Why Evolution Is True: Coyne, Jerry A.: 8601400309193: Amazon.com: Books (original) (raw)
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Customers find this book to be a fascinating read that serves as an excellent source of concise information, with one review highlighting its crystalline summaries of concepts like speciation. Moreover, the book is easy to understand and accessible to general readers, with one customer noting how each chapter builds on the previous one. Additionally, the writing style is well-crafted, and customers appreciate its clarity and conciseness, with one review mentioning how it properly defines often-misunderstood terms.
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257 customers mention content, 233 positive, 24 negative
Customers find the book engaging and educational, describing it as a fascinating and fun read.
But don't let the price fool you. Thank you Dr Coyne for such a great book. Can't more highly recommend.Read more
A good book that is well researched and logically presented....Read more
This is an excellent book, and most of it rates 5 stars, but I am giving it 1 star to call attention to the fact that it doesn't deal with evidence...Read more
...The book is aptly named and a great read. I'm a biologist and love using the book as a reference to many asked evolutionary questions.Read more
145 customers mention informative, 140 positive, 5 negative
Customers find the book informative, describing it as an excellent source of concise information that provides a thorough overview of evolutionary concepts, with one customer noting particularly clear explanations of complex topics like speciation.
An admirable book indeed. Lucid, informative and written with passion this book should be mandatory reading for everyone, especially people from the...Read more
...Prof. Coyne has produced a book which is thorough, accessible, entertaining, convincing, and extremely valuable as a means for conveying the innate...Read more
Well thought-through and highly informative, but dense and cold.Read more
Very important. Clear explanation of evolution in a way that makes any denial of it foolish....Read more
141 customers mention evolutionary truth, 134 positive, 7 negative
Customers appreciate the book's presentation of evolutionary truth, with one customer noting its remarkable job of presenting the evidence supporting Darwinism.
...overt and accesible approach in order to get the point across: Evolution is true. My favorite thing about it is how Mr. Coyne remains nonthreatening....Read more
...Topics include radiometric dating, geology, geography, fossils, genetics, observations, vestigial genes and others....Read more
Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne is essential to any personal collection; even more so if you enjoy science/biology....Read more
...I'm very unfamiliar with and Coyne's book served as an excellent introduction to evolution....Read more
80 customers mention readability, 74 positive, 6 negative
Customers find the book easy to understand and accessible to general readers, with one customer noting it provides a clear explanation of the theory of evolution.
...Every paragraph is priceless, important, easy to understand, and a pleasure to read. There is nothing tedious in Why Evolution is True....Read more
...Prof. Coyne has produced a book which is thorough, accessible, entertaining, convincing, and extremely valuable as a means for conveying the innate...Read more
...These are easy and enjoyable reading. And most interestingly, Coyne devotes an entire chapter to sex....Read more
79 customers mention writing style, 74 positive, 5 negative
Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, finding it well written and easy to understand, with a clear and succinct approach.
Very informative and well written. Help me a great deal to understand evolution. Would recommend to Christians as a good explanation of evolution.Read more
very well written, pulls information from several sources that shows multiple ways of dating and looking at the provided evidence....Read more
...It's very concise - you will read a beautiful example of evolution from the animal kingdom in 3 or 4 paragraphs...Read more
...One of the most important topics of our times beautifully written
26 customers mention story, 20 positive, 6 negative
Customers appreciate the book's narrative structure, with one customer noting how each chapter builds on the previous one, creating a coherent and understandable story.
Coyne does a good job of avoiding rhetorical arguments and opts for a straightforward exposition of the evidence....Read more
Fn to read, great narrative and strong evdence is presented in this book to all people that wish to understand a little more about evolution and cme...Read more
This is a great summary. Well written. The greatest show on earth is another good choice, but I would read this first.Read more
...it's ALL assumptions, presuppositions, interpretations, clever storytelling and pure mental pattern-making....Read more
23 customers mention clarity, 23 positive, 0 negative
Customers appreciate the clarity of the book's presentation, with one customer noting that it explains concepts without glossing over important details.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It's clear and coherent; I couldn't put it down....Read more
...Coyne is a very gifted writer, and he clearly and succinctly lays out the evidence for evolution....Read more
The book is clear, well written and easily read even by the layperson. I recommend this book for anyone that wants to learn about evolution....Read more
...It was so great to see such clear illustrations (I won't say evidence, because creationists think that word is evil) of how evolution not only could...Read more
19 customers mention conciseness, 19 positive, 0 negative
Customers find the book concise and coherent, with one customer noting how it clarifies often-misunderstood terms.
