‘Switek’s narrative is sweeping and fast-paced, and he has a knack for communicating difficult scientific ideas to a lay audience.’

Posted on 2012/03/12 , tagged as

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The Independent has reviewed Written in Stone: The Hidden Secrets of Fossils and the Story of Life on Earth by Brian Switek, describing it as ‘enthralling’.

Darwin’s theory was for more than a century dogged by a major problem: the evidence proving the connections between the main groups of organisms were nowhere to be found. By the 1970s this absence of ‘transitional fossils’ was hotly debated.

However, during the past three decades fossils of walking whales from Pakistan, feathered dinosaurs from China, and many more bizarre creatures have all been unearthed. Written in Stone is the first account of the remarkable discovery of these gap fossils and of the new stories they tell about the evolution of life.

You can read The Independent’s review here and more about the book here.