I started this website in 2009, and it’s hard to believe that it’s been going for 17 years (this is the 31,860th post!). It began simply as a suggestion from my editor, Wendy Wolf at Viking/Penguin (now Penguin/Random House), that I start a website to promote my first trade book, Why Evolution Is True. (I was supposed to do what Neil Shubin did to promote his book Your Inner Fish). And that’s what I did, intending to perhaps post a brief item every few weeks about new evidence for evolution.
As you know, I quickly abandoned that intention and, discovering that I not only liked writing but also wanted to air my views about many things, including a love of cats, the website became a monster, eating up huge amounts of time. I don’t regret that, or have any plans to stop, for it’s only when I’m writing on this site that I’m able to forget the thousand natural shocks that kosher flesh is heir to.
This all came to mind when yesterday I got a request from my agent to allow a translation of WEIT into a new language: Uzbek! Of course I get a tidy but not huge sum for each such translation, and now the book is in 21 languages besides English. I’ve listed them below, including the publisher:
Original English: Viking/Penguin (US), and Oxford University Press (UK)
Foreign:
ARABIC National Centre for Translation and Publishing, Egypt
BASQUE Universidad del Pais Vasco (hardcover and ebook)
BENGALI Agradoot and Company, Dhaka, Bangladesh
BRAZIL JSN Editora
CROATIAN In.Tri d.o.o
FINNISH Vastapaino
FRENCH Markus Haller, Switzerland
GREEK Diadromes
JAPAN Nikkei Business Publications
HEBREW Books in the Attic
ITALIAN Codice
KOREAN Eulyoo Publishing Company
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Mandarin) KeAi Communications
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Simpified Chinese) Shanghai Translation Publishing House
POLISH Proszynski i Ska
PORTUGUESE Edicoes tinta-da-china (Portugal)
RUSSIAN Alpina
SPANISH Editorial Critica
TURKISH Palme Yayinevi
UKRAINIAN NashFormat Publishers
UZBEK 1000 Books Project
The translation I’m proudest of is the one in Arabic, because the Arabic-speaking and Farsi-speaking world is rife with creationism since the Qur’an, which is often taken as literal truth, paints a creationist scenario for the origin of life and humans. Sadly, the Arabic translation, done in Egypt, is almost unavailable: I’m told you can buy it in only one small bookstore in Cairo.
Here are two questions I’m sometimes asked:
Are you going to update the book? I have no plans to. The material is pretty much up to date, though there are a handful of errors that remain. And it’s short on molecular evidence for evolution. But there is no other book that covers the same ground, and I’ve heard from many people who said it convinced them that evolution was indeed true, as well as from a few who said it made them abandon their religion. Which leads to the next question:
Is this book the accomplishment you’re most proud of? No, though I am quite proud of it, for it was successful in doing what I wanted (it even nosed onto the NYT bestseller list), even if it didn’t dispel the pervasive creationism of America and other countries. A 2024 Gallup poll, for example, shows that 71% of Americans continue to think that God had some hand in human evolution, with more than half of those being Biblical creationists. But a naturalistic belief in evolution is gaining!:
In terms of the quality of analysis and comprehensiveness of coverage, I’m still most proud of the academic book I wrote with Allen Orr, Speciation. It grew out of my whole career working on the origin of species, and summarizes and analyzes what we knew at the time (2009) about how single lineages could split into two or more species. Speciation was originally published by Sinauer, but when that estimable publisher disbanded when its founder retired, its books were bought by Oxford University Press. Now Speciation is hideously expensive ($189.00 in paperback and $239 or more in hardcover). I wouldn’t recommend reading it unless you’re an evolutionist or other biologist, as it presumes knowledge that most laypeople don’t have.
When I dip into Speciation, as I do on rare occasions, I am impressed at how well I could think and write back then. I would not be capable of writing it now, as my brain doesn’t work as well as it used to. But I’m glad that Allen and I took the six years required to write it, as it’s the definitive book on the subject, and no other book had come along to supplant it. Is it out of date? Certainly, but neither Allen nor I have the will to update it. And it still lays out the problem in a way that’s useful, even if we have a lot more examples.