...It is clear and concise and puts the main arguments on the table. It didn't have the beautiful writing of Gould or Sagan but was still well written....Read more
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It's clear and coherent; I couldn't put it down....Read more
What an excellent resource a simple, concise book which neatly sums up the "theory" of evolution using up to date evidence from various fields of...Read more
...Coyne presents the overwhelming evidence for evolution in a clear, concise manner....Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2010
Although the title of this book is slightly unscientific, its author is not. As a firm advocate for biological evolution, Prof. Coyne chooses simply to assert its truth even though he is well aware that all scientific theories, even revered blue chips like gravitation and atomic structure, are subject to revision in the light of new evidence. One good reason for not calling the book "Why Evolution is Very Likely True" would be to counter the strangely unbalanced mindset and methods of evolution's more polarized critics. Ever since Darwin and Wallace jointly announced their independent formulations of the theory in 1858, people who compulsively doubt (or fear) its correctness have shown a tendency to overcompensate, that is, to interpret even perfectly normal scientific debates over the details of evolution as signs of the theory's impending collapse. So when the author baldly states that evolution is true, he really means (as explained on page 16) that its 150-year verification record has been more than sufficiently extensive to render negligible its chances of being false.
The mission of the book is to demonstrate in a clear and approachable way why such high confidence in the veracity of evolution is justified, and Coyne succeeds brilliantly at the task. In the preface he concedes frankly that no amount of evidence will sway those who oppose evolution "...purely as a matter of faith...," but he hopes to reach the many readers who are open to reason yet remain unconvinced that a few simple, wholly natural principles can explain the full diversity of life on Earth. The author's tone is friendly and conversational as he unfolds a well organized, well illustrated case. Along the way he specifically addresses the most common misunderstandings and fallacies associated with the "intelligent design" movement and its religiously inspired creationist core.
Coyne opens the first chapter by describing the essence of the theory and explaining why it was a bold, revolutionary and even shocking idea in Darwin's smugly comfortable Victorian milieu. He provides six key predictions (perhaps better termed "postdictions" ) which should be borne out by modern-era evidence if the Darwin/Wallace view is correct:
1. The fossil record, though inevitably thin and spotty, should contain at least some visible evidence of evolutionary change. Moreover, the complexity of life forms should tend to increase as layers of rock become more recent. The most recent rocks should contain the organisms most resembling present-day species.
2. Fossils should reveal at least a few cases where one line of descent branches into two or more lines different enough to be regarded as distinct species.
3. Fossil evidence should exist linking major groups such as birds and reptiles, and the corresponding strata should date to the periods when divergence would be expected.
4. Since many gradual changes within species are the required precursors of speciation, genetic variation of multiple traits should show up both in fossils and (much more rapidly) as a result of artificially guided selection by breeders.
5. By its very essence, evolution is locked into building new features from old ones, rather than starting with a clean sheet as an intelligent designer could. So organisms which have been evolved rather than consciously created should show multiple signs of successive ad hoc adaptations. In other words "good enough" rather than "perfect" should dominate.
6. Although evolution's pace is glacially slow compared with our own lifespans, some signs of ongoing natural selection in the wild should be evident to us.
Much of the material in succeeding chapters is devoted to showing in detail how the challenges implied by points one through six have been answered in the affirmative through the efforts of many researchers (principally biologists and paleontologists, but not excluding physicists and chemists) over the last fifteen decades or so. The author builds a case sufficiently compelling that one has to wonder why so much doubt regarding evolution persists in the public at large. Although Coyne's approach is overwhelmingly based on physical evidence, he also encourages the reader to see that there is nothing psychologically threatening about a world in which life has evolved naturally. In truth, it's a far more edifying and liberating environment than a fictional plutocracy set up and dominated by imaginary cosmic supervisors.
Chapter 5, "The Engine of Evolution," is particularly important in solidifying the author's thesis. Here Coyne discusses in detail the heart of evolution as a random source of variety (mutations in germ cell DNA) acted on by the automatic and emphatically non-random filtering function of natural selection. He goes on to take up one-by-one the most common challenges to the plausibility of evolution, such as how it can generate complex structures like bacterial flagella and camera-style eyes, as well as intricate multistep processes such as the blood-clotting cascade. Also made clear is why more than enough geologic time has passed to go from single cells to modern humans even at the very low rates of change observed in the fossil record.
The sole instance where I would differ with the author concerns a tangential point on page 225, where he claims that the task of finding meaning, purpose, and moral guidance is "outside the domain of science." On the contrary, don't many aspects of meaning, purpose, and morality involve principles or choices compatible with logic and evidence, thus remaining well within the reach of science? For example, our knowledge of genetics, gestation and the observable characteristics of infants helps make it clear that the practice of generational pass-through punishment (used repeatedly in the Bible by Yahweh/Allah himself) is deeply immoral. Similarly, the bizarre and psychologically harmful notion of "original sin" contravenes all we know about biology, and should be judged accordingly.
Prof. Coyne has produced a book which is thorough, accessible, entertaining, convincing, and extremely valuable as a means for conveying the innate grandeur and immense practical importance of evolution.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2015
There should not be a book called “why evolution is true” in the 21st century, just like there shouldn’t be a book named “why we know germs exist”, or “why we know the heart is pumping the blood”. Evolution is scientifically speaking; a long ago settled issue, and the evidence that it has happened and that it is continuously happening is undisputable. One of the reasons this book exist is because religious zealotry in the Muslim world and the United States has made the theory of evolution by natural selection highly controversial and as a result it is often dismissed amongst many in the public.
