YA-- A colorful and interesting resource and an excellent reference guide. Students of both the natural and the behavioral sciences will be able to glean information on a given topic while having their interest sparked by other entries. The book gives anthropological data as it builds subject interest and motivation. The black-and-white illustrations are valuable assets to the overall content and provide an added dimension. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The author, an anthropologist, defines the scope of evolution broadly enough to cover anthropology, animal behavior, biology, genetics, geology, and even some astronomy as it relates to theories about the mass extinctions of dinosaurs and the origin of life on earth. Short entries (500-1000 words) explain theories and present capsule biographies of significant people. They also discuss controversial ideas ranging from the science versus Bible disputes initiated by Bishop Wilberforce and Thomas Henry Huxley, continued today by scientific creationists and religious fundamentalists, through eugenics practiced by Nazi Germany to arguments between the Leakey family and Donald Johanson over their interpretation of which fossils represent precursors to modern humans. Milner even describes the ``bone wars'' among 19th-century fossil hunters and the popularization of dinosaurs by artists and movie special effects creators. Many entries end with brief bibliographies of books and articles by and/or about the subject. With its emphasis not only on evolutionary theories but their impact on popular culture, this is more appropriate for public and high school libraries than academic collections.-- Laurie Tynan, Montgomery Cty.-Norristown P.L., Pa. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

As Stephen Jay Gould notes in the foreword, this compendium is "much more than a conventional encyclopedia." Natural historian Milner has produced a popular book that presents evolution and its wide-ranging impact on (chiefly) American and British culture. More than 600 articles, most having bibliographies, discuss such important scientific mainstays as adaptation and natural selection, animal models of evolution (e.g., dinosaurs and finches), and theorists (e.g., Darwin). The key players in the fossil human story (e.g., australopithecines) are profiled, although not in the detail accorded them in the Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory (CH, Dec'88). There are less obvious, yet equally fascinating, entries for persons such as Theodore Roosevelt ("the Naturalist President") and H.G. Wells (whose novels featured evolved extraterrestrials) and even for movies (e.g., Fantasia and Planet of the Apes). Except for substandard maps, the more than 200 photographs, drawings, and charts illustrate the text nicely. There is good cross-referencing and a very specific index. A traveler's delight through the story of evolution. Highly recommended for all college, university, and public libraries. -C. E. Carter, California State University, Fresno