Bridging the worlds of art and science, photographer Susan Middleton and writer Mary Ellen Hannibal offer a new way to see and understand evolution. Virtually a natural history museum in a book, Evidence of Evolution celebrates the power and beauty of Darwin’s vision.

Evidence of Evolution is a book that explains evolution and showcases specimens from CAS. It is a beautiful book, produced by Harry N. Abrams in New York – the world’s foremost art publisher.

The text explains evolution, touching on Darwin, the Galápagos, the mechanisms of evolution including natural selection and adaptation, biogeography, molecular inheritance, and evolutionary development – all this in easily-digestible prose.

Susan Middleton’s photographs of specimens are beautiful in and of themselves, and also evince her special way of creating an emotional connection between the viewer and the natural world. Captions touch on evolutionary stories related to the specimens.

Specimens are the record of life on our planet. If climate change has the effect it is predicted to, people will only know the history of earth through these specimens. There will be no other evidence.

Susan Middleton

Susan Middleton has specialized in photographing the rare and endangered world for the past 30 years. Her most recent book is Archipelago: Portraits of Life in the World’s Most Remote Island Sanctuary (National Geographic). She has recently been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Mary Ellen Hannibal

Mary Ellen Hannibal is a long-time science and environmental writer, and author of two previous books, Leaves & Pods (Abrams) and Good Parenting Through Your Divorce (Marlowe & Co.).