The Variety of Life: A Survey and a Celebration of All the Creatures that Have Ever Lived | 
|  | | | Title: | The Variety of Life: A Survey and a Celebration of All the Creatures that Have Ever Lived | | Author: | Colin Tudge | | Publisher: | Oxford University Press, USA | | Type: | Book / Hardcover | | Publication Date: | 25 May, 2000 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0198503113 / 9780198503118 | | List Price: | $60.00 | | Amazon Price: | $129.12 (via Amazon marketplace seller) | | | |
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Product Description
Here, between the covers of one capacious book, is an illustrated summary of all the creatures that have ever lived, a vast compendium of earth's current and former inhabitants in all their dazzling and infinite diversity.
Colin Tudge argues that we are entering a new phase of biology in which, for the first time, biologists are achieving profound insight into life's true diversity and developing the tools to keep track of it. The Variety of Life heralds this new phase. The first part of the book describes why biologists now feel that there could have been as many as 4,000 billion species on Earth since life began. It then discusses the need for classification, beginning with the most basic principles--the strictly practical classification of fishmongers and foresters, who speak of "shellfish" and differentiate "hardwood" from "softwood"--and moves on to explore the intriguing deliberations of the modern "transformed cladists" and the novel contributions of molecular genetics. Part II describes the creatures themselves. It is divided into 24 sections, each describing a different group, illustrated by nearly 50 double-page spreads which present genealogical "trees" that summarize the evolutionary relationships between the creatures in each group. Some sections describe large, comprehensive groups such as the kingdoms of the Animals or the Plants. Others treat similar sub-groups in more detail, such as the Mammals, a class, or the Hominids, a family. In lively and accessible prose, all the significant groups of creatures--both alive and extinct--are described and their relationships clarified.
For general readers and serious biologists alike, The Variety of Life offers an unprecedented storehouse of knowledge of life on earth.
Amazon.com Review
It takes a brave writer to tackle the truly Herculean task of describing The Variety of Life with the astronomical numbers of organisms living today, let alone all those that have fallen by the wayside over the billions of years of life on Earth. No one is quite sure how many living species there are, but it is estimated to be somewhere between 10 million and 100 million. Fortunately, since the days of the great Swedish naturalist Linnaeus, around 250 years ago, life has been grouped and classified into hierarchical schemes. As a result, it is possible to encompass this enormous variety of life by describing the relatively few groups into which it can be clustered. And, since the mid-19th century and the Darwin-Wallace theory of evolution by natural selection, classification has taken on an extra, evolutionary dimension. Colin Tudge, a well-known British science writer, has training in whole animal biology and a self-proclaimed love for the natural-historical foray among our fellow creatures. The first part of this big book (all of 90 pages) deals with the thorny problems of what Tudge rightly calls the craft and science of classification. Since the 1950s, the word cladistics has terrorized many traditional naturalists and biologists. But it is here to stay, and Tudge provides a very welcome guide that will be invaluable to both lay people and students. The bulk of the text, nearly 500 pages, forms part II and includes the descriptions of the main groups, from the most primitive (alpha proteobacteria) prokaryotes to Eupatorium, a large genus of 1,800 or so species of plant. In between these two groups, at either end of the biological spectrum, lie all the more familiar bugs and beasts, including ourselves. Inevitably, given so many millions of organisms, difficult choices have to be made. Some groups are only dealt with at phylum level (for example, brachiopods), while others are detailed down to family level (for example, primates). Some extinct groups (not surprisingly, the dinosaurs) get a look, but not many overall. The short epilogue concerns conservation and is followed by a useful reference list of sources and an index. Altogether, the 600-odd pages are enlivened with a large number of excellent black-and-white drawings of individual organisms and diagrams illustrating evolutionary relationships. For all natural historians and anyone interested in biology, the The Variety of Life is a must. --Douglas Palmer, Amazon.co.uk
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Customer Reviews:
• A Magnificent Reference Text For Biologists 20 May, 2003
This book pulls together an enormous amount of information and makes it digestible to the average undergraduate - no small feat. It's scope is magnificent, as is its treatment of fundamental concepts of evolution. Although I think there are some problems with the sections on extinct birds and cetaceans (based on new discoveries), Tudge does as well as anybody could in defining outgroups and sister taxa, always erring on the conservative side. I think the most novel and thought-provoking portion of the text concerns the number of kingdoms we might now wish to recognize - I discuss Tudge's reasoning for this with my biology undergraduates and it never fails to make an impression. A splendid accomplishment, and I'm waiting eagerly for a second edition, and a third, and so on. Well done Dr. Tudge, and sincere thanks.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A4OA1T5CZJRLH
• My Best Biology Book 22 June, 2006
It is hard to imagine why anyone could give Tudge's book less than 5 stars. With what must you compare the work, to justify less than 5? Tudge has a friendly, graceful style, the book is full of most fascinating information and I have not seen any even remotely comparable biology text. And any reader of Tudge tempted to give credence to one of the numerous primitive myhths about origins, such as those in the Bible, must be moved to wonder how even the most diligent Divine Design Department could have produced such a vast number of different species in 6 days - e g 300,000 sorts of beetles, 120,000 species of butterflies and moths, literally millions of sorts of bacteria and so forth. As scientists so often argue, and Tudge amply demonstrates, the facts we now know are more interesting and marvellous than the ancient myths.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2RAP594CVOBOT
