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eldritch_flower's review
3.0
I ended up giving this a 3 star rating. It should be noted that I read this via audiobook while I was working at my deskjob and doing chores around the house.
Overall, this is the story of Ida, a primate that is near perfect evidence of a transitional species between ancient and modern apes/primates/monkeys, what have you. It details the discovery of Ida, some of the controversy around her discovery, conservation of archaeological and paleontological sites, the evolution/differences in monkeys and apes, and what science has told us about evolution so far. All in all, there's a lot in this book.
The Good:
-There is SO MUCH information. Reading the book I could really tell that the author had done a ton of research. There are sources and references to other works by highly acclaimed archaeology. The information was presented in a way that was pretty easy to digest and understand. I didn't find myself needing to run off to google something that was said
-I absolutely love archaeology(I even have an Ancient History podcast, so there's my shameless plug). And everything in this was a wonderful mix of archaeology and paleontology. Listening to this story brought out the inner adventurer in me and I loved every bit of it.
The Bad:
-Oh boy this was tedious. There was a ton of of scientific jargon. And while it was easy to understand, it was a lot to get through. And the author is not super exciting in his works. Which makes sense I suppose, because this isn't a story really, it's a non fiction book about Ida.
-This was pretty long. As much as I enjoyed the sections about the evolution of primates and apes and monkeys, a lot of it felt like it didn't quite belong in this specific book. Because of that, this got pretty boring to get through.
Overall, this is the story of Ida, a primate that is near perfect evidence of a transitional species between ancient and modern apes/primates/monkeys, what have you. It details the discovery of Ida, some of the controversy around her discovery, conservation of archaeological and paleontological sites, the evolution/differences in monkeys and apes, and what science has told us about evolution so far. All in all, there's a lot in this book.
The Good:
-There is SO MUCH information. Reading the book I could really tell that the author had done a ton of research. There are sources and references to other works by highly acclaimed archaeology. The information was presented in a way that was pretty easy to digest and understand. I didn't find myself needing to run off to google something that was said
-I absolutely love archaeology(I even have an Ancient History podcast, so there's my shameless plug). And everything in this was a wonderful mix of archaeology and paleontology. Listening to this story brought out the inner adventurer in me and I loved every bit of it.
The Bad:
-Oh boy this was tedious. There was a ton of of scientific jargon. And while it was easy to understand, it was a lot to get through. And the author is not super exciting in his works. Which makes sense I suppose, because this isn't a story really, it's a non fiction book about Ida.
-This was pretty long. As much as I enjoyed the sections about the evolution of primates and apes and monkeys, a lot of it felt like it didn't quite belong in this specific book. Because of that, this got pretty boring to get through.
athomewithbooks's review
2.0
Upon finishing The Link my first thought was that I could easily divide it into the interesting parts (at the beginning and the end) and the boring and dry (the middle). Then I read the acknowledgments at the end of the book and discovered that it was written by two authors and one of them wrote the parts I liked, the other wrote the dry middle section.
I think the authors really missed an opportunity with this book. I say that because it has a lot of information that could have made for a compelling and interesting read. Unfortunately the writing was so dry, with many lists and descriptions of ancient animals and their habitats, that I quickly lost interest.
The first and last sections of the book will appeal more to the general public. They contain the story of the discovery of Ida and discuss the possible effects that discovery could have on the scientific community and future research. There are also some nice color photos included in the book, as well as diagrams and three dimensional reconstructions of Ida's fossil.
There was a lot of potential for this to be an exciting popular nonfiction book, and if that was what the authors were going for then they really mistook their audience, particularly in the dryer, more scientific section of the book. So what turned me off from this book? The bulk of it reads like a textbook, briefly cataloging and describing the various animals of the time. Interspersed are interesting tidbits, but you have to hunt for them (or have an unusual love of textbook-style writing). On one hand the information on geology and evolution is introductory, on the other it is written using such dry scientific and technical terms that the non-academic reader will probably lose interest.
Detailed scientific information is not a bad thing in and of itself, except the text then drones on and on about each type of animal in the Messel area during the Eocene. It reads like a catalog or index of animals. Here's an example:
Though we have only one of its bones from Messel Pit - a femur found a very long time ago, in mining days - the biggest of all the Messel birds was Gastornis, which stood more than six feet (2 meters) high and yet was stocky, weighing in at 220 pounds (100 kilograms), with a head as big as a modern pony's and a huge eaglelike beak. Here the American connection is very strong, for Gastornis seems to be more or less the same as the American Diatryma. Page 85
And it continues in that style, animal description after animal description.
