I will admit to being initially put off by the garish cover and the rather scatter gun style of large numbers of different text boxes and excerpts apparently thrown randomly over the pages.

But I must also admit to being wrong. This book works very well indeed. As far as a 42 year can tell for a book aimed at children anyway.

I really enjoyed the comprehensive coverage of a very wide subject. We get the background to science itself and the history of thought before Darwin came along. A robust explanation of Darwin's theory and also much knowledge that he didn't have but that we know see fits perfectly with his vague hints. There is far more detail here than I expected on Darwin's wider works, genetics, plants, eye mechanics etc. than I would have expected in book aimed at children. It is nevertheless covered well with summaries of difficult issues included. A great example of the art of education and entertainment without resorting to dumbing down and silly simplifications.

A breath of fresh air after some decidedly flat or uninspiring children's science books.

I would say this book would appeal to kids of ten or up with those doing GCSE biology benefiting from it. ( )