Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us About Development and Evolution, Oxford University Press

Summary:

In this book, Blumberg turns a scientist's eye on the oddities of nature, showing how a subject once relegated to the sideshow can help explain some of the deepest complexities of biology. What we need to understand, Blumberg argues, is that anomalies are the natural products of development, and it is through developmental mechanisms that evolution works. Freaks of Nature induces a kind of intellectual vertigo as it upends our intuitive understanding of biology. What really is an anomaly? Why is a limbless human a "freak," but a limbless reptile-a snake-a successful variation?

• Source: Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us About Development and Evolution, Mark S. Blumberg, Oxford University Press, 2008/11/10