Science · Similar reads
Books like The Ancestor's Tale
The best books like The Ancestor's Tale are The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, and The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins is about evolution, common ancestry, phylogeny. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Selfish Gene
01
Richard Dawkins · Science
The Selfish Gene reframes evolution from the organism's point of view to the gene's.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - The Blind Watchmaker
02
Richard Dawkins · Science
The Blind Watchmaker is Richard Dawkins's argument that natural selection — cumulative, non-random selection acting on random variation — is sufficient to explain the apparent design in biological organisms.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
03
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Elizabeth Kolbert · Science
The Sixth Extinction is Elizabeth Kolbert's account of the mass extinction event currently underway — the sixth in Earth's history, and the first caused by a single species.
Shares evolution and biodiversity with The Ancestor's Tale.
Read the summary →
- A Short History of Nearly Everything
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson · Science
A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's attempt to understand the scientific story of everything — from the Big Bang to the emergence of modern humans — by spending three years talking to scientists and reading science history.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - On the Origin of Species
05
Charles Darwin · Science
On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, is the book in which Charles Darwin presented the theory of evolution by natural selection to the general reading public.
Shares evolution and biodiversity with The Ancestor's Tale.
Read the summary → - A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
06
A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg · Science
A Crack in Creation is Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg's account of how CRISPR-Cas9 works, what it can do, and why its possibilities should give everyone pause.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
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Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Frans de Waal · Science
Frans de Waal's central argument is that we've spent most of the last century asking the wrong questions about animal intelligence.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
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Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
Robert M. Sapolsky · Science
Behave is Robert Sapolsky's attempt to explain why humans do what they do — the violence, the altruism, the tribalism, the heroism — by working through every layer of biology that contributes to a single act.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Climbing Mount Improbable
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Richard Dawkins · Science
Climbing Mount Improbable is Richard Dawkins's response to the persistent intuition that complex biological structures — the vertebrate eye, insect wings, spider webs — are too improbable to have evolved by chance.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Cosmos
10
Carl Sagan · Science
Cosmos is Carl Sagan's attempt to tell the full story of the universe and humanity's place in it — from the Big Bang to the origins of life to the rise of science as a way of knowing.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - From Bacteria to Bach and Back
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From Bacteria to Bach and Back
Daniel C. Dennett · Science
Daniel Dennett's 2017 book is his most comprehensive attempt to explain how minds — conscious, intentional, creative minds — could have evolved from mindless matter without any homunculus, soul, or top-down designer.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Life Ascending
12
Nick Lane · Science
Life Ascending is Nick Lane's examination of what he calls evolution's ten greatest inventions: the origin of life itself, DNA, photosynthesis, the complex cell, sex, movement, sight, hot blood, consciousness, and death.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary →
Books like The Ancestor's Tale: quick answers
What are the best books like The Ancestor's Tale?
The best books like The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins are The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Ancestor's Tale, such as evolution, common ancestry, phylogeny.
What should I read after The Ancestor's Tale?
A natural next read after The Ancestor's Tale is The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Both dig into evolution. Other strong choices are The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
What books are similar to The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins?
The Ancestor's Tale centers on evolution, common ancestry, phylogeny. Books with a similar feel include The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
