*There are times in this book when it may seem as if eggs have desires, wants or needs: that eggs wanted to move from the sea to the land; that eggs sought safety in the mammal uterus or hid themselves in crystalline bird eggshells. Nevertheless, eggs – devoid of a brain and incapable of an instructive thought – can clearly do very little else than simply be an egg. Eggs are not capable of knowing their journey. I give them agency at particular moments only to better tell an engaging story.*

Howard has a knack with imaginative prose, and would make for a great introduction to writing about evolution. He conjures up vivid images of the worlds in which eggs evolved, and populates them with creatures just started to swim, crawl, and, yes, lay eggs. The explanations of why the egg has mattered so much are well done, and you may never look at an egg white again quite the same way. However, it did lag at times and, strangely, also lack compelling detail in parts.