text: This was a book that finally answered my wife's questions.  She is a theologian (main stream, liberal.  Evolution is OK) and deals with science and religion frequently.  She kept asking me of my biochemical research "is it predictive?".  What she was asking was from my studies in protein structure could I predict the Taj Mahal?  I mumbled a great deal during those conversations.  
  
  In this book Mayr give voice and coherence to the chaos that is biology.  It is not the science of physics, where one equation rules all.  Choices, and accidents happen, and they shape future development.  That is who we are.
  
  I recommend this book to anyone really interested in what biology is, and what is can say about how it has arrived in this place and time.  
  
  duke ou
  