Book Review of "Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe"

A review by Marcus Ross

Writing on the heels of his final chapters in Crucible of Creation, Cambridge paleontologist Simon Conway Morris returns to the theme of convergence and its implications for our understanding of evolution in Life’s Solution. Convergence (also called homoplasy in cladistic terminology) is the independent origination of similar traits among distantly related organisms. Life, argues Conway Morris, is replete with examples of convergence on every level. Molecules, cellular structures, macroscopic features, behaviors, and even particular types of intelligence all display convergences. It is the perhaps ubiquity of convergence that offers the most interesting insight into evolution: inevitability.

Conway Morris describes his book as a “Cambridge Sandwich”: a few set-up chapters in the beginning, two wrap-up chapters in the end, and the meat in the middle. The first stop on the road to inevitability is the origin of life itself. Following these chapters, Conway Morris spends one chapter looking at the uniqueness of our planet itself. Conway Morris next fixes his sights on constraints and inevitability in the biological realm. There are three ways, he argues, that constraints on evolution can be demonstrated: 1) considering viable alternatives, 2) constructing experiments that “rerun” evolution, and 3) determining the prevalence of convergence in past and present.

Conway Morris dedicates his penultimate chapter to an integration of evolutionary theory (and its telic implications) with religious belief. Conway Morris nonetheless heavily criticizes those who adopt an evolutionarily reductionist belief system. Conway Morris labels such adherents to a cold, ruthless, and ultimately purposeless evolutionary reality “ultra-Darwinists”.

For the complete review, please visit the ISCID web page:

ISCID December 18, 2003

File Date: 12.18.03

This data file may be reproduced in its entirety for non-commercial use.
A return link to the Access Research Network web site would be appreciated.

Documents on this site which have been reproduced from a previous publication are copyrighted through the individual publication. See the body of the above document for specific copyright information.