Authored Books

K. Kampourakis (2014) Understanding Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Look inside the book in Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or Google Books.

A CHOICE 2015 OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE

Understanding Evolution has been translated into Greek. Watch a discussion about the book (in Greek).

Read also excerpts from book reviews:

• by Brian Hall in Choice : “One might ask whether yet another book on evolution is needed. In the case of the present book, the answer is yes. … [it] provides one of the clearest, most well-reasoned sets of arguments for why evolution is and must be approached from the evidence and not from any prior religious or other position. The writing is superb, with apparently simple examples that explain essential aspects of evolution.”
• by Derek Turner in The Quarterly Review of Biology : “… an excellent introduction to the basic concepts of evolutionary theory, and one that also has an unusual (and welcome) philosophical angle. The clear and accessible discussions of biological examples, augmented by a large number of helpful diagrams and a well-constructed glossary of technical terms, would make this book a good choice for introductory courses on evolution. … Understanding Evolution is both useful and innovative: an introductory volume that also explores what happens when science clashes with intuition.”
• by John Wilkins in Panda’s Thumb: “… a wonderful resource for students of all kinds … This is an excellent, and long-needed book. The education of evolution in schools is now so poor in many countries, that this can act as both a primer and as an invitation to think further, and I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone who wants to know what evolution really is and means … Buy a copy.”
• by Jonathan Kaplan in Metascience: “Even if one is not convinced that evolutionary biology presents uniquely difficult conceptual difficulties, Kampourakis’s work, revealing those difficulties that it does in fact present and showing how to ameliorate them, is of real value.”
• by Glenn Branch in The American Biology Teacher: “… informed by up-to-date biology as well as by state-of-the-art historical, philosophical, and psychological scholarship relevant to the teaching of evolution, which Kampourakis masterfully summarizes … Ambitiously planned and carefully argued, Understanding Evolution is a tour de force … a thorough and thoughtful treatment of its topics … It deserves to become a standard text in biology educators’ education.”
• by Massimo Pigliucci in Science & Education: “Scientific theories are dynamic, ever changing, perpetually incomplete and open to revision … The more the public at large understands this, the better off we will be, and books like Kampourakis’ certainly make a valuable contribution to nudging us into that desirable direction.”
• by David Long in Science Education: “… a timely and thoughtful introduction to evolutionary biology … Understanding Evolution does an excellent job at enumerating the conceptual problems evolution poses for students … filled with clear examples and well-presented illustrations supporting them … a strong contribution to our repertoire for improving evolution education.”
• by August Martin in Acta Biotheoretica: “… [does] an excellent job presenting evolutionary theory and summarizing the evidence for it … [Kampourakis] argues that in spite of powerful emotional and instinctual forces arrayed against it, we have much to gain by allowing the evolutionary picture to enrich our understanding of the world … a balanced, readable, and accessible introduction … Kampourakis deserves praise for pulling together numerous, and sometimes difficult, lines of research and inquiry into a decisive contribution to our understanding of the historical, psychological, and social dimensions of evolution … an indispensable reference for those working in science, and even social scientists … provides us with lasting insights of great importance.”
• by David Morrison in Systematic Biology: “… well written, as well as scientifically accurate … The breadth of the author’s knowledge, and the examples used in his book, are impressive … as a reviewer it is hard to find fault with the book. I have never been even slightly tempted to write a book about evolution, general or otherwise, but if I ever did then I would be very happy if it turned out as well as this one.”
• by Andy Squires in Biologist: “This intriguing book seeks to explore why evolutionary theory is so difficult for some people to accept. … Although predominantly for graduates and undergraduates, the book has clear explanations, is well illustrated and would be accessible to any scientifically literate person. … Understanding Evolution isn’t another ‘evolution book’ in the long tradition, as it comes at the discussion from another viewpoint, tackling the causes of misunderstanding instead.”
• by Gerhard Schlosser in Evolution & Development: “The book is written in a very accessible style and manages in a very short space to not only give a basic sketch of current evolutionary theory but also to provide interesting insights into the cognitive barriers that make evolutionary explanations so difficult to accept. Simple graphics and examples illustrate many of the important points. … an overall very rewarding and thought provoking book which will be an asset to everyone teaching evolution.”
• by Jan Baedke  in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution: “Understanding Evolution is well written and reasoned, scientifically accurate, and very didactic. It situates original and contemporary biological research in historical and philosophical contexts in a balanced, engaging, and accessible manner. … Kampourakis’ book is a highly important contribution to contemporary education of evolution. Hopefully it will be used as a springboard by various students to approach epistemological, conceptual and historical dimensions of evolution at the border betweenknowledge and belief.”
• by Lisa K. Elfring in CBE-Life Sciences Education: “The book provides a valuable resource to help teachers understand the reasons that evolution can be so difficult for students to understand, an area in which many teachers (myself included) struggle. …The book’s unique focus brings together several important threads that teachers must consider in their own decision making about teaching evolution and provides some useful references and suggestions about the big ideas underlying evolutionary biology. The focus on common barriers to understanding evolution is useful for anyone who is teaching the topic in a formal or informal context.”
• by Kevin Arbuckle in the newsletter of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology: “Understanding Evolution is a remarkably balanced book that takes a decidedly nonconfrontational approach with regard to religious (and other anti-evolution) groups and viewpoints, yet still maintains an unabashedly ‘pro-evolution’ stance. By doing so, it presents a platform that is far more likely to achieve the goal of increasing acceptance (or at least understanding) of evolutionary theory regardless of the reader’s background than many other books on the subject. This is one of the book’s two major advantages over similar efforts, the other being the extensive discussion of the barriers to understanding evolution …”