Darwinian Detectives: Revealing the Natural History of Genes and Genomes

Norm Johnson has done an excellent job with a complex topic, and this book is one that should be read by every student of evolution. With a crisp, engaging writing style, Johnson does a wonderful job illuminating evolutionary topics ranging from Kimura's neutral theory of molecular evolution to the evolutionary histories of both dogs and their owners. Complex topics such as the detection of positive selection and the mysteries of genome size variation are laid out in plain language that even the most "mathophobic" reader will find a pleasure to behold. Any graduate student in biology who is preparing for a preliminary oral examination would do well to add Darwinian Detectives to their reading list, because it is a great way to learn the answers to questions that many professors will ask in such an exam. The previous reviewer's comparison to Gould is not undeserved; Dr. Johnson has the potential to rank among the greats in the next generation of popularizers of science, a role that becomes more and more important as science marches to ever greater heights of complex discovery.