Captivating life : a naturalist in the age of genetics / John C. Avise.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Avise, John C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Avise, John C.

Naturalists--United States--Biography.

Naturalists.

Geneticists.

United States.

Geneticists--United States--Biography.

Local Subjects:

Avise, John C.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

vii, 212 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington [D.C.] : Smithsonian Institution Press, [2001]

Summary:

A modern-day naturalist and evolutionary geneticist, John C. Avise helped launch one of the major scientific revolutions of the late twentieth century. In this lively memoir, he describes how he merged his youthful passion for natural history with the reasoned study of genetic science. His pioneering work, using molecular genetic techniques to examine ecological and evolutionary questions, stimulated an integration of these seemingly disparate realms.

Like earlier naturalists such as William Bartram and Charles Darwin, Avise is an ardent observer and interpreter of nature. However, the tools of his trade are not only binoculars and field diaries, but also the sophisticated instruments and investigative methods of molecular biology. Whether digging for gophers in a Georgia field, seining blind fish from pitch-black caves in Mexico, or deciphering the intriguing inheritance patterns of mitochondrial DNA in a modern genetics laboratory, Avise and his students have consistently revealed a captivating diversity to life that is not always evident to the naked eye. Suffused throughout this work is also a deep, heartfelt concern about nature's increasingly imperiled status.

Writing in the tradition of E. O. Wilson and Margaret D. Lowman, Avise recounts his scientific adventures with many animals in the wild and reflects more widely on the artistry of scientific discovery and the allure of the natural world. His story conveys as much about the making of a scientist as it does about the inner workings of science and nature.

Contents:

Part 1. Becoming a Scientist 1

1. A Biologist's Life and Times 3

2. Ice Lake 7

3. Budding Natural Historian 18

4. Off to College 31

Part 2. Dawn of a Scientific Revolution 39

5. Southern Exposure 41

6. Heading East 55

7. California Dreaming 65

9. Class Aves 84

10. Corals and Sponges 95

11. Energized by Mitochondria 106

Part 3. A Revolution Applied 119

12. Phylogeography 121

13. Ancient Mariners 134

14. Species and Their Conservation 148

15. Hybridization 160

16. Alternative Reproductive Lifestyles 174

17. Syntheses 189

Part 4. Perspectives 197

18. Reflections on Nature and Genetics 199.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

1560989572

OCLC:

46419871