Widely regarded as one of the rare eminent scientists who is also a graceful writer, Ian Tattersall takes up some of the most controversial questions in evolutionary theory in this extraordinary set of essays. Tattersall stresses that living creatures, including humans, are not finely engineered organisms with every component perfectly adapted to their function. We are--thank goodness--jury-rigged, improvised beings, owing as much to chance as to adaptation. And that's true of all living creatures. Evolutionary theory isn't a finite set of conclusions based on overwhelming evidence: it's our evolving effort to make sense out of a handful of incomplete fossil remains. The fundamental questions of our origins--and our evolutionary future--find new life in this extraordinary book, full of delightful stories, scientific wisdom, and fresh insight.