The evolution revolution : design without intelligence / Ken McNamara and John Long.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McNamara, Ken, author.

Long, John, 1957- author.

Series:

Natural history.

Natural history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (302 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Carlton, Victoria, Australia : Melbourne University Press, 2007.

Summary:

3.8 billion years ago life evolved. 540 million years ago came the first complex animals. 380 million years ago fish had evolved fins with arm bones that humans have today. So are humans a case study for or against evolution? The Evolution Revolution takes you on a rollicking ride through the past 3.8 billionyears of life on Earth exploring the complex and often controversial issue ofevolution. Join two of Australia's most accomplished popular science writers, palaeontologists Ken McNamara and John Long, on field trips that unearth some of the world's most significant fossils, from microbes to mighty mammals, including the feathered dinosaurs that make the link between reptiles and birds. The authors take us through the dramatic transition from fins to limbs, howthe first insects flew, why dinosaurs got so big and how life has evolved into nearly every nook and cranny on Earth. The major fossil discoveries of the past decade they have documented comprehensively debunk the notion of intelligent design. Like it or not, along with dinosaurs, donkeys and dahlias we too came from bacteria that swam in the primordial soup. Impeccably researched, remarkably readable and punctuated with good humour, The Evolution Revolution puts a human face on the enterprise of palaeontology. It is essential reading for anyone interested in fossils and the big events in life history.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

- 1 - Inside evolution

- 2 - We are the champions!

- 3 -Rise of the gutless wonders

- 4 -Cambrian dreamtime menagerie

- 5 -Heads or tails?

- 6 -Walk on the wild side

- 7 - Jaw wars: the empire bites back

- 8 - Tracking down the bugs

- 9 - First foot forward

- 10 - Say it with flowers

- 11 - Monsters of the deep

- 12 - Reign of pterosaurs

- 13 - Dinosaurs of the twilight zone

- 14 - Birds of a feather

- 15 - Battle of the bulge

- 16 - Nothing but the tooth

- 17 -Murder and mayhem in the Miocene

- 18 - Children of the evolution

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780522863925

0522863922

OCLC:

1496393209