Hello fellow literary evolutionists.

I guess you've noticed a few new Darwin related titles vying for space on your shelves this season. The 150th Anniversary of the publication of the original Origin of Species, (no offence Nino), has inspired many publishers to honour Mr.Darwin's seminal work.

These new titles cover a wide spectrum of topics ranging from biographical insights into the man, his times & the scientific, philosophical & religious firestorms his observations in the Galapogos created, to the current state of international genome projects.

We all remember the rapid response by publishers to the religious right's recent championing of "Creationism" & the very on-going debate of "Intelligent Design" in some schoolboard's curriculum & on many university campuses.

While Frank Thomas' What's the Matter With Kansas? from 2005 opened the debate on the subject of evolution vs. Creationism as a pedagogical battle between the forces of rational science & cosmic determinism, the debate has raged on.

Richard Dawkin's God Delusion, Sam Harris' Letter To a Christian Nation & Chis Hedges' I Don't Believe in Athiests were just a few of the titles that squared off in the trade wars over these issues.

My concern over the new editions to the Darwin library is when does the publicity & reviews hit? Perhaps the original publication for Origin of Species is later in the year & that's when the blitz will occur. I hope it's not too late because some of these gems might be returns victims before they are properly reviewed.

In light of this very real probability I'll mention some of highlights from the new Darwin library that are currently in stock.

The crown jewel in the lineup has to be Evolution: The First Four Billion Years edited by Michael Ruse & Joseph Travis. This magesterial tome from Harvard is designed for browsing by the general reader as well as providing specialized material on historical & scientific research for readers interested in these more specialized areas. This title also offers exhaustive bibliographies for readers interesting in pursuing evolutionary topics beyond the exceptional essays collected in this volume. I personally love the subtle subtitle. Yeah, it's been happening for a little while now.. This large beautifully designed volume retails for $49.95 & is every bit as impressive as it's title.

In relation to the exhaustive number of topics covered in Ruse & Travis' collection, Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish sifts the huge amount of evolutionary research into a very entertaining & compact examination of the 3.5 Billion year history of the human body.You are given a guided tour reaching back to our acquatic ancestors & how anatomical adaptations are genetically programmed in corresponding sites on the genome over thousands of generations. It's a fascinating & humbling exposition to see the origins of the human genome in terms of fish fins, worms & bacteria. And here you thought you were so "complex".

In a related part of the recent evolutionary library there is 99% Ape: How Evolution Adds Up edited by Jonathan Silvertown. This trade paper at $36.00 covers much of the ground in the larger Harvard tome edited by Michael Ruse but in a less formal, more visually open format. It's major selling point is it's hundreds of colour plates & photographs of evolutionary history - more of a National Geographic does Darwin. As such, it would have much greater appeal to readers who prefer visual presentations of evolutionary theory over a heavier textual production.

Primates & Philosophers: How Morality Developed by Frans De Waal is in trade paper at $18.95.De Waal has spent decades studying primates & has written extensively on their psycholigical & moral hierarchies.He explains over the course of these collected essays that humans owe their morality (or what little of it they display from time to time), " from animal ancestors & that people are good not by choice but by nature."

Actually, he goes on to say a whole lot more on the subject but you're going to have to peruse his work yourself to get the full flavour of his deep grasp of the material.

Graphic Non-fiction is a genre that doesn't get a whole lot of exposure but I would be remiss in not pointing out this little gem of a book - Stuff of Life:A Graphic Guide to Genetics & DNA by Mark Schultz.This nifty little trade paper will guide you through the whole biochemical replication process in a very entertaining & straight forward manner particularly if you don't know your allelles from your mutations. At only $18.95 -Mendel & Darwin would be impressed.

Before we lose sight of the man whose 200th Anniversary of his birth is being celebrated as well as the 150th Anniversary of Origin of Species, Keith Thomson's Young Charles Darwin examines the early influences in Darwin's upbringing & education that aided the development of the ideas & conceptions of his scientific theories on evolution.

I realize this is just a small portion of the recent published material on Mr. Darwin & the state of evolutionary science but it gives you an idea of what we carry should the subject come up.

Let's hope the various media coverage surrounding this momentous occasion kicks in relatively soon or they'll be fewer titles to choose from on our end.