The Evolution of Everything: How Selection Shapes Culture, Commerce, and Nature

The Evolution of Everything isn't so much about evolution as about the _context_ of Darwin's work and how the principles Darwin described apply outside biological evolution. It is thoroughly enjoyable and approachable, filled with the (never trivial) facts that add both texture and depth to what could be a dry topic. In the process, Sumner explains what Darwin actually said (and what has been falsely attributed to him), why it is so important to science, and why it sometimes upsets people. A nice summer reading book for science- and history-minded individuals.

The author in this very well written book tries to open our eyes to the evolutionary process around us. From a business changing over time due to the forces surrounding it to a rock tumbling down a stream, everything in the universe adapts to its surroundings. Even evolutionary scientists miss Mr. Summers observations in their study of biological evolution. If you want to truely understand where evolutionary science is going. Even get a better grasp on what this "evolution thing" really is without the boring, and often outdated and incorrect explanations the typical teacher or professor offers these days buy this book!

How to describe The Evolution of Everything? Think of the entertaining biography-inflected history of science Bill Bryson did in A Short History of Nearly Everything, focus in on Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection, and then apply that to bananas, the stock market, cars, nursery rhymes, and Mars landers...among other things. It ranges all over the place, leaving you always wondering what's around the corner, but it's consistently focused and coherent. Beware, though: If you have a favorite urban myth, this book might puncture it. On the other hand, the book will offer you at least one true story as entertaining as the myth as a replacement.