The Red Queen, (Paperback)

from kushami

Although this is a well-written, interesting book, I couldn't help feeling that it was covering some familiar ground -- you may feel the same way if you have read a lot of Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins. I enjoyed another of Matt Ridley's books, Genome, immensely, probably because much of it w...

from snash

The Red Queen is an interesting presentation of the roll of sex in evolution, and the evolution of sex. It provided much food for thought, especially the roll of parasites in driving evolution, the idea of the red queen (things evolve to stay even, there is no long term winning). I liked the auth...

from psiloiordinary

An eloquent exposition of the known facts and the then currently likely explanations for them. Written in 1993 but still a great overview. I am no expert on the subject but do follow it, and I think that nearly all of his content stands up today. Part of the reason for this is his wonderful habit...

from jrissman

"The Red Queen" by Matt Ridley is an enjoyable, interesting, but slightly flawed biology book. Ridley's thesis is that sexual selection (in animals of all sorts, not just humans) is responsible for the development of many important traits, rather than pressures from the environment (such as the n...

from JudyL

The reasons and the evolution of sexual reproduction. The title refers to the red queen in Alice in Wonderland, who ran very fast but stayed in the same place, which Ridley illustrates with fine language skills which have won him prizes for science writing.