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How Evolution Explains Everything About Life Publisher's summary

How did we get here? All cultures have a creation story, but a little over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin introduced a revolutionary new one. We, and all living things, exist because of the action of evolution on the first simple life form and its descendants.

We now know that it has taken 3.8 billion years of work by the forces of evolution to turn what was once a lump of barren rock into the rich diversity of plants, animals and microbes that surround us. In the process evolution has created all manner of useful adaptions, from biological computers (brains) to a system to capture energy from the sun (photosynthesis). But how does evolution actually work?

In How Evolution Explains Everything About Life, leading biologists and New Scientist take you on a journey of a lifetime, exploring the questions of whether life is inevitable or a one-off fluke and how it got kick-started. Does evolution have a purpose or direction? Are selfish genes really the driving force of evolution? And is evolution itself evolving?

©2017 New Scientist (P)2017 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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