- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books (April 16 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0738206075
- ISBN-13: 978-0738206073
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 16.3 x 2.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 612 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,592,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Oxford University zoologist Parker tackles one of biology's biggest mysteries in this nontechnical account. He provides a relatively simple explanation for the sudden explosion of life forms that defines the boundary between the pre-Cambrian and Cambrian eras approximately 543 million years ago: "The Cambrian explosion was triggered by the sudden evolution of vision" in simple organisms. In Parker's "Light Switch" theory, active predation became possible with the advent of vision, and prey species found themselves under extreme pressure to adapt in ways that would make them less likely to be spotted. New habitats opened as organisms were able to see their environment for the first time, and an enormous amount of specialization occurred as species differentiated. Parker claims that his theory is far more robust than previous attempts to explain the surge in diversity, even those most recently advanced by proponents of a snowball earth (the theory presented by Gabrielle Walker in Snowball Earth). In readable prose, Parker provides detailed information on the fossil record as well as a wealth of interesting material on the role light plays in environments and how vision operates across a host of species. Although at times his tangents are a bit distracting, Parker's book will bring his controversial ideas to the general public. Photos and line drawings.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The cause of the sudden appearance of major life-forms 540 million years ago, known as the Cambrian explosion, has been paleontology's biggest mystery and, next to the disappearance of the dinosaurs, its most fascinating to onlookers outside the science. Within the discipline, a new solution to the enigma has been boldly advanced, offered here in popular form by its expositor. Oxford zoologist Parker proceeds methodically, explaining, for example, what a phylum is, a point crucial to his theory because, contrary to popular perception, most phyla existed before the Cambrian explosion, he maintains. He believes that explaining the explosion means explaining the evolutionary advantages of organisms' external appearances, as discussed in the aptly titled Wonderful Life (1989) by Stephen Jay Gould. Building on Gould, Parker also revisits the celebrated Burgess shale central to that book, emphasizing the evolution of the eye in terms of its ability to detect light. Something fundamental changed in the earthly intensity of light and then in prey-predator dynamics, avers Parker, whose clarity will thrill science fans, as will his revolutionary theory. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great theory, described moderately well,
By
This review is from: In the Blink Of an Eye: How Vision Sparked the Big Bang Of Evolution (Paperback)
This book's theory is attractive enough that many experts ought to feel embarrassed that they didn't propose it earlier. It's not so much that people looking at the Cambrian explosion should have seen the evidence pointing to this theory - the book tends to indicate that some important pieces of evidence were only found in the last decade or so. What puzzles me is why nobody modelled the effects of the evolution of eyesight well enough to decide to go looking for the results in the fossil record. This makes me wonder whether a lot of experts are still uncomfortable with the punctuated equilibrium model of evolution.But the book's style leaves much to be desired. It often goes off on irrelevant tangents. The absence of references to scientific literature is disappointing. I'm annoyed by the way he presents numbers such as "543 million years ago" with little indication of how accurately they are known.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, I'll be the naysayer,
By A Customer
This review is from: In the Blink Of an Eye: How Vision Sparked the Big Bang Of Evolution (Paperback)
No thinking person can deny that the presence of light in the environment can be an important selective pressure. Indeed, as Parker argues, it may have been one of the most important influences on the evolution of locomoting organisms since locomotion began. In a very small nutshell, his thesis that adaptation to light, especially the development of sensory mechanisms to take advantage of light in the environment, is reasonably easy to believe.I am a student of perception and I wanted to be persuaded by Parker's argument, but the book itself is not well done. There is a ridiculous attempt to generate suspense about the conclusion Parker ultimately draws...a conclusion that is basically no surprise if you read the dust jacket. The language is often stilted and pedantic, to my eye, making me wonder if this isn't a warmed-over dissertation recast as pop science. The most irritating element of the book, however, is the routine citation of items from the research literature...but with no reference list to which to turn for the full citation. Even decent popular science books have at least a few sources for further reading, and notes of some sort for the particulars of research cited. Parker's book has neither. The book has some value (hence the three stars) for pointing out a variety of interesting elements of invertebrate visual system evolution, but does not help at all if one wants to follow up such threads. Okay, I'm not a paleontologist and not a biologist, so maybe I'm talking through my hat. Simon Conway Morris, however, IS an eminent paleontologist. If you want a truly informed review of Parker's book, see Morris's review in American Scientist, July/Aug 2003, p. 365 ff. Quoting very briefly: "The jaunty style becomes increasingly irritating, and the claims for scientific originality increasingly questionable."
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible that I can see.,
By
This review is from: In The Blink Of An Eye (Hardcover)
The story of how sight evolved 540 million years ago and what it did to fauna and flora of the earth. Unbeleivable that life could not see before that time. This is an excellent book, well put together and researching subjects other that those outlined in the book. An excellent buy which will amaze you and keep you reading.This book is a 10+ and recommended to buy.
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