What I would add it I were to rewrite it would be a lot more about on “hybrid speciation”, especially the phenomenon of diploid species hybridizing and then the hybrids evolving into a new and distinct species. In 2009 we had a few examples of the phenomenon, but they’ve proliferated. (Polyploidy in plants is one example of hybrid speciation, but we did include a lot of material on that.)
I’m also proud of the cover (in color below), which shows three congeneric species of fish. (I didn’t want to show Drosophila because everybody expected that the book would be Drosophilocentric, and it wasn’t.) I spent hours sitting on the floor of the biology library here (no longer extant), trying to find good pictures that would represent speciation. I finally found one, and I could use it without permission as the copyright had expired. Here’s the source of the picture as detailed inside the book:
I loved the connection with David Starr Jordan and Teddy Roosevelt. I took out the book and carried it to the main library, which had a huge scanner that could reproduce things in great detail. And that’s what I sent to Sinauer to go on the cover. By the way, the fin going through the “O” in my last name was done on purpose by Sinauer. That’s cool, too:
Such are the thoughts engendered by a request for translation.
Yes. The cover is fantastic. When I first saw it, I thought that they were cichlids—which would also have been appropriate since cichlid speciation in East African lakes is (or was) a hot topic.
Congratulations on the book and on the web site. What hath Jerry wrought!
One crazy thought I had was that you could consider publishing the content of the web site in book form: Jerry Coyne’s State of the World. It could include a collection of your best essays along with the responses. I wonder if anything like that has been done before.
I suppose if you were to release a new edition of Why Evolution is True—and I would buy it right away—you could avoid a whole-scale rewrite by doing what Richard Dawkins did for the paperback edition of The God Delusion: provide a Preface that could answer some additional questions about evolution (I like Dawkins’s answers to the questions he had to contend with), and at the end of the Preface you would have something like this (this is Dawkins’s exact last line for his Preface): “In this new paperback edition I have taken the opportunity to make a few minor improvements, and correct some small errors that readers of the hardback have kindly drawn to my attention.”
Do the publishers send you a complimentary copy of WEIT, after it’s been translated into another language? If so, I’d love to see a picture of your bookshelf.
Yes, I get at least two copies of each published version. I may put up a picture of my bookshelf if you remind me.
Comment by Greg Mayer
Was the cover image only on the softcover? My hardcover copy, purchased direct from the publisher, Sinauer, immediately upon publication (published late May or June, my copy received in July) did not have a dustjacket. It’s bound in blue cloth, and has a gold wrasse on the spine.
GCM
Yes, the hardcover had no dustjacket, and I have two copies of that rarity.
Jerry, I was especially struck by the following comment in your post: “When I dip into Speciation, as I do on rare occasions, I am impressed at how well I could think and write back then. I would not be capable of writing it now, as my brain doesn’t work as well as it used to.”
I feel exactly the same way when I occasionally look back at some of the books I wrote earlier in my career. At this point in my life, I’m afraid that any attempts to rewrite or update my books would be counterproductive, detracting from rather than enhancing any scientific legacy that I might have.
Welcome to the dotage club, John!
I bought Why Evolution Is True soon after it appeared, and I have re-read it several times since. I think that it got pretty well everything right first time, and I see no need to update it.
An anecdote, if you’re interested.
A few years ago I was chatting with my niece’s S.O., whom I had met only a couple of times. I knew he had a Ph.D. in biology, but not much more. Somewhere in our conversation I brought up the WEIT website, and he said he was quite familiar with Speciation, having referred to it often in writing up his thesis. I still don’t know more details, but his work involved a lot of nocturnal insect collection in the woods of Texas and Oklahoma, along with run-ins with biting insects, as well as curious Forest Rangers and even CBP agents.
Thank your in-niece for reading my book!
This was such an important book for me. I felt that there was a 30-year void in definitive texts since MJD White 1978, with Otte & Endler’s 1989 edited work doing some heavy lifting. Then at last came your text dedicated to Speciation for undergraduate/graduate teaching.
Sadly, the Arabic translation, done in Egypt, is almost unavailable: I’m told you can buy it in only one small bookstore in Cairo.
