Though an older book (1986), this is a remarkable summary of evolution, of the world, life, cognition, mathematics, and language. In his summary he states that though mind is clearly an evolutionary adaptation he has no satisfactory explanation for it. Thus the question mark in the title remains. The real value of the book is his summary of the understanding of how life evolved. The fact that remaining questions are clearly shown and left unanswered is a testament to the intellectual honesty of the author.
Most striking to me is the chapter on vision. The intricacy and complexity of the visual apparatus and the brain processing necessary to see is amazing. The author makes no attempt to explain evolutionary mechanism other than describing other animals' eyes. Anatomical differences reflect different needs. The chapter ends.
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