Evolution: The First Four Billion Years

Author:   Michael Ruse ,  Joseph Travis ,  Edward O. Wilson
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
ISBN:  

9780674062214


Pages:   1008
Publication Date:   30 November 2011
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Awaiting stock   Availability explained
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Evolution: The First Four Billion Years


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Overview

Spanning evolutionary science from its inception to its latest findings, from discoveries and data to philosophy and history, this book is the most complete, authoritative, and inviting one-volume introduction to evolutionary biology available. Clear, informative, and comprehensive in scope, Evolution opens with a series of major essays dealing with the history and philosophy of evolutionary biology, with major empirical and theoretical questions in the science, from speciation to adaptation, from paleontology to evolutionary development (evo devo), and concluding with essays on the social and political significance of evolutionary biology today. A second encyclopedic section travels the spectrum of topics in evolution with concise, informative, and accessible entries on individuals from Aristotle and Linneaus to Louis Leakey and Jean Lamarck; from T. H. Huxley and E. O. Wilson to Joseph Felsenstein and Motoo Kimura; and on subjects from altruism and amphibians to evolutionary psychology and Piltdown Man to the Scopes trial and social Darwinism. Readers will find the latest word on the history and philosophy of evolution, the nuances of the science itself, and the intricate interplay among evolutionary study, religion, philosophy, and society. Appearing at the beginning of the Darwin Year of 2009-the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species-this volume is a fitting tribute to the science Darwin set in motion.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Ruse ,  Joseph Travis ,  Edward O. Wilson
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   The Belknap Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 5.70cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   1.533kg
ISBN:  

9780674062214


ISBN 10:   0674062213
Pages:   1008
Publication Date:   30 November 2011
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock   Availability explained
The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you.

Table of Contents

* Foreword Edward O. Wilson * Introduction Michael Ruse and Joseph Travis * The History of Evolutionary Thought Michael Ruse * The Origin of Life Jeffrey L. Bada and Antonio Lazcano * Paleontology and the History of Life Michael Benton * Adaptation Joseph Travis and David Reznick * Molecular Evolution Francisco J. Ayala * Evolution of the Genome Brian Charlesworth and Deborah Charlesworth * The Pattern and Process of Speciation Margaret B. Ptacek and Shala J. Hankison * Evolution and Development Gregory A. Wray * Social Behavior and Sociobiology Daniel I. Rubenstein * Human Evolution Henry M. McHenry * Evolutionary Biology of Disease Michael F. Antolin and Darwinian Medicine * Beyond the Darwinian Paradigm: Understanding Biological Forms Brian Goodwin * Philosophy of Evolutionary Thought Kim Sterelny * Evolution and Society Manfred D. Laubichler and Jane Maienschein * American Antievolutionism: Retrospect and Prospect Eugenie C. Scott * Alphabetical Guide * Contributors * Index

Reviews

If ever there were an education in a book, there's one in this massive volume...What is most probably the commemorative par excellence of the Origin of Species sesquicentennial. -- Ray Olson Booklist (starred review) 20081201 Half essay collection, half encyclopedia, it's packed with everything you'll ever want or need to know about the science of evolution. -- Zelda Roland Wired 20081222 Broad, engaging, and useful. -- Gregg Sapp Library Journal 20081215 Evolution, which is slightly less than 1,000 pages long, covers almost every angle of its huge subject, from the perspective of science, religion, philosophy, and history. -- Evan R. Goldstein Chronicle of Higher Education 20090306 Harvard's blockbuster contribution to the Darwin anniversary is a substantial work at almost a thousand pages. London Review of Books 20090226 Evolution: The First Four Billion Years is as equally inviting and particularly timely in this bicentennial year of the birth of Charles Darwin and the ever-bubbling controversy with advocates of a creationist explanation for the mysteries of biology...The 16 explaining essays, followed by the second encyclopedic section offer the reader an easily and enjoyable access to what the fuss is all about and why it is important to get one's own opinions based on reality. Life, after all, is too important. -- James Srodes Washington Times 20090322 More than 100 authors contribute to the rich variety of excellent articles in this highly commendable and scholarly volume. The authors explore in detail evidence supporting the role of natural selection and other forces driving evolutionary change, and consider myriad controversies and unresolved issues in evolutionary science. Illustrative examples are drawn from all levels of life on Earth. The book critically examines distinctions between microevolution--which even religious Fundamentalists generally do not dispute--and the far more contentious macroevolution. Contributors also address the influence of evolution on philosophy, sociology, and religion and provide an excellent discussion of American antievolutionism and the ongoing controversy of teaching evolution versus intelligent design/creationism in schools. -- D. A. Brass Choice 20090701


If ever there were an education in a book, there's one in this massive volume...What is most probably the commemorative par excellence of the Origin of Species sesquicentennial. -- Ray Olson Booklist (starred review) 20081201 Half essay collection, half encyclopedia, it's packed with everything you'll ever want or need to know about the science of evolution. -- Zelda Roland Wired 20081222 Broad, engaging, and useful. -- Gregg Sapp Library Journal 20081215 Evolution, which is slightly less than 1,000 pages long, covers almost every angle of its huge subject, from the perspective of science, religion, philosophy, and history. -- Evan R. Goldstein Chronicle of Higher Education 20090306 Harvard's blockbuster contribution to the Darwin anniversary is a substantial work at almost a thousand pages. London Review of Books 20090226 Evolution: The First Four Billion Years is as equally inviting and particularly timely in this bicentennial year of the birth of Charles Darwin and the ever-bubbling controversy with advocates of a creationist explanation for the mysteries of biology...The 16 explaining essays, followed by the second encyclopedic section offer the reader an easily and enjoyable access to what the fuss is all about and why it is important to get one's own opinions based on reality. Life, after all, is too important. -- James Srodes Washington Times 20090322 More than 100 authors contribute to the rich variety of excellent articles in this highly commendable and scholarly volume. The authors explore in detail evidence supporting the role of natural selection and other forces driving evolutionary change, and consider myriad controversies and unresolved issues in evolutionary science. Illustrative examples are drawn from all levels of life on Earth. The book critically examines distinctions between microevolution--which even religious Fundamentalists generally do not dispute--and the far more contentious macroevolution. Contributors also address the influence of evolution on philosophy, sociology, and religion and provide an excellent discussion of American antievolutionism and the ongoing controversy of teaching evolution versus intelligent design/creationism in schools. -- D. A. Brass Choice 20090701


Author Information

Michael Ruse is the former Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Guelph. He is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Gifford Lecturer, and the author or editor of more than sixty books. Joseph Travis is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Biological Science at Florida State University. Edward O. Wilson was Pellegrino University Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University. In addition to two Pulitzer Prizes (one of which he shares with Bert Hölldobler), Wilson has won many scientific awards, including the National Medal of Science and the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

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