Samantha Weinberg

A terrific account of the sudden reappearance of a creature that was swimming while the dinosaurs roamed.

Many people have a vague recollection of the story of the coelacanth, but few of us appreciate the impact that this relic from the age of the dinosaurs has had on our understanding of evolution.

Fortunately, Samantha Weinberg has done an excellent job of reminding us how this ugly creature provided the missing link between life in water and life on land, spicing up her account by describing the daring exploits of the adventurers who went in search of the coelacanth….

(extract from Simon Singh’s review, Daily Telegraph, 30 July 1999)