How evolution explains everything about life : from Darwin's brilliant idea to today's epic theory / New Scientist.

Format:

Book

Series:

Instant expert (New Scientist (Firm))

NewScientist instant expert

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

xii, 276 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : New Scientist/John Murray Learning, 2017.

Summary:

How did we get here? All cultures have a creation story, but a little over 150 years ago Charles Darwin introduced a revolutionary new one. We, and all living things, exist because of the action of evolution on the first simple life form and its descendants. We now know that it has taken 3.8 billions of years of work by the forces of evolution to turn what was once a lump of barren rock into the rich diversity of into plants, animals and microbes that surround us. In the process, evolution has created all manner of useful adaptions, from biological computers (brains) to a system to capture energy from the sun (photosynthesis). But how does evolution actually work? In 'Evolution', leading biologists and New Scientist take you on a journey of a lifetime, exploring the question of whether life is inevitable or a one-off fluke, and how it got kick-started. Does evolution have a purpose or direction? Are selfish genes really the driving force of evolution? And is evolution itself evolving?

Contents:

Introduction

1. Darwin's discovery

2. But what exactly is evolution?

3. Darwin and DNA: how genetics spurred the evolution of a theory

4. How life began ; 5. Nature''s greatest inventions

6. Myths and misconceptions ; 7. Digging deeper ; 8. Evolving questions ; 9. The evolution of selfless behaviour

10. On the origin of species revisited ; 11. The future of evolution

Conclusion

Fifty evolutionary ideas.

Notes:

"This book is based on articles previously published in New Scientist together with specially commissioned content. It is authored by a range of experts" -- Page ix.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781473629714

1473629713

9781473658455

1473658454

OCLC:

1011431941

Publisher Number:

99974553177