The idea of evolution didn't originate with Charles Darwin. He and Alfred Russel Wallace were the first to identify natural selection as the mechanism for evolution. But throughout the ages, many thinkers puzzled over the possibility that organisms might change over time. This book traces the roots of evolution, the work of Darwin and Wallace, and the effect on the modern world. It does so in an engaging narrative style that makes it a compelling read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I already knew that John Gribbin and Mary GribbinI were great science writers, so I had high expectations for this book. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this book. The tone of the book is very conversational, more like having coffee with the two Gribbins than reading a book. The book covers a lot of ground and surprisingly contains up-to-date information. There are a lot of quotes from people who in the past, distant or not, wrote about evolution, so I was able to read what these people thought. I was concerned that the language of the quotes would be too abstruse but this was definitely not the case. Overall this is a great book and I recommend it for anyone interested in the history of science. Thank you to Netgalley and Rowman & Littlefield, Prometheus for the digital review copy.