Why would a publisher pay for translation rights only to limit sales to a single bookstore? Maybe to thwart wider circulation of a dangerous book?
Out of curiosity, I looked into your Arabic translator, and found this:
CAIRO—A translation house affiliated with the Egyptian government has set off new fears about freedom of thought and expression in Egypt by setting strict new guidelines for the books it will accept for translation into Arabic. The National Center for Translation, a nonprofit state-run organization, announced the new conditions last month, stating that books proposed for translation “should not oppose religion, social values, morals and customs.”
https://al-fanarmedia.org/2020/09/egyptian-translation-centers-new-guidelines-could-stifle-freedom-of-thought/?__cf_chl_f_tk=Brwzfdtbgzlm2x4JhWucJlurKuoJ_GkKXfGaTf2.ujo-1783446173-1.0.1.1-rg45E1ScjFsPEHiIoqVNuD9tSaI4xAtG7UaCHa1XSXI
What a shame that the enormous population of Arabic-speaking students cannot easily get their hands on a copy of WEIT. Assuming your translation agreements are not exclusive, I would encourage your agent to find another Arabic publisher that will commit to actually promoting the book.
I think that Egypt limited its distribution as it was published and distributed by the government. My guess is that they don’t WANT it distributed widely. Your added information just confirms this. Egypt is a Muslim country, and many of them would just as soon not teach or disseminate information on evolution.
Thanks for the link.
I recall vividly the day I came across WEIT and remain thankful to this day. Mazel tov on all you have accomplished.
Many congratulations to our host on his great book (WEIT) and also great website (WEIT). Let me second Barry Lyons’ suggestion in Comment #2 for a convenient way PCC(e) could issue a new edition of the book, only slightly updated.
“Speciation” is too expensive a book for me to pick up. But long, long ago, I was drawn into my academic life by another great book I still have: the one by Dobie, which is in some ways the ancestor of the Coyne and Orr book, or to be more
exact, its entire field.
If you want to try Speciation, you might try getting it from a library or requesting it via interlibrary loan.
You are thinking of Genetics and the Origin of Species, Dobzhanskys 1937 book. It was the book that is said to have kicked off the Modern Synthesis, and it influenced me greatly. BTW, his nickname was spelled Doby, but another nickname was Dodek.
I suppose Dobrzhansky’s proper nickname could have been Добрий. I read the book during a Genetics class taught by Bentley Glass, and it certainly influenced me, although I went into the more biochemical/molecular direction of my own time period. Worth recollecting these days that Dobzhansky grew up in Ukraine; had his undergraduate training at the University of Kiev; and rejected Nikolai Vavilov’s later invitation for him to return to the USSR from California.
Congratulations Jerry, on a commemoration of your legacy. Not many academics can boast of both a definitive technical exposition of a universal process in biology, and a great popular success in transmitting the science to the public.
And keep on writing the blog. My wife and I have been faithful readers for at least a dozen years, starting when I bought the WEIT paperback.
Congratulations on so many translations that spread the word about evolution. I was very surprised by the Arabic translation even though sales seem to be tightly controlled.
I’ve been reading posts on this site since about 2012 and often wanted to get ‘The Complete Coyne Collection’, but Speciation was always a bit too pricey. Then, in April this year, a second hand one popped up on Amazon and, although it was still a hefty sum, I took the plunge and now feel like my Jerry Journey is complete. Until the next book….
Баракалла! Табриклайман!
Barakalla! Tabriklayman!
Unless I am mistaken, Jerry is being a bit more modest than his “braggadocio” would suggest. His Uzbek publisher appears to be the government-sponsored “1000 Books for Youth” project, which was initiated by presidential decree in late 2023. Its main objective is to “Support the intellectual growth of youth by acquainting them with modern scientific and cultural achievements.” The translations so far lean heavily toward the Oxford “Very Short Introduction” series, which makes sense.
Perhaps Samarkand and Bukhara are calling for a visit! More details below:
https://gov.uz/en/yoshlar/sections/view/28215
Thanks Doug. Now THAT’s a good and proper use of government! I think I recall that Jerry was asked to do a Very Short Introduction volume, but averred against engaging due to lack of time. But WEIT should provide an excellent approximation for the 1000 books project.
