Climbing Mount Improbable

He begins this collection of essays with a new label: the "designoid". Designoids are those elements in life that seem designed; beyond the caprice of the apparent random natural forces. Dawkins quickly points out that evolution is not "random" nor are any of the complex aspects of living things the result of a designer. Dawkins uses the title of this review, attributed to Henry Bennet-Clark, as the basis for the rest of the book. Natural selection can, and does, explain it all.

Using the theme of climbing a mountain, Dawkins shows the true path to the peak is by means of gentle slopes, not attempting a great leap. Too many people accept the steep precipice of divine origins as the explanation of complex phenomena in life. Dawkins explains how gradual steps are required for life to manifest spider webs, wings, and the Christian obstructionist's favourite, the eye. Each of these wonders is examined critically with the best scientific logic, explaining its development with clarity and wit. He frequently reminds us that such complex organs as the elephant's trunk have progressed through numerous stages, each of which was successful within its own environment. As environments changed, the trunk responded with new adaptations. Modern animals, such as the tapir, elephant shrew, proboscis monkey or seals, all exhibit nasal trunks that likely represent the stages the elephant's ancestors passed through to produce today's

Computer models have become a favourite analytical tool for tracking likely paths in evolution. Dawkins has written his own and applauds others' successful efforts. The computer has the capacity to accelerate the likely steps life has taken in producing designoids. He's careful to warn us that mathematical models don't duplicate life's processes, but simply provide situations that could have happened under certain conditions. Even with that caution in mind, his relation of the study of possible evolutionary paths of the eye is one of the most captivating accounts in biology. It's not even his own work. Two Swedish researchers programmed the most pessimistic conditions for the evolution of a workable eye and deduced it would take less than half a million years.

The essay "A Garden Enclosed" might have brought a tear to the eye of E.O. Wilson, biology's greatest exponent of biodiversity. Dawkins takes us through the life cycles of the figs and their wasp pollinators. The beauty of this essay is almost staggering both in his superb presentation and in the implications it raises. Wasps inhabit the interior of figs, drawing on them for nourishment and residence, but pollinating them with almost human dedication. Dawkins' description of the complex interaction between plant and insect raises again the issue of how little we know about life's interactions. And how much we're intruding on them in our ignorance.

Dawkins has never hidden his advocacy role in describing how evolution works and how poorly our culture understands what's going on around us. More than simply anticipating obstructionists such as Michael Behe in Darwin's Black Box, Dawkins aims his criticism at all who adhere to the Judeo-Christian assertion that humanity has some divine mandate to exercise "dominion over the earth". Clearly, that belief will be the undoing of the species and perhaps life itself if it isn't shed and a better understanding of the interaction of life attained. The best place to start attaining that understanding starts with this book. Buy it, loan it, give it to those who need to learn what life's all about - our children. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]


Give this to anyone that doubts evolution.   September 15, 2003
Dave Gaskell (UK)
24 out of 29 found this review helpful

I've read a number of Dawkins' books as I find his books such a stimulating read given its subject matter and his writing style. Of those I've read (Blind Watchmaker, River out of Eden, Unweaving the Rainbow, and Climbing Mt Improbable), I found this the best. Indeed, I would actually say it was 'exciting' to read as it uncovers details in nature that I would never have thought existed, yet beautifully suggests how all can be explained by Darwin's simple gradual mechanism of random change and non-random (but still natural) selection.
Excellent book. Give it to anyone that doubts evolution.


A book to make you consider what makes life possible   February 8, 2000
Stephen Baines (stephen@kitschcamppalace.org.uk) (Derby, UK)
13 out of 17 found this review helpful

Richard Dawkins has a marvellous way with words, and through his thoroughly engaging style, he is able to draw you into the way he believes evolution works. The way the book is written is almost like a novel, taking you on a journey through evolution, and why species have developed the way they have. For those who know anything of genetics and evolution, it is a wonderful book to read and test against your own ideas. For those who know little of evolution, it is a great and easy to digest intro to the subject.


An extremely interesting and well explained book   January 21, 2000
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have just finished reading this book and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Richard Dawkins writes in an engaging style that is very easy to read and he explains complex issues succinctly and interestingly. The book provides a fascinating account of evolution and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in natural history, evolution and biology.


Illuminating and astonishing   June 23, 2000
26 out of 30 found this review helpful

Those who refuse to believe in evolution hold up examples such as the eye or the flight of birds - peaks of Mount Improbable - and ask how they could possibly have evolved. Dawkins goes a long way towards explaining just how these things could have happened, over a shorter time period than might be expected. He always bears his audience in mind and so the arguments are very easy to follow. And there are some facts presented which are even more surprising than those he sets out to prove. Who would have thought that figs represented one of the peaks?