麻豆传媒

Michael Cross enjoyed Steven Vogel鈥檚 Prime Mover (W. W. Norton, $15.95) when he reviewed it last year (1 June 2002, p 52). 鈥淕reat stuff, muscle,鈥� he wrote, 鈥淲ithout it, we鈥檇 be down among the sponges, having sand kicked in our faces by earthworms and ostriches and all the other animals whose ancestors, a billion years ago, signed up for the Charles Atlas course in evolution.鈥� Cross adds that the book is 鈥済uaranteed to fight mental flab鈥�. Richard Southwood鈥檚 The Story of Life (Oxford University Press, 拢12.99) also pleased its reviewer (15 February 2003, p 49). Lynn Dicks wrote: 鈥淏esides being a gripping yarn, The Story of Life is an impeccable review of the science. Explaining how you work out the story from scant evidence, Southwood draws on an enormous breadth of knowledge, from biochemistry to ecology, geology to animal behaviour.鈥