TEHRAN – “Theory of Evolution: Simple Guides” by John Scotney has been published in Persian by Kargadan.

Mohammadreza Tavakkoli-Saberi is the translator of the book originally published by Kuperard in 2009.

Today the theory of evolution by natural selection and the science of genetics are the twin keys to our understanding of how life on earth came about. 

Yet when an English naturalist called Charles Darwin first published his ideas in 1859 in a book called “On the Origin of Species” the world was horrified at the notion of a changing creation without the intervention of a Creator. 

By contrast, when a few years later an obscure Moravian monk, Gregor Mendel, published the results of his experiments in genetics the world failed to notice John Scotney’s new book explains just what these two great men had discovered and follows the amazing development of this seminal idea from the decade when it turned the world on its head to the present time and the unraveling of the human genome. 

It describes how the first dinosaur fossils were believed to be the bones of giants and how little by little the ongoing story of living creatures has been assembled until we can see the thread of life running from single-cell microorganisms to primates like ourselves, and why most ancient creatures died out and some survive to this day. 

The Theory of Evolution conveys the excitement of this fundamental discovery and gives an insight into the way scientific inquiry and debate continue to shape our world. 

John Scotney is an English lecturer, writer and broadcaster. After reading history at the University of Cambridge, he taught for two years at the University of Delhi in India. 

Since returning to England, he has combined teaching with writing and producing for the BBC. He has taught at the University of Westminster and on courses accredited by the Universities of Manchester and Kent, and for San Diego University, California, he taught a summer school on the history of ideas, with particular relevance to science. 

His Radio 4 program, “A Mind of Universal Sympathy”, was a portrait of Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, who anticipated many of his grandson’s ideas.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of John Scotney’s book “Theory of Evolution: Simple Guides”.

MMS/YAW