The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals

A very interesting book expounding some recent theory and discoveries. Well worth reading for the scientifically curious.

An excellent book on the subject by Conway Morris.

Fantastic read, was so excited to get this and came in perfect condition

A little too flowery

An interesting, good value book focussing on a particularly rich source offossils that give a detailed account of the range of body plans thatemerged during the Cambrian explosion about 500MYr ago. Not suitable as ageneral text for students of evolution

Conway Morris's use of the time travelling scientists as a vehicle for providing the imaginary licence required to describe living ecosystems that existed half a billion years ago is original and neat, although I found it slightly childish and detracting from the academic nature of the subject of the book - the fauna of the Burgess Shale. Comments I've read about Conway Morris's style not being a polished as S.J.Gould's were well founded. However I don't think either of these two critisisms need deter from an enjoyable read, or more importantly distract from the author's main message - that contingency does not play the central role in evolutionary outcomes that other authors, especially Gould, would credit it with. The book not only tries to overturn the central conclusion of Gould's Wonderful Life, but also updates the field of Cambrian palaeoecology, to include insights gained from newly discovered fossil faunas in Greenland and in China, as well as correcting erroneous fossil reconstructions, most famously that of Hallucigenia. Going on previous reviews of Conway Morris's work, I had expected to read a near-religious interpretation. This work is as objective and scientific as any, and I found no affront to the scientific method or principle. If you are interested in the reconstruction of palaeoenvironments and the life that existed in them, or the nature of macroevolution, then I recommend this book, not only as a sensible counter-balance to Wonderful Life, but as a stand-alone interpretation of Cambrian life, and its subsequent evolution over 500 million years.

You have a choice in reading this book; take a senior course in evolutionary biology, or spend an hour carefully reviewing the introductory glossary. Don't be intimidated by this initial labour, however, there are great rewards awaiting you for the effort.Our present view of life's parade is unaccountably dominated by the parade of dinosaurs encountered in cartoons, advertising and poorly conceived cinema. Conway Morris brings to view the truly important period in evolution's pageant. Fossils of the Cambrian era were hidden from view until the 1909 discovery of a city-block-sized outcrop in the mountains of British Columbia. The Burgess Shale revealed fossils of a plethora of hitherto unknown soft- bodied creatures. Conway Morris recalls this find, and expands this initial discovery with other sites around the globe to give us a more intimate view of the creatures inhabiting that time.Reference to Stephen Gould's WONDERFUL LIFE is almost mandatory here. Conway Morris doesn't 'disparage' him, but shows that Gould's excited imagination and desire to support his invalid thesis of 'punctuated equilibrium' led him into fallacious assumptions. Conway Morris has brought hard science to point out the realities of the Cambrian record. Evolution's mechanics have been addressed from several angles. Conway Morris reviews these, offering sound critiques to each in developing his thesis. What caused the 'Cambrian explosion' of novel life forms? Predation. Animals that had scuffled along the sea bottom or waited for food to drift into reach were challenged by more ambitious life forms. Conway Morris has given us an engaging account of the development of life.There are few flaws in this account. It's amazingly complete for so brief a treatment. Conway Morris barely wastes a word [except an excruciating repetition of the phrase 'this remains controversial'] in his account. He covers the fossils, their form of life, and how these creatures led to the life forms we encounter today. This is not a 'specialist' book, but worth a purchase by anyone wishing to grasp the role of evolution in our lives.

If you read Stephen Jay Gould's 'Wonderful Life', you must read this, to get the story right. Gould might be more entertaining, but Morris will give you the facts. Very interesting.