Bravo!
Congrats on the site and the many translations. Uzbek! Good stuff.
Thank you for your commitment to your website, which I have been enjoying now for many years. “Why Evolution is True” was also one of the clearest explanations about evolution that I have ever read.
What a wonderful phrase.
Laudations for the longevity of your books, and your website, Jerry. It sustains me.
How about a new version that simplifies the whole original book aimed at the layman who really needs to learn about evolution and why? That’s the right audience! Alas, it probably wouldn’t sell very well.
The simplified version of Speciation is a chapter in WEIT which I think is the best treatment of speciation for the layperson that exists, so I do not need to write a simpler version of Speciation. It is already written.
WEIT is already aimed at the layperson, so maybe I do not understand what you are asking.
Congratulations on the continued success of the book Jerry, and on the blog. Keep on keeping on…
Congratulations!
Speciation is a great book
Thank you for writing it
Nick Patterson
A very productive life well-lived, Jerry. As one of my Mississippi born and bred friends here would say: your mama done good. It is somewhat comforting to me that you and john avise both note the clear mental fall off from younger years. The number of translations is astounding. And an important thank you for making this website so attractive to so broad a base of knowledgable people. Recommendations from commenters have been of immense help to me over the years.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! Having been translated into so many languages is extremely impressive.
I am very impressed indeed, and wish I had dedicated some of my youthful energies to writing a book even a fraction as influential as WEIT, instead of countless journal articles and a few book chapters targeting a limited specialist audience.
Congratulations Jerry, the chance is there to opening a few doors for some individuals you will never meet.
As a layperson, I did not read Speciation, mainly (as you say) it was not a layman’s book, so I didn’t.
I came to WEIT via a algorithm recommendation… something like “you might be interested in” which I was. Totally out of my depth but hell, nothing ventured…
Which says to me there is room for a layman’s accessible version of Speciation.
You say an old mind could not cope but would it not be fun if you teamed up with a younger mind or two, it could be another way of a distraction. I wouldn’t know but
just a thought…
Re a lay version of Speciation:
See Jerry’s reply to comment #20. It features as a chapter in WEIT (book)
I did read that comment I was thinking more in terms of, and it could be, that chapter and additional readings as a stand alone book.
Real proud of you, boss.
I’ve bought WEIT three times now as gifts.
congratulations,
D.A.
NYC 🗽
I read WEIT and Faith vs. Fact years ago, and although I’m ‘late’ to your website, I thoroughly enjoy and benefit from it. Glad Japanese is among your translations. Omedetou gozaimasu!
Jerry, I happened upon the WEIT site around 2014, and have been FAITHfully(!) reading it ever since. And, of course, I have the WEIT book.
I learned a lot from your clear and accessible writing on a wide range if topics, and, unexpectedly but not surprisingly, also from the very knowledgeable commenters.
You are my main source for learning and understanding a little better the enigma that is the USA culture and society.
Thanks for your efforts and may you continue it for as long as it gives pleasure and meaning to you.
Congrats on the new translation!
I love “Why Evolution is True”. Richard Dawkins released “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution” in September 2009, just months later. I was afraid that it would be buried. Dawkins, however, was your book’s greatest champion.
It is my most recommended Science book.
It’s great to see that WEIT is in so many languages. I asked ChatGPT what percentage of the world’s population accepts that humans evolved, and it extrapolated from a 2020 Pew Research Center study covering 20 advanced and emerging economies to estimate:
“About 70–75% of the world’s population probably accepts that humans evolved (whether by unguided natural selection or as a process guided by God).“
I think that’s wildly optimistic (as the sample is only from advanced/emerging economies), but I have no insight on the real numbers. Here’s hoping WEIT adds Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, etc. to its long list of translations.
It’s truly impressive you were able to reach people in so many languages around the world. We have so many new ways to find out information these days but unfortunately so much of that information comes with inherent (and often purposeful) biases. It’s wonderful that a book based on scientific evidence is out there being published around the world.