If you have a deep desire to know about the many different types of animals that lived in the Eocene in the area of the Messel Pit, then by all means pick up this book. I do think that I have a better understanding of the Eocene and Ida's place in evolutionary history after reading this book, I just wish it wouldn't have been so boring.
I received a free copy of this book for review via Goodreads.
I think the authors really missed an opportunity with this book. I say that because it has a lot of information that could have made for a compelling and interesting read. Unfortunately the writing was so dry, with many lists and descriptions of ancient animals and their habitats, that I quickly lost interest.
The first and last sections of the book will appeal more to the general public. They contain the story of the discovery of Ida and discuss the possible effects that discovery could have on the scientific community and future research. There are also some nice color photos included in the book, as well as diagrams and three dimensional reconstructions of Ida's fossil.
There was a lot of potential for this to be an exciting popular nonfiction book, and if that was what the authors were going for then they really mistook their audience, particularly in the dryer, more scientific section of the book. So what turned me off from this book? The bulk of it reads like a textbook, briefly cataloging and describing the various animals of the time. Interspersed are interesting tidbits, but you have to hunt for them (or have an unusual love of textbook-style writing). On one hand the information on geology and evolution is introductory, on the other it is written using such dry scientific and technical terms that the non-academic reader will probably lose interest.
Detailed scientific information is not a bad thing in and of itself, except the text then drones on and on about each type of animal in the Messel area during the Eocene. It reads like a catalog or index of animals. Here's an example:
Though we have only one of its bones from Messel Pit - a femur found a very long time ago, in mining days - the biggest of all the Messel birds was Gastornis, which stood more than six feet (2 meters) high and yet was stocky, weighing in at 220 pounds (100 kilograms), with a head as big as a modern pony's and a huge eaglelike beak. Here the American connection is very strong, for Gastornis seems to be more or less the same as the American Diatryma. Page 85
And it continues in that style, animal description after animal description.
If you have a deep desire to know about the many different types of animals that lived in the Eocene in the area of the Messel Pit, then by all means pick up this book. I do think that I have a better understanding of the Eocene and Ida's place in evolutionary history after reading this book, I just wish it wouldn't have been so boring.
I received a free copy of this book for review via Goodreads.
kel_wild's review
2.0
I'm not sure it I'll wind up writing a full review of this one, seeing as I primarily review fiction and I'm juggling quite a few of those at the moment... long story short: this was about twice as long as it needed to be to get the information across and, I would argue, premature when it came out. There wasn't really enough detailed information about the find available to make a 200+ page book compelling. The context of the find was made clear, and the possible history but... outside of that, there wasn't much to recommend this book, especially given that I have enough of a background in this particular area of biology that a lot of the backstory was old news. While the find itself interests me enough that I might seek out other resources on the subject, I think that would have been just as, if not more, true of a book half the length that got to the point rather than meandering around the fact that there were not enough details available on the fossil at the time of writing to fill the 200+ page count.
In summary: don't tell me 50 times that a fossil is important. Show me.
In summary: don't tell me 50 times that a fossil is important. Show me.