• In Fiction This Would Be An Epic! 19 February, 2003
An imposing book by a major science writer, Tudge rightly subtitles this work "a celebration." Although at first glance the book seems overwhelming, Tudge has broken down his feast of life into easily consumed portions. After an excellent overview of the history of classifying life, he allows the reader to choose among the many types of animals and plants. One can jump to insects, birds, fish or reptiles for more detailed evolutionary accounts and modern examples. Unable to resist, i skimmed over a few more esoteric examples to settle down to Primates and Hominids. This section provides a superb overview of current knowledge, distinguishing clearly what is known and what is supposed. This was familiar territory but delving in the other sections proved equally rewarding. However, this also suggests a warning that the book is not a "cover-to-cover" exercise. Tudge opens with the problem facing many new students of biological sciences - how to deal with the immensity of information confronting them. There are, he notes, over two million species described already. No-one disputes the number is far below the actual total life contains - but what is the realistic total? Estimates range as high as 100 million - an almost inconceivable figure. He accepts the more likely total as around thirty million, recognizing that such numbers remain out of human ken. From this, he builds his case that classification systems are necessary. What's required is a classification method that anyone can grasp. He finds the solution in the idea proposed by German entomologist Willi Hennig - cladistics. This system arranges life by characteristics, avoiding confusing generalities and the arcane mysteries of genetics. As Tudge argues, cladistics has become fourth phase of classification systems, and the one likely to endure.The "technical" sections of the book, covering the multitude of life forms each open with a descriptive essay followed by a "tree" of relationship among various species. This structure makes the book an excellent reference work and will keep it valuable for many years. The illustrations are designed to impart general information, not scientific detail. Neither are they simplistic as the supporting comment provides pointers to consider when viewing them. Tudge groups the text and graphics nicely, allowing visual and text comparison without constant page flipping. As with any author confronting the immense cargo of information available in biology, Tudge was forced into a selective process in creating a bibliography. It's not an enviable task. The list appears sparse, a heavily pruned tree arranged by chapters. He indicates his preferred references, but only by using his sources will you discover whether more bountiful reading is listed in them. This lack in no way impairs the worth of this effort, however. There are countless book lists available. Anyone with an interest in life will treasure this volume.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AJDYDG7YZY9QL
• The Fantastic Panorama Of Life 21 July, 2003
Colin Tudge has produced a remarkable book that captures the complexities of the Earth's biota. Probably already somewhat out of date (phylogenic studies are producing new results at a fantastic rate) this book is still a necessary reference for biologists everywhere. The old two-kingdom concept, which gave way to a five-kingdom concept, is now a multi-kingdom concept. At the very least we should have six kingdoms- Animalia, Fungi, Plantae, Protoctista, Archaebacteria and Eubacteria. The exact final number is yet to be decided. However, it can be easily argued that the Protoctista and the Bacteria could be broken into even more kingdoms and indeed several authors now talk of at least three domains, containing procaryote (bacterial) and eucaryote kingdoms.All of this is primarily a result of studies on DNA and other chemicals of life. This research has especially shown the bacterial and "single-celled" organism world to be much more complex than anyone ever thought. From slime molds to cyanobacteria and oak trees to humans, the variation on life on this planet is what fascinates biologists. Tudge's book is a very good review of this extreme diversity and gives us a very good reason to avoid destroying it! Read this book if you are interested in the diversity of life on Earth.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2MTF17UI0UTL7
• You Will Never Look At Life On Earth The Same Way Again 02 March, 2004
Professor Tudge has done all of us a great service with this terrific book. He lays out a clear way for generalists to get a basic understanding on the way life on this planet is related at present and into the past to our best understanding of life's origins.He explains a variety of classification systems (and some specialists might disagree with his characterizations - but that is a smallish point to those of us who aren't specialists) and provides wonderful illustrations that give us a broad sweep of how the branches flow together in the past. He explains the current limits of our understanding. And he has a wonderful treatment of the Domains as currently understood - Bacteria, Archae, and Eucarya. Obviously, most of the book is on Eucarya because that is most interesting to us humans, but the bulk of life on earth is bacteria and that is kind of interesting to understand. This book really updates my understanding of what I was taught in 7th grade biology too many years ago. I think every bright high school student ought to read it as well as anyone who wants to understand the amazing range of life now living and that has lived on this earth. You won't look at your life here the same way ever again.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AUHG8KSHI529U
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