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Some Assembly Required

Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA

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About this listen

 An exciting and accessible new view of the evolution of human and animal life on Earth. From the author of national bestseller, Your Inner Fish, this extraordinary journey of discovery spans centuries, as explorers and scientists seek to understand the origins of life's immense diversity.

“Fossils, DNA, scientists with a penchant for suits of armor—what’s not to love?”—BBC Wildlife Magazine

Over billions of years, ancient fish evolved to walk on land, reptiles transformed into birds that fly, and apelike primates evolved into humans that walk on two legs, talk, and write. For more than a century, paleontologists have traveled the globe to find fossils that show how such changes have happened.

We have now arrived at a remarkable moment—prehistoric fossils coupled with new DNA technology have given us the tools to answer some of the basic questions of our existence: How do big changes in evolution happen? Is our presence on Earth the product of mere chance? This new science reveals a multibillion-year evolutionary history filled with twists and turns, trial and error, accident and invention.

In Some Assembly Required, Neil Shubin takes readers on a journey of discovery spanning centuries, as explorers and scientists seek to understand the origins of life's immense diversity. Biological Sciences Biology Evolution Evolution & Genetics History History & Philosophy Science Paleontology Natural History Discovery Evolutionary Biology
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An excellent explanation by a professional palaeontologists of how the field has been transformed by insights from molecular biology, genetics embryology and using new technology including gene sequencers and crispr. A really good story well told

Evolutionary biology transformed

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A Fascinating story with many twists and turns pointing to the molecular nature of the complexity of life.

Great and fascinating story

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