Niles Eldredge is the world's most easily recognised paleontologist and has served on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History since 1969. His theory of 'punctuated equilibria', developed with Stephen Jay Gould in 1972, was an early milestone. His book Life in the Balance was named the most important science book of 2000 by Publishers Weekly. Carl Zimmer is a distinguished New York Times science writer, and author of seven science-related books.
'This book is a splendidly illustrated and thoughtfully constructed account of one of the greatest ideas ever conceived by the human mind - evolution. Eldredge has cleverly combined our knowledge of living organisms with instructive insights into the fossil record to convincingly argue that evolution is, indeed, the grand unifying idea of biology' Donald C. Johanson, Founder of the Institute of Human Origins, and author of From Lucy to Language.