Eli

"metamorphosis" by frank ryan. It's seriously one of the most amazing books I've read in years. It's written in a thriller/detective manner, and sensationalistic, but it's about the history of research into metamorphosis, from the obvious caterpiller/butterfly through the less obvious but much weirder motile/sessile forms of marine invertebrates, to some discussion of puberty. But the part that makes it amazing is the discussion of how metamorphosis started, esp. in the marine environment: at least one guy is claiming massive horizontal gene transfer a la Barbara McClintock, where external fertilization has gone awry and sperm from one *phylum* is semi-successfully fertilizing eggs from another phylum, leading to bizarre cross-breeds that have a larval form and an adult form that are almost totally different.