Biology and evolution books
Biology and evolution books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
On the Origin of Species
Charles DarwinThe foundational argument that species change over time through natural selection, supported with observations from breeding, geology and biogeography.
The Selfish Gene
Richard DawkinsPopularized the view that evolution is best understood from the standpoint of genes, with organisms as their vehicles, and introduced the term 'meme'.
Wonderful Life
Stephen Jay GouldUses the Burgess Shale fossils to argue that contingency played a large role in the history of life, against a view of inevitable progress.
Behave
Robert M. SapolskySurveys how genes, hormones, brain and environment interact to produce human behavior, drawing on a broad range of biological research.
What Is Life?
Erwin SchrödingerA physicist's lectures asking how living things maintain order, which influenced the later search for the molecular basis of heredity.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
Reading lists
More biology and evolution books
- The Blind Watchmaker
The Blind WatchmakerRichard Dawkins - The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to SexCharles Darwin - Chance and Necessity
Chance and NecessityJacques Monod - The Symbiotic Planet
The Symbiotic PlanetLynn Margulis - Molecular Biology of the Gene
Molecular Biology of the GeneJames D. Watson - Entangled Life
Entangled LifeMerlin Sheldrake - Asimov's Guide to Science
Asimov's Guide to ScienceIsaac Asimov - Inquiry into Life
Inquiry into LifeSylvia S. Mader - Sapiens
SapiensYuval Noah Harari2011 - Microbiology
MicrobiologyGerard J. Tortora1982 - Biology
BiologyNeil Alexander Campbell1987 - The Second Sex
The Second SexSimone de Beauvoir1949