The Tangled Tree
A Radical New History of Life
Ranked #22 in Molecular Biology, Ranked #29 in Genetics — see more rankings.
Science writer David Quammen explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology can change our understanding of evolution and life’s history, with powerful implications for human health and even our own human nature.
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field—the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level—is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important.... more
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field—the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level—is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important.... more
Reviews and Recommendations
We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Tangled Tree from the world's leading experts.
Robert Macfarlane @josephQED @abinadi Quammen’s is a great book. (Source)
Barbara Kiser Quammen is one of the great science journalists, and this is a monument of a book—a masterful retelling of how the ‘tree of life’ was recast in the twentieth century by a band of original thinkers. (Source)
Similar Books
If you like The Tangled Tree, check out these similar top-rated books:
