Sean B. Carroll

The Making of the Fittest

DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution

Throw out your fossils—the best evidence for evolution is now found in DNA.

DNA is the genetic blueprint of all creatures. Scientists have only recently discovered that it is also a living chronicle of evolution. In this book, leading biologist and writer Sean B. Carroll takes us on an exhilarating tour of the exquisite evolutionary record. The DNA record of evolution is filled with surprises. Immortal genes and evolution repeating itself are two of the stunners that await the lucky reader. The case for evolution can no longer be contested now that the DNA evidence is revealed.

“Piles up the evidence for evolution in everything from microbes to manatees to mankind. [Carroll is] the rare scientist with an easygoing writing style.”—Dan Vergano, USA Today, Top Science Books of 2006

“Carroll is an adept and wide-ranging writer. His narrative hopscotches from the Antarctic Ocean to Yellowstone National Park to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia to the Costa Rican rain forest.”—Steve Olson, Washington Post

Sean B. Carroll is professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His first book, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, was a finalist for the 2005 Los Angles Times Book Prize. Carroll’s seminal scientific work has been featured in Time and The New Yorker. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.