Journalist, science scholar, bank executive, author (Genome, The Rational Optimist), Matt Ridley is also a British 5th Viscount and member of the House of Lords. These accolades matter little, according to the premise of his engaging new book, The Evolution of Everything. Debunking the whole infrastructure of "intelligent design," Ridley posits that "everything" important to our lives exists as a result of bottom-up evolutionary adaptation. His historic antecedents include the usual suspects, Darwin and Adam Smith, but also the work of Lucretius--excerpts from which introduce each chapter.
Ridley piles up examples of how his theory applies to the nuts and bolts of culture, economics, money, government, religion, the Internet--even the universe itself. His target is the "one huge mistake we all make, one blind spot... assuming the world is much more of a planned place than it is." Whether he is describing the origins of common law ("a code of ethics that was written by nobody and everybody") or the evolution of a tree ("the whole structure can stand for hundreds or even thousands of years.... All this is achieved without a plan, let alone a planner"), Ridley quotes supporting authorities as complex as Richard Dawkins or as renegade as Julian Assange. His is a Wikipedia-like world where constant interactions and adjustments create things as they are and will become. Like a Malcolm Gladwell of philosophy, Ridley makes counterintuitive leaps that both entertain and enlighten. Readers may not walk away from The Evolution of Everything married to libertarianism or agnosticism, but they will at least have flirted with them a bit. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.