Explaining Life through Evolution

Discover the origin story of life on this planet in this fascinating exploration of the science of evolution—and why it matters to our future and daily lives.

Prosanta Chakrabarty explains evolution in a concise, accessible, and engaging way, emphasizing the importance of understanding evolution in everyday contemporary life. Weaving his own lived experience among discussions of Darwin and the origins of evolutionary thought, Chakrabarty covers key concepts to our understanding of our current condition, including mutation; the spectrum of race, sex, gender, and sexuality; the limitations of ancestry tests; and the evolution of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offering a contemporary update to classic popular evolution books by Stephen Jay Gould, and Jerry Coyne, Explaining Life through Evolution is not only an illuminating read, but also an essential guide to the kind of scientific literacy needed to face the challenges of our collective future.