Mount Improbable

Continuing my quest on biological understanding, I've now finished Dawkins' Climbing Mount Improbable, a very approachable book explaining and elaborating the very essence of Darwinian evolution. As he says, we cannot simply bound up Mount Improbable in one leap, but we can conquer the climb with short, bite-size pathways on a gradual slope. In short, I've learnt more from this book than I did from four years of secondary school biology. Children would be fascinated by some of the examples and creature quirks that Dawkins presents here. If only teachers would model their lesson plans on some of the topics raised in this book. Rather than revisit photosynthesis over and over again, teachers could explore the forms of mollusc shells, or the mutual exploitation of figs and fig wasps. Oh well. The last time I remember learning this much from a book was when I read through Bill Bryson's superb, A Short History of Nearly Everything. Before I go, I'd like to relay something that Dawkins brings to light later in his book; nature was not designed with us in mind. I'm sure we would all agree with this, but this rather humorous appraisal of the banana is, in fact, serious, sent in by one of Dawkins' creationist correspondents:

Note that the banana:

1. Is shaped for human hand.
2. Has non-slip surface.
3. Has outward indicators of inward contents: Green - too early; Yellow - just right; Black - too late.
4. Has a tab for removal of wrapper.
5. Is perforated on wrapper.
6. Biodegradable wrapper
7. Is shaped for mouth.
8. Has a point at top for ease of entry.
9. Is pleasing to taste buds.
10. Is curved towards the face to make eating process easy.

Clearly.