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Dear Mrs Bartlett,

Many thanks for writing. One of the most

interesting books on human ancestry is 'THE ANCESTOR'S TALE' by Richard

Dawkins where he traces human origins from great apes to microbes. Regarding

elimination of viruses, I do recall there were ethical arguments proposed

against wiping out the smallpox virus entirely. There is a very interesting

essay on this issue by Albert Schweitzer; I will post it if I can locate

it. I agree with you that there IS a moral issue involved in trying to wipe

out animal populations, no matter how harmful. I have attached a review of

Dawkins's book. The Telegraph recently commemorated the 30th anniversary of

his book 'THE SELFISH GENE'. Richard Dawkins supports Jane Goodall's

contention of granting human rights to great apes.

It was kind of you to share your views. Good wishes,

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life

 

 

 

*The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life* is a popular

science<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_science>

book <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book> by Professor Richard

Dawkins<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins>,

with contributions from Dawkins' research assistant Yan Wong. It follows the

path of humans <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human> backwards through

evolutionary <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution> history, meeting

humanity's cousins as they converge on common ancestors. It was first

published in 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004> by Weidenfeld &

Nicolson Illustrated (ISBN

0297825038<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources & isbn=02\

97825038>).

The book was nominated for the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science

Books<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aventis_Prizes_for_Science_Books#2005_Win\

ners>

..

 

The narrative is structured as a

pilgrimage<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrimage>,

with all modern animals following their own path through history to the origin

of life <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life>. Humans meet their

cousins at rendezvous points along the way, the points at which species

diverged. At each point Dawkins attempts to infer, from molecular and

fossil<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil>evidence, the probable form

of the ancestor and describes the modern animals

that join humanity's growing travelling party. Lastly, a tale is presented

on behalf of one such cousin, each one presenting a different aspect

of evolutionary

biology <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_biology>. This structure

is inspired by Geoffrey

Chaucer<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer>'s

*The Canterbury Tales <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales>*.

 

The pilgrimage visits a total of 40 " rendezvous points " from rendezvous

zero, the most recent common ancestor of all of humanity, to rendezvous 39,

eubacteria <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eubacteria>, the ancestor of all

surviving organisms. Though Dawkins is confident of the essential shape of

this phylogenetic taxonomy, he enters caveats on a small number of branch

points where a compelling weight of evidence had not been assembled at the

time of writing.

 

Dawkins also tells personal stories about his childhood and time at

university <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University>. He too seems just as

surprised as the reader when he reveals that the closest relatives to the

hippos <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus> are the

whales<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale>,

which are buried deep within the hoofed

mammals<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artiodactyls>.

He also discusses why the axolotl

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl>never needs to grow up, how new

species <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species> come about, how hard it is to

classify animals and why our fish <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish>-like

ancestors decided to move onto land.

 

The book is dedicated to Dawkins' friend and mentor, population

geneticist<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_genetics> John

Maynard Smith <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Smith>, who died

shortly before the book went to press.

 

The book was produced in two hardback versions: a British one with extensive

colour illustrations (by Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and an American one with a

reduced number of black-and-white illustrations (by Houghton Mifflin).

Paperback versions and an audio version (narrated by Dawkins and his wife Lalla

Ward <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalla_Ward>) have also been published.

[edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ancestor%E2%80%99s_Tale:_A_P\

ilgrimage_to_the_Dawn_of_Life & action=edit & section=1>

]

 

List of Rendezvous points

 

- Rendezvous 0: All Humankind <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human>

- Rendezvous 1: Chimpanzees

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee>(6,000,000 years ago)

- Rendezvous 2: Gorillas <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla>(7,000,000)

- Rendezvous 3: Orang Utans

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangutan>(14,000,000)

- Rendezvous 4: Gibbons <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbon>(18,000,000)

- Rendezvous 5: Old World

Monkeys<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World_Monkeys>(25,000,000)

- Rendezvous 6: New World

Monkeys<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Monkeys>(40,000,000)

- Rendezvous 7: Tarsiers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsier>(58,000,000)

- Rendezvous 8: Lemurs <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur>,

Bushbabies <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galago> and Their Kin

(63,000,000)

- Rendezvous 9: Colugo <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colugo> and Tree

Shrews <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treeshrew> (70,000,000)

- Rendezvous 10: Rodents <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent> and

Rabbitkind <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit> (75,000,000)

- Rendezvous 11:

Laurasiatheres<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurasiatheria>(85,000,000)

- Rendezvous 12: Xenarthrans

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenarthra>(95,000,000)

- Rendezvous 13: Afrotheres

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrotheria>(105,000,000)

- Rendezvous 14: Marsupials

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsupial>(140,000,000)

- Rendezvous 15: Monotremes

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotreme>(180,000,000)

- Rendezvous 16: Sauropsids

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropsid>(310,000,000)

- Rendezvous 17: Amphibians

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibian>(340,000,000)

- Rendezvous 18: Lungfish

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lungfish>(417,000,000)

- Rendezvous 19: Coelacanths

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth>(425,000,000)

 

 

- Rendezvous 20: Ray-Finned

Fish<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinopterygii>(440,000,000)

- Rendezvous 21: Sharks <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark> and Their

Kin (460,000,000)

- Rendezvous 22: Lampreys <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprey> and

Hagfish <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagfish> (530,000,000)

- Rendezvous 23: Lancelets

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancelet>(560,000,000)

- Rendezvous 24: Sea Squirts

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunicate>(565,000,000)

- Rendezvous 25:

Ambulacrarians<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulacrarians>(570,000,000)

- Rendezvous 26: Protostomes

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protostome>(590,000,000)

- Rendezvous 27: Acoelomorph

Flatworms<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoelomorpha>(630,000,000)

- Rendezvous 28: Cnidarians

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidaria>(680,000,000)

- Rendezvous 29: Ctenophores

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctenophore>(730,000,000)

- Rendezvous 30: Placozoans

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placozoa>(780,000,000)

- Rendezvous 31: Sponges <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge>(800,000,000)

- Rendezvous 32:

Choanoflagellates<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choanoflagellate>(900,000,000)

- Rendezvous 33: DRIPs <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesomycetozoea>(?)

- Rendezvous 34: Fungi <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus> (?)

- Rendezvous 35: Amoebozoans <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoebozoa>(?)

- Rendezvous 36: Plants <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant> (?)

- Rendezvous 37: Uncertain (?)

- Rendezvous 38: Archaea <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea> (?)