Creationists often claim that the there is no evidence for evolution, or that the evidence is equally well evidence for “creationism”. They can get away with these kinds of false claims because many people are unfamiliar with the evidence for evolution. This book “Why Evolution is True” outlines a long list of some very powerful evidence for evolution by natural selection. It also explains what evolution is and what modern evolutionary theory is more specifically; evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection, and it also discuss non-selective mechanisms of evolutionary change. In addition the book discusses various concepts within evolutionary theory, mutations, genetic drift, adaptive traits, speciation, modern findings, the history of evolutionary theory, as well as different variants and controversies within evolutionary theory. The book presents evidence for the various components of modern evolutionary theory in addition to just providing evidence for evolution.
One type of evidence for evolution (among many) comes from the fossil record. There are millions of fossils representing 250,000 different species (17 million to 4 billion species has lived on Earth). The fossil record shows that early life was simple with complex life appearing later, with the youngest fossils being most similar to living species. This is predicted by the theory of evolution but it is not predicted by the assumption of a creator. In the fossil record you can follow lineages; species of animals and plants changing into something different over time (including the so called transitional fossils). The book discusses apes/human lineages, wasps to ant lineages, fish to amphibians, reptiles to mammals, dinosaurs to birds, mammals to whales, lizard like reptiles to snakes, etc. The fossil record is also matched by the structure of DNA. All this is evidence for evolution but a problem for creationists. Other types of evidence discussed in the book include sub-optimality, vestiges, embryos, the structure of the DNA, and evidence from biogeography. The latter might be the most compelling and the most easily verified of all the evidence.
Unlike some other books on the topic “Why Evolution is True” is a fairly in depth book and not an easy read. Another book that I also recommend, “The Evidence for Evolution”, by Alan R. Rogers, is a brief but compelling overview of the evidence for evolution, and it is also a quick and easy read. Unlike, for example, “the Counter-Creationism Handbook” by Mark Isaak, this book is not focused on debunking creationist claims about evolution. The focus of this book is instead on explaining evolution and presenting the evidence for it in a thorough manner.
Overall I found the book to be enlightening and educational, and it was well organized and well written. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding evolution and the evidence for it a bit more thorough. I do not recommend giving this book to a creationist as they are likely to dig in and refuse to honestly consider the evidence. Reading it together with a creationist to help keep things honest is more likely to work.
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Top reviews from other countries
5.0 out of 5 stars Why Evolution is True
Reviewed in Germany on October 28, 2016
Im Prinzip ist es eine Schande, dass es ein Buch wie dieses geben MUSS. Da es aber leider genügend Menschen gibt, die naturwissenschaftliche Theorien in Zweifel ziehen (insbesondere die Evolutionstheorie, um die es in diesem Buch geht), sind solche Bücher leider notwendig. Für alle, die es immer noch nicht kapiert haben oder für diejenigen, die keinen Zweifel an der Korrektheit der Naturwissenschaften (und damit der Evolutionstheorie, speziell in ihrer modernen Synthese) haben aber die entsprechenden Argumente vielleicht nicht formulieren können, ist dieses Buch geschrieben worden. In anschaulicher Weise werden die (unzähligen) Belege für die Evolutionstheorie dargestellt und die Pseudoargumente religiös verbrämter Zweifler aufgezeigt. Wer nach Lektüre dieses Werkes immer noch nicht überzeugt ist, dem kann nicht geholfen werden.
4.0 out of 5 stars Bon bouquin mais ...
Reviewed in France on March 8, 2015
Ouvrage intéressant qui se dévore avec plaisir, mais l'auteur fatigue un peu à confronter sans arrêt ses arguments face à ceux des créationnistes. Faut croire que c'est utile outre Atlantique, mais personnellement je pense qu'il n'y avait pas besoin de se rabaisser à ça.
5.0 out of 5 stars Why Evolution Is True
Reviewed in Canada on June 6, 2014
This is a great book delivers a Solid account explaining the evolution and its ability to make predictions, its applications and of course solid evidence that's available to us all. I did my undergrads and grads in physics and this book gave me a great knowledge on the subject of evolution by natural selection. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning natural science.
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best introductory evolution books IMO
Reviewed in Turkey on August 27, 2025
The best introductory book on evolution. The
author presents detailed illustrations for
almost every piece of evidence he mentions in
the book, allowing readers to understand
evolution clearly--deep enough to see why
İntelligent design is unnecessary and how
evolution functions, but not so deep that it
becomes difficult to follow.
If readers ever find themselves in a debate
about evolution, this book provides more than
enough evidence to teach the truth with confidence.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best introductory evolution books IMO
Reviewed in Turkey on August 27, 2025
The best introductory book on evolution. The
author presents detailed illustrations for
almost every piece of evidence he mentions in
the book, allowing readers to understand
evolution clearly--deep enough to see why
İntelligent design is unnecessary and how
evolution functions, but not so deep that it
becomes difficult to follow.
If readers ever find themselves in a debate
about evolution, this book provides more than
enough evidence to teach the truth with confidence.
Images in this review
5.0 out of 5 stars Leitura maravilhosa!
Reviewed in Brazil on August 1, 2025
Leitura científica de qualidade!