“Perhaps the greatest gift ever bestowed upon us by evolution is the ability to believe we are more powerful than we are… You walk around with the fundamental belief that the world is uncaring, that no matter how hard you work there is no promise of success, that you are competing against billions, that you are vulnerable to the elements, and that everything you ever love will eventually be destroyed. A little lie can take the edge off, can help you keep charging forward into the gauntlet of life, where you sometimes, accidentally, prevail.”

This book is part memoir, part biography of David Starr Jordan and part examination of our life and beliefs. David Starr Jordan was a Taxonomist who tried to bring order into a world of chaos. He met with many setbacks, but was never deterred.

Author Lulu Miller is trying to find herself and her place in the world through a man she thought she admired as well as the advice of her father.

This book discusses Darwin’s theories and how we can relate to them in our lives right now. Very though provoking!