The Tree of Life: Solving Science’s Greatest Puzzle

Evolutionary biologist Telford explores in this captivating debut history how the diversity of life on Earth came to be. To unravel this complex story, Telford turns to life’s evolutionary tree—the web of relationships between species, which scientists have been trying to piece together for centuries. He chronicles these efforts, from Charles Darwin’s early sketches to the computer-generated models molecular biologists are building today, and explains that researchers have been able to trace back all life on earth to a common ancestor, a cell that lived about four billion years ago referred to as LUCA, or the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Telford zooms in on milestones in evolutionary history, like how insects got their wings, and highlights the nuances of the evolutionary process that can lead taxonomists astray (just because two organisms look and act alike doesn’t necessarily mean they share a close relative). In the final section, Telford meticulously traces humans’ evolutionary path, from mere cells to fish then apes, Neanderthals, and, eventually, Homo sapiens. While some sections read like a textbook, there are intriguing details throughout, such as the fact that dogs are more closely related to bats and whales than the now extinct Tasmanian wolf, which they resemble. Readers will be wowed. (Nov.)