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Ralph Hermansen's Reviews > Climbing Mount Improbable
Climbing Mount Improbable
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This book being reviewed is titled, "Climbing Mount Improbable". The author is Richard Dawkins, who just happens to be one of my favorite authors. I read this book years ago, when I developed an interest in learning more about evolution. I liked the book so much, that I bought copies for my four adult children. To my surprise, none of them completely read it. About a month ago, I decided to reread it and perhaps discover why my kids didn't take to it like I did. I also wanted to see if it appeared differently to me now that I had acquired considerably more knowledge about evolution via reading books by various authors.
Richard Dawkins has at least two things going for him: one is that he is extremely knowledgeable about zoology and about evolution. The second thing is that he has the gift of explaining complex scientific concepts to laymen who are not scientists. I have always admired people who could do this. The late Isaac Asimov was another with this talent. Richard Feynman was another.
Richard Dawkins can make a world of life forms awe-inspiring and fascinating. I remembered that as a child I was fascinated by the other creatures in the world with me. I think most children love animals and are fascinated by them. Somehow we lose that curiosity as we grow older. Perhaps it is the challenge of scratching out an existence or perhaps our school system destroys this natural curiosity due to tedious assignments. One becomes a child again, when reading Dawkins books.
One thing that I noticed in the second reading of the book, is that Dawkins is extremely analytical. Sometimes the concepts, that he is trying to impart, are very complex and his analysis is correspondingly complex. I suspect that this may be the reason my kids never read the book. I have a pretty good tolerance for reading scientific articles and there were times that I found that Dawkins had borrowed quite deeply into his analysis. I can understand why he might lose some readers along the way. This is not a criticism of his writing because the topic he picked happens to be complex. I do not think there is anyone alive who could do it better then him.
Mount improbable is a metaphor that Dawkins uses to show the pathways of evolution. Charles Darwin presented the world with the concept of slow gradual change in species over great spans of time. Dawkins is a modern day Darwinist, but he has the advantage over Darwin of knowing how traits are passed forward through the generations. Although Gregor Mendel was solving the puzzle of genetics at the same time that Darwin was writing his, " Origin of the Species", Darwin was unaware of Mendel's work. Dawkins is the living apostle of Darwin, with the advantage of genetic understanding. In fact, Dawkins is known for his book, "The Selfish Gene" and the relationship between the gene and evolution of life is a trademark of Richard Dawkins.
There are many interesting chapters in the book. Silken Fetters is a chapter about spiderwebs. He uses computer simulation to select the best web design and it is obvious to the reader that spiders over time came to a similar solution. There is detailed information about how a spider creates a web that should fascinate most readers. The 40 Fold Path to Enlightenment is the chapter about how eyes evolved independently at least 40 different times in the past. This is one of the longest chapters in the book and Dawkins is very thorough in covering the topic. The Museum of All Shells is a chapter about how shells can be represented by three parameters and how a myriad of shield configurations can be generated by a computer program. He discusses how several of the shell configurations closely resemble living creatures. Kaleidoscopic Embryos is a chapter about designing segmented animals containing planes of symmetry. Insects and spiders and crustaceans in the sea have body plans that fall within this domain.
Evolution is a constant theme in the book and the role of genes is constantly explained in each of the chapters as they take on one specific characteristic one at a time. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. It is available in paperback at a ridiculously low price. You may not find another deal like this where the ratio of joy of learning, fascinating stories, and wisdom imparted per dollar spent is so high.
Ralph D Hermansen, July 2, 2012
Richard Dawkins has at least two things going for him: one is that he is extremely knowledgeable about zoology and about evolution. The second thing is that he has the gift of explaining complex scientific concepts to laymen who are not scientists. I have always admired people who could do this. The late Isaac Asimov was another with this talent. Richard Feynman was another.
Richard Dawkins can make a world of life forms awe-inspiring and fascinating. I remembered that as a child I was fascinated by the other creatures in the world with me. I think most children love animals and are fascinated by them. Somehow we lose that curiosity as we grow older. Perhaps it is the challenge of scratching out an existence or perhaps our school system destroys this natural curiosity due to tedious assignments. One becomes a child again, when reading Dawkins books.
One thing that I noticed in the second reading of the book, is that Dawkins is extremely analytical. Sometimes the concepts, that he is trying to impart, are very complex and his analysis is correspondingly complex. I suspect that this may be the reason my kids never read the book. I have a pretty good tolerance for reading scientific articles and there were times that I found that Dawkins had borrowed quite deeply into his analysis. I can understand why he might lose some readers along the way. This is not a criticism of his writing because the topic he picked happens to be complex. I do not think there is anyone alive who could do it better then him.
Mount improbable is a metaphor that Dawkins uses to show the pathways of evolution. Charles Darwin presented the world with the concept of slow gradual change in species over great spans of time. Dawkins is a modern day Darwinist, but he has the advantage over Darwin of knowing how traits are passed forward through the generations. Although Gregor Mendel was solving the puzzle of genetics at the same time that Darwin was writing his, " Origin of the Species", Darwin was unaware of Mendel's work. Dawkins is the living apostle of Darwin, with the advantage of genetic understanding. In fact, Dawkins is known for his book, "The Selfish Gene" and the relationship between the gene and evolution of life is a trademark of Richard Dawkins.
There are many interesting chapters in the book. Silken Fetters is a chapter about spiderwebs. He uses computer simulation to select the best web design and it is obvious to the reader that spiders over time came to a similar solution. There is detailed information about how a spider creates a web that should fascinate most readers. The 40 Fold Path to Enlightenment is the chapter about how eyes evolved independently at least 40 different times in the past. This is one of the longest chapters in the book and Dawkins is very thorough in covering the topic. The Museum of All Shells is a chapter about how shells can be represented by three parameters and how a myriad of shield configurations can be generated by a computer program. He discusses how several of the shell configurations closely resemble living creatures. Kaleidoscopic Embryos is a chapter about designing segmented animals containing planes of symmetry. Insects and spiders and crustaceans in the sea have body plans that fall within this domain.
Evolution is a constant theme in the book and the role of genes is constantly explained in each of the chapters as they take on one specific characteristic one at a time. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. It is available in paperback at a ridiculously low price. You may not find another deal like this where the ratio of joy of learning, fascinating stories, and wisdom imparted per dollar spent is so high.
Ralph D Hermansen, July 2, 2012
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
July 2, 2012
–
Finished Reading
February 8, 2013
– Shelved
