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Blueprints: Solving the Mystery of Evolution
represents the second joint effort of Maitland A. Edey and
Donald C. Johanson, authors of the international bestseller
Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. It is a fascinating
account of the evolution of the idea of evolution, told
as a scientific detective story. Edey and Johanson unravel
all that we have learned about the shaping of life on earth
in the decades since Darwin, recounting in detail the personal
battles, sacrifices, and triumphs that have stoked this
learning process.
Blueprints is as much about the discoverers
of evolution as it is about the discoveries: Charles Darwin,
a sickly and reclusive man, who was spurred into publishing
the Origin of Species only by the threat of being
scooped by another scientist; T. H. Morgan, who ran the
famous Fly Room at Columbia University -- a lab permeated
with the smell of rotten bananas and swarming with escaped
experimental fruit flies -- where mutations were first catalogued
and explained; Francis Crick, who stumbled and delayed over
finishing his doctoral thesis until he found a subject that
sufficiently challenged him -- the structure of the DNA
molecule; Stanley L. Miller, who succeeded in simulating
the beginnings of life on earth in a set of test tubes.
This story of scientific discovery is one of fiery and unusual
personalities, sometimes collaborating, often competing.
Maitland A. Edey, a gifted science writer,
and Donald C. Johanson, the world-renowned paleo-anthropologist
who discovered "Lucy," the 3.5-million-year-old
woman, bring uniquely matched talents to this book. They
took this project on because, as we gain the ability to
direct our own evolution through genetic engineering, they
believe it is critical that we understand evolution. Blueprints
not only promotes this understanding, but is also a gripping
tale of the unruly ways and workings of scientific genius
and the roles of both brilliance and chance.
Maitland A. Edey began his career as
a writer and editor at Life magazine, went on to
become editor-in-chief of Time-Life Books, and has devoted
recent years to writing. He is married to Helen Edey, a
retired physician, and lives in New York City and on Martha's
Vineyard.
Donald C. Johanson is the paleoanthropologist
who discovered "Lucy," and is Director of the
Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California. The
Institute is assisting the Royal College of Surgeons in
raising funds to endow Charles Darwin's home, Down House,
in Downe, Kent, England.
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