The Red Queen

In his new book, acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley looks to the peculiar mating rituals of birds to better understand the rich origins and ongoing significance of Darwin's sexual selection theory.'FASCINATING' The Times'Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers ... A treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike' Richard DawkinsAnimals rarely treat sex as a simple or mutually beneficial transaction. Choosing a mate is often a transcendent event to be approached with reverence, suspicion, angst and quite a bit of violence. For Matt Ridley, nowhere is this more acute than in birds.From a freezing hide on the Pennine moors at dawn, Ridley closely studies the rare Black Grouse. He is there for the lek - an elaborate courtship ritual of squabbling and strutting males. They dance and sing for hours each day to attract a mate over several months. With most males leaving exhausted and unsuccessful, Ridley looks at how females make their choice to cast fresh light on how such rituals have evolved and why.His pursuit follows five generations of biologists from Darwin and Wallace to the present day, uncovering how they have grappled with the implications of sexual selection as an eccentric, gonzo form of evolution. While most Victorian scientists found it impossible to believe female birds could select mates, Darwin was obsessed with the idea of sexual as well as natural selection.Drawing on his own lifelong passion, Ridley eavesdrops on the elaborate displays of bird species around the world, from the complex art installations made by Bowerbirds in Australia to the bubbling calls of Curlews in the UK's declining moorlands. In a wonderful blend of nature writing and elegant exploration of recent evolutionary theory, Birds, Sex and Beauty shows not only how mate choice has shaped the natural world, including humans, but how the song and plumage of birds can be thrillingly, breathtakingly beautiful.'Clear and entertaining ... Ridley explains all this history with lucidity and wit'New Statesman'Most of this fascinating and accessible book is about birds ... Ridley, very clearly, loves birds - and the enthusiasm is infectious'The Times'This is a fascinating story told with wit, scholarship and the passion of a true conversationist. Lord Ridley writes in the best tradition of great British naturalists' Country Life'Birds, Sex & Beauty is a good read. It is a compelling history of sexual selection, rather than a synthesis that moves the field forwards'Nature

'Ridley is spot-on when it comes to the vital ingredients for success' Sir James DysonBuilding on his bestseller The Rational Optimist, Matt Ridley chronicles the history of innovation, and how we need to change our thinking on the subject.Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. It is innovation that will shape the twenty-first century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike.Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan. Innovation is crucially different from invention, because it is the turning of inventions into things of practical and affordable use to people. It speeds up in some sectors and slows down in others. It is always a collective, collaborative phenomenon, involving trial and error, not a matter of lonely genius. It still cannot be modelled properly by economists, but it can easily be discouraged by politicians. Far from there being too much innovation, we may be on the brink of an innovation famine.Ridley derives these and other lessons from the lively stories of scores of innovations - from steam engines to search engines - how they started and why they succeeded or failed.

'If there is one dominant myth about the world, one huge mistake we all make ... it is that we all go around assuming the world is much more of a planned place than it is.'From the industrial revolution and the rise of China, to urbanisation and the birth of bitcoin, Matt Ridley demolishes conventional assumptions that the great events and trends of our day are dictated by those on high. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the ground up. In this wide-ranging and erudite book, Matt Ridley brilliantly makes the case for evolution as the force that has shaped much of our culture, our minds, and that even now is shaping our future.As compelling as it is controversial, as authoritative as it is ambitious, Ridley's deeply thought-provoking book will change the way we think about the world and how it works.

Shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction 2011.Life is on the up.We are wealthier, healthier, happier, kinder, cleaner, more peaceful, more equal and longer-lived than any previous generation. Thanks to the unique human habits of exchange and specialisation, our species has found innovative solutions to every obstacle it has faced so far.In 'The Rational Optimist', acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley comprehensively refutes the doom-mongers of our time, and reaches back into the past to give a rational explanation for why we can - and will - overcome the challenges of the future, such as climate change and the population boom.Bold and controversial, it is a brilliantly confident assertion that the 21st century will be the best for humankind yet.

Ekonomi tarihine dair cüretkar ve kiskirtici yorumlariyla umut ekonomisini savunmaya calisan Matt Ridley, bu calismasinda insan refahi denilen seyin ticaret, teknoloji, inovasyon ve degisimle olan muhtemel iliskisine kafa yoruyor. Uzun zamandir söyleme hükmetmekte olan kötümserlerin karsisina dikilen Matt Ridley, meselenin esasen hakim söyleme sigmadigini gösteriyor ve gidaya ulasabilirlik, gelir durumu, yasam süreleri, ölüm oranlari gibi olgularla yola cikip baska bir noktaya variyor. Insanlik tarihinin, ilk evrelerden internet evresine, her asamasina egilen bu aydinlatici kitap okura daha iyi bir dünyaya dair umut asilayacak.Muhtesem bir kitap... ekonomiyle ekolojiyi bir araya getiren kapsamli bir sentez...George Gilder, National ReviewAkilci Iyimser, ilham verici özgün fikirlerle dolu bir kitap. Entelektüel yasama hükmeden gayriihtiyari kötümserlige karsi bu denli parlak ve kapsamli tartismalar yürüten bir kitap olmamisti hicbir zaman.Ian McEwanFeraset ve nükteyle dolu bu büyüleyici kitap, iki kere düsünmenize ve keyiflenmenize vesile olacak.Steven Pinker