whatsheread's review
"For those who like paleontology but are not be scientists in the field, this book offers a unique look into the study of paleontology, the search for fossils and just what fossil finds entail for the scientists involved. Mr. Tudge does a great job of setting the backdrop and explaining in fairly easy-to-understand terminology what this find means for scientists throughout the world. He takes roughly 150 of the 250 pages of the book to explain what the earth was like both before and after Ida was living, how early primates evolved, the truly unique nature of Ida's final resting place, and how we can extrapolate from Ida's era to our own. This background paves the way for the reader to understand the significance of Ida.[return][return]Even a layperson like me realizes that Ida is truly a one-in-a-million find. The pictures sprinkled throughout the book certainly highlight just how remarkable she is. Not only is the skeleton complete, but you can also see the outline of her fur as well as the fossilized remains of her stomach contents at the time of her death. Given the fact that most fossils are partial remains, this detail is both astonishing and slightly eerie.[return][return]Speaking of eerie, if one were to look solely at the cover without knowing anything else about the book, one would almost get the impression that it falls in the horror genre. I get what the publishers were trying to do with the cover illustration (that is one of Ida's hands), but it still is a bit creepy to me to see it isolated like that. The full fossil pictures are stunning; the single hand scares me ever so slightly.[return][return]One other bone of contention is Mr. Tudge's descriptions of the scientists involved. Dr. Jorn Hurum is the paleontologist who was shown a picture of Ida at a fossil fair and immediately recognized the value of the find. Professor Philip Gingerich and Dr. Jens Franzen also helped confirm Ida's authenticity and continue to work together to unravel all of her secrets. Extremely lucky (because paleontology requires luck) men, they appear more than capable of handling the job. And yet, Mr. Tudge's descriptions of them, especially when compared to the pictures included in the book, seems slanted and somewhat biased. Dr. Hurum, as the lead scientist, is described as having the ""rugged look of an explorer"" and ""a sturdy build"", which does not match the picture. Dr. Franzen is described as having Coke-bottle glasses. Let's just say that if he's wearing Coke-bottle glasses, then my glasses belonged on the Hubble telescope. I know these seem minor, but it did get me wondering what else he slanted in his descriptions. I've read a lot of peer-reviewed literature and have done my fair share of literature reviews for my Masters' program, so minor details such as inaccurate descriptions of main characters tends to raise a yellow flag for me to proceed with caution and understand that the author's point of view may be skewed.[return][return]In all, this book made me remember why I wanted to be a paleontologist or archaeologist when I grew up. Mr. Tudge does a tremendous job of presenting complex ideas in a simplistic fashion to help guide the reader to a better understanding of the overall importance of the discovery. I learned quite a bit about prehistoric Earth after the dinosaurs roamed, and I met Ida. She is definitely one fascinating little ""lady"" and well worth the time and effort it takes to finally meet her.[return][return]Thanks to Anna Balasi at Hachette Books for the opportunity to review this book!"
alexctelander's review against another edition
2.0
Posted with permission from the Sacramento Book Review
In what was touted to be a publication so astounding that it required specially sealed boxes with “untitled” printed on the side and a very specific laydown date, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor didn’t lead a revolution in science or shock the world as much as expected. The book begins with a hypothetical story of how a lemur-like creature some 55-33 millions years ago was gassed at a lake sitting on top of a volcano, dropped into the water and sank into the mud below. Then over millions of years, with further layers compacting and preserving the skeleton, it now stands as one of the most complete skeletons ever discovered. The Link tells the detailed story of how the skeleton, known as Ida, was found and how it is the supposed “missing link” and the first step that animals made into becoming primates and eventually humans. With the creation of a new genus, Darwinius, there is currently only this skeleton as its single member: Darwinius masillae, or Ida, as it’s discover, Dr. Jørn Hurum (though not the original discover) dubbed it after his daughter. The Link is a good anthropology book, giving a history lesson on our ancestry and the ancestry of many animals and how this new species may fit into it. The criticism against it is that there still remains a lot of be research, discovered, and confirmed about Ida, and many scientists around the world have objected to the overly-publicized nature of this skeleton and it being called the “missing link.” While time will tell what more Ida has to offer, for now, The Link remains a interesting book, with facts on Darwinius masillae that should be taken with some suspicion. But then isn’t that how all science is done?
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
In what was touted to be a publication so astounding that it required specially sealed boxes with “untitled” printed on the side and a very specific laydown date, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor didn’t lead a revolution in science or shock the world as much as expected. The book begins with a hypothetical story of how a lemur-like creature some 55-33 millions years ago was gassed at a lake sitting on top of a volcano, dropped into the water and sank into the mud below. Then over millions of years, with further layers compacting and preserving the skeleton, it now stands as one of the most complete skeletons ever discovered. The Link tells the detailed story of how the skeleton, known as Ida, was found and how it is the supposed “missing link” and the first step that animals made into becoming primates and eventually humans. With the creation of a new genus, Darwinius, there is currently only this skeleton as its single member: Darwinius masillae, or Ida, as it’s discover, Dr. Jørn Hurum (though not the original discover) dubbed it after his daughter. The Link is a good anthropology book, giving a history lesson on our ancestry and the ancestry of many animals and how this new species may fit into it. The criticism against it is that there still remains a lot of be research, discovered, and confirmed about Ida, and many scientists around the world have objected to the overly-publicized nature of this skeleton and it being called the “missing link.” While time will tell what more Ida has to offer, for now, The Link remains a interesting book, with facts on Darwinius masillae that should be taken with some suspicion. But then isn’t that how all science is done?
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.