Evolution : a Scientific American reader.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

University of Chicago. Press.

Series:

Scientific American Readers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (365 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

From the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925 to the court ruling against the Dover Area School Board's proposed intelligent design curriculum in 2005, few scientific topics have engendered as much controversy-or grabbed as many headlines-as evolution. And since the debate shows no signs of abating, there is perhaps no better time to step back and ask: What is evolution? Defined as the gradual process by which something changes into a different and usually more complex and efficient form, evolution explains the formation of the universe, the nature of viruses, and the emergence of humans. A first-rate summary of the actual science of evolution, this Scientific American reader is a timely collection that gives readers an opportunity to consider evolution's impact in various settings. Divided into four sections that consider the evolution of the universe, cells, dinosaurs, and humans, Evolution brings together more than thirty articles written by some of the world's most respected evolutionary scientists. As tour guides through the genesis of the universe and complex cells, P. James E. Peebles examines the evidence in support of an expanding cosmos, while Christian de Duve discusses the birth of eukaryotes. In an article that anticipated his book Full House, Stephen Jay Gould argues that chance and contingency are as important as natural selection for evolutionary change. And Ian Tatersall makes two fascinating contributions, submitting his view that the schematic of human evolution looks less like a ladder and more like a bush. With the latest on what's being researched at every level of evolutionary studies, from prospects of life on other planets to the inner working of cells, Evolution offers general readers an opportunity to update their knowledge on this hot topic while giving students an introduction to the problems and methodologies of an entire field of inquiry.

Contents:

The evolution of the universe / P. James Peebles, David N. Schramm, Edwin L. Turner and Richard G. Kron

The first stars in the universe / Richard B. Larson and Volker Bromm

Exploring our universe and others / Martin Rees

Searching for life in our solar system / Bruce M. Jakosky

The fate of life in the universe / Lawrence M. Krauss and Glenn D. Starkman

Life's rocky start / Robert M. Hazen

Misconceptions about the big bang / Charles H. Lineweaver and Tamara M. Davis

The evolution of the Earth / Claude J. Allegre and Stephen H. Schneider

Uprooting the tree of life / W. Ford Doolittle

The birth of complex cells / Christian de Duve

Viral quasispecies / Manfred Eigen

How cells respond to stress / William J. Welch

Cell communication : the inside story / John D. Scott and Tony Pawson

Life, death and the immune system / Gustav J.V. Nossal

Cybernetic cells / W. Wayt Bibbs

Rulers of the Jurassic seas / Ryosuke Motani

The mammals that conquered the seas / Kate Wong

Breathing life in to Tyrannosaurus rex / Gregory M. Erickson

Madagascar's Mesozoic secrets / John J. Flynn and Andre R. Wyss

Which came first, the feather or the bird? / Richard O. Prum and Alan H. Brush

The terror birds of South America / Larry G. Marshall

The evolution of life on the Earth / Stephen Jay Gould

An ancestor to call our own / Kate Wong

Early Hominid fossils from Africa / Meave Leakey and Alan Walker

Planet of the apes / David R. Begun

Once we were not alone / Ian Tattersall

Out of Africa again ... and again? / Ian Tattersall

Who were the Neandertals? / Kate Wong

Food for thought / William R. Leonard

Skin deep / Nina G. Jablonski and George Chaplin

The evolution of human birth / Karen R. Rosenberg and Wenda R. Trevathan

Once were cannibals / Tim D. White

If humans were built to last / S. Jay Olshansky, Bruce A. Carnes and Robert N. Butler.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9786611966423

9780226742731

0226742733

9781281966421

1281966428

OCLC:

646783255