting for me to share, but there is that disclaimer about not sharing an ARC because this isn't the final version. So let me just say Karl Woese. O Karl!

I wanted to understand the sideways evolution thing. I wanted to be a doctor, back in the day; then a coroner, at least; but my fascination for science was never paired with a mind capable of grasping the mathematical intricacies. Which reminds me of Karl Woese, turning to a mathematician, not a biologist, to help prove a theory he had been working on forever.

Later, I might take the time to pull passages and rave, rave, rave over the details. If you find them too much, you can always skim past some of the biographical information and cut to the chase, the science, but then you may not find enough science left over. I'm thinking I need to find a Genetics for Dummies book that sticks to the science, skims past the personalities, and helps me tell someone what the heck I just read. Sadly, I am not able to sum it up off the top of my head. Books like this, I have to revisit, repeatedly, before it sinks in.

Oh, I know people who can read a chapter once, never give it a second glance, and score 100% on a test over the chapter. I am not one of those people. (Dr. Mat Weekly, can you copy some of your brain cells and do a genetic transfer over to mine?)

Yes, I'm thinking of getting him a copy of this book, but I'm not sure I want to hear how elementary and "easy" it is for people who really have the brains to fathom the stuff I love reading about.

This is a great book. I need to kee re-reading it, and I may need to find an easier book to explain it all, but this is still great! The narrative tone reminds me of Sam Kean (no relation to Carol Kean). Now, Sam writes in a way that doesn't overwhelm me, and he tends to keep his books a wee bit shorter and to the point.

But, again, if this one offers too much, skim past the bonus material and hone in on the meat and marrow.

This is a book at war with itself, trying to be many things at the same time. It is a well-written examination of evolution, the inadequacy of the standard tree metaphor for it, and the messiness of gene transfer. Quammen explores horizontal gene transfer and the uncertainty in what a species actually is, what an individual is (with all the little cells that live in us but don't share DNA). This is timely and fascinating stuff.

It is also a biography of, and tribute to, Carl Woese. I hadn't known of Dr. Woese before reading the book (I'm not a biologist), but he's the one who first expanded the types of life beyond the original two, to include archea. He was a pioneer in genomic evolution, i.e. studying how closely related organisms are by looking at their DNA. His story fits into what I otherwise see as Quammen's main point because his work and discovery complicated the idea of the tree of evolution and helped people to see the connections between very different forms of life. But Quammen spent a lot of time researching Woese, talking to people who knew him, trying to get the essence of the man, to the point that this becomes half a Worse biography and it takes away from his main point. The second half of the book is stronger than the first, because we get closer to modern history and the astounding discoveries made in the last 30 years or so, but with every new topic, Quammen returned to Woese, checking in to see what he thought of it. And, well, in most cases, Woese was a crotchety old man working to protect his legacy and feuding with anyone who disagreed with him. So yes, I very much feel like this weakened the book.

Whole chapters about Woese could be removed and the book could be improved and shortened. But I still give it 4 stars because of how well they key chapters on gene transfer are written. I learned some things, and that's always a good thing. He also spends quite a bit of time introducing us to biologists working in these fields, and that's well done as well. He keeps returning to the tree metaphor, and that results in a couple rather amusing interludes regarding imaginative topiary hobbyists.

His final chapter is the best, I think, and I wish it were the introduction. Maybe I would suggest reading it first. He says that he has worked to show us that three fundamentals of biology -- species, individuals, and the tree of evolution -- are misleading at best. He spends most of the time in the book on species, then on the tree, and least on individuals (although he recommends I Contain Multitudes for more detail on that subject, and I can't agree more). And for that, I highly recommend the book. But it will help if you're either intrinsically interested in Woese or maybe skim over his autobiographical sections.

I got a copy to review from Net Galley.

If, like me, you studied biology in the 1970s, this lively book by David Quammen will catch you up with new information and research while being entertaining at the same time. A romp through the history of evolution and the tree of life method of biological categorization reads like a mystery, with suspense and action. The main and very interesting characters are the scientists behind the new perspectives Quammen reveals in wonderful anecdotes and details drawn from his own interviews and research.

It’s a delightful mix of science and history, both informative and entertaining. Highly recommend.

This is a very thorough book on the development of the tree of life from Darwin's humble beginnings to the three domain system that Carl Woese developed. There are many more contributors of course, too many to name them all - Haeckel, Margulis, Doolittle - but this book is really an homage to Woese.

I have a fairly wide biology background, so some of this was review. I do feel the book is for professionals and would be over high school students' heads.