If you want to contemplate your place in the great scheme of things then The Individual in Darwin’s World by Stephen Jay Gould, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £3.99, ISBN 0 297 81665 9) is an insight into current evolutionary thinking. The book explores “Geology’s frightening fact” – its vast timescale – and contains inspiring analogies which show that we are just part of the world’s haphazard journey through time. There is no room for destiny. Gould takes us through what it means to be an individual, firstly for us humans and, secondly, for the process that control us, evolution.
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Health
How ageing on Earth mimics the effects of space travel
Comment
Mathematics
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
51¶¯Âþ
Mind
Epic dreaming is leaving people exhausted and distressed
51¶¯Âþ
Health
Women’s better memories may delay Alzheimer’s diagnosis by years
51¶¯Âþ
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles
1
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
2
Photos reveal unexpected details from the world's first atomic test
3
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
4
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
5
How I used psychology to come back from the worst year of my life
6
Women’s better memories may delay Alzheimer’s diagnosis by years
7
Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan
8
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
9
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
10
PMOS shows us why many scientific terms need to be renamed
