RaveThe Boston Globe...an elegant and accessible account of a revolution in knowledge and perspective, one that has advanced without much public fanfare but has accumulated into a fundamental change in our view of life—and what it means to be human ... At times, though, he quails at the ferociously jargon-ridden language of modern biology, breaking the fourth wall to tell the reader not to worry about some scary sounding scientific stuff. Meant to reassure, such asides come across as an unneeded lack of trust in his own explanatory skill ... Mostly, though, Quammen has written a deep and daring intellectual adventure ... much more than a report on some cool new scientific facts. It is, rather, a source of wonder.
