The marketing for The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor talks a lot about the newly discovered fossil Ida. In fact, all of the quotes on the back of the hard cover reference the fossil rather than the book. Add to that the copy on the inside flap of the book cover that talks almost exclusively about Ida and the author’s exclusive access to the scientists that discovered and studied her and you’re left with the impression that The Link is all about the Ida fossil. It’s not.

On the whole, The Link is a recap of what is known about life on Earth based on the fossil record with a focus on the evolution of primates. In that respect it is a decent book, though as a visual learner I would have liked more images for the different species discussed as it all became a blur of names after a while. As a book about Ida, The Link disappoints. The first 30 pages and the last 30 pages talk about Ida and the other 200 pages talk about the fossil record leading up to primates. The 200 pages are presented as “context” for the Ida fossil but I found that a bit of a stretch for a book marketed as being about one particular fossil. The 60 or so pages that do talk about Ida include a lot of repetitive information and don’t reveal much about the process of studying Ida.

I was also disappointed that the images included in the book are not referred to in the text making it difficult to find their context at times. In particular, there are several images of a computer generated three dimensional representation of Ida’s skeleton. Presumably this image was based on information collected from the Ida fossil. Since the fossil is flattened, it would have been interesting to find out how they came up with the measurements and other data needed to make a three dimensional model of the skeleton as the animal might have appeared in real life. Unfortunately, there was no mention of how the computer model was generated in the book.

On the whole, The Link is a good overview of the fossil record on primates and their ancestors. As a book on the Ida fossil, The Link simply does not have enough information on Ida to justify the marketing. Whether you enjoy The Link or not will depend largely on what you are expecting from the book. If you’re interested you can check out an interview with the scientist that discovered Ida.

You can buy this and other books by Colin Tudge at bricks and mortar stores as well as online booksellers like Amazon (US, Canada and UK).

Anyhoodle …

According to my spreadsheet and random.org, the two winners are:

• jmnlman
• T Spradlin

Emails have gone out but I’ll need to hear back within 72 hours or I’ll have to pick someone else. If you didn’t win, there is another giveaway coming from Self Counsel Press (previously announced, but then I got sick and didn’t put it up).

I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to mention their favourite science book. There were quite a few I hadn’t read so I’m adding to my reading pile (What? You thought I just asked to make you do more work for an entry?). I’ll post a list of the book recommendations later (*cough* in my spare time *cough*) for those who are interested in their fellow readers’ recommendations.

• sara
• Christina Brunetti

Emails have gone out but I’ll need to hear back within 72 hours or I’ll have to pick someone else. If you didn’t win, there are still three more copies to give away. If you haven’t entered, you can still do so.

I received my copy of The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor yesterday from Little, Brown & Company (part of Hachette book group) and took them up on their offer to give some copies away to readers of this blog. The Link is about the discovery and study of a unique fossil of Darwinius masillae (nicknamed Ida by the lead investigator after his daughter). There is a lot of hype about this particular fossil not only because it is complete and very well preserved but also because the claim put forth by the scientific team studying it is that Ida is a “missing link” fossil that shows the intermediate form between different species of primate.

Here is Hachette’s description of the book:

For more than a century, scientists have raced to unravel the human family tree and have grappled with its complications. Now, with an astonishing new discovery, everything we thought we knew about primate origins could change. Lying inside a high-security vault, deep within the heart of one of the world’s leading natural history museums, is the scientific find of a lifetime – a perfectly fossilized early primate, older than the previously most famous primate fossil, Lucy, by forty-four million years.

A secret until now, the fossil – “Ida” to the researchers who have painstakingly verified her provenance – is the most complete primate fossil ever found. Forty-seven million years old, Ida rewrites what we’ve assumed about the earliest primate origins. Her completeness is unparalleled – so much of what we understand about evolution comes from partial fossils and even single bones, but Ida’s fossilization offers much more than that, from a haunting “skin shadow” to her stomach contents. And, remarkably, knowledge of her discovery and existence
almost never saw the light of day.

You can find out more about the fossil Ida on the website Revealing the Link. You can also read an interview with the scientist who found Ida on NewScientist. As usual there is some controversy over the way the find has been presented to the world.

If you would like a chance to win a hardcover copy of The Link by Colin Tudge, read on:

Giveaway Details

Eligibility

1. Open to residents of the United States and Canada. Sorry, you must have a street address (no P.O. boxes) to enter. Shipping courtesy of Hachette Book Group.
2. You must be contactable. If I can’t reach you, you can’t win. As long as you enter an email address in the email field of the comments (which won’t be published, but I can see) you’re good.

The Book

The winners will each receive a new finished copy of The Link by Colin Tudge.

How to Enter

There are a number of ways to enter, depending on how many entries you want. The list only looks long. You can do only #1 and be done. The extra ways to enter just increase your chances of winning (pick any or none of them or come back later and do more of them):

1. Post a comment on this post saying that you want to be entered (1 entry). If you want more entries, keep reading. If one’s enough for you, thanks for coming by and don’t forget to check out the other freebies and giveaways at the end of this post.
2. Help me keep in touch:
   • Subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader OR by e-mail (no need to do both) and tell me in your comment (2 entries). If you are already a subscriber let me know that too.
   • Follow me on Twitter (1 entry). If you already follow me on Twitter, remind me when you post. (Note: I need your Twitter name to confirm Twitter entries).
3. Help me publicize this giveaway:
   • Blog about this giveaway and link back here OR link this giveaway on your blog sidebar (3 entries).
   • Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter (up to 5 entries–one for each tweet but tweets must be on separate days). Tweets must include a link to this post and my Twitter name (@booklorn — this is to make sure I see and count your tweet!).  To make it easy for you here’s an example tweet (feel free to make your own, I’m just doing this for those who want it): Enter to win The Link by Colin Tudge http://bit.ly/BLLink (@via Booklorn)
4. Show me you’re interested in the book by answering any of these questions:
   • What interests you about this book? (1 entry)
   • What is your favourite book on science or scientists? (1 entry for title; 1 entry for reason)

Deadlines

This giveaway is a bit different because there are five copies to give away so there are several closing dates (ALL entries count for ALL draws):

On June 10, 2009 I will draw up to 2 winners based on the number of entries on June 9 at 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time. If there are at least 20 unique entries I’ll draw one winner, if there are at least 40 I’ll draw two winners.

On June 17, 2009 I will draw up to 2 more winners based on the number of entries on June 16 at 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time. If there are at least 60 unique entries I’ll draw one winner, if there are at least 80 I’ll draw two winners.

On June 24, 2009 I’ll draw the winner of the last copy based on entries up to June 23 at 11:59 pm. Remember all entries (except for winners) are eligible for all draws. There may be more ways to enter as the month wears on.

The winners will be announced and e-mailed the day of the drawings (unless I’m swamped, but I’ll try not to be). If the winners don’t reply to the e-mail notification within 72 hours, new winners will be drawn.

More Free Stuff.

If you’re new to Booklorn, check out the free reading tag. Don’t forget to come back for another book giveaway in mid-June/early July from Self-Counsel Press.