Evolution

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 543 pages
• Published by: Sinauer Associates January 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0878931872
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0878931873
• Book Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 3.4 pounds

Product Description
In its scope and emphases, Evolution is a readily recognized descendant of the author's previous textbook, Evolutionary Biology. However, it is much shorter and is exclusively directed toward an undergraduate audience. Teachers and students will find the list of important concepts and terms in each chapter a helpful guide, and will appreciate the radically different dynamic figures and lively photographs. The content of all chapters has been updated, and material has been reorganized into new chapters such as "Conflict and Cooperation" and "How To Be Fit." Contributors Scott V. Edwards and John R. True have provided authoritative chapters on "Evolution of Genes and Genomes" and "Development and Evolution," two of the most rapidly developing subjects in evolutionary biology. A new final chapter on "Evolutionary Science, Creationism, and Society" treats such topics as the nature of science and the practical applications of evolutionary biology.

Reader Reviews
This looks to be the major text on evolution for undergrads, and it's a good one. However, it is essentially a text on evolutionary science and principles, and so if your interest is in a more detailed account of the specifics of organismal evolution at the level of the family or order you will find only spotty examples. There's quite a bit of population biology and quantitative genetics. Only in the final chapters is there a discussion of evo-devo and the importance in evolution of mechanisms such as mutations in regulatory regions of proteins, gene duplication and divergence, and the modularity of protein structure and how exon shuffling can instantly produce new proteins with new functions. These genetic mechanisms are much more important in evolution than mutations in the structural regions of proteins, which tend to be highly conserved even at the phylogenetic level. The book has plenty of color illustrations and is well written. It's a sad commentary on our times that the final chapter had to be written on refuting creationist nonsense, but DJF does a particularly excellent job here, and for those interested it can be read without having to read the rest of the text. In fact I think this chapter should be published as a small monograph and made required reading for all high school students so as to inoculate them against the pernicious lies creationists try to propogate. An understanding of evolution is critical for everybody, and yet only a tiny perentage of US citizens have a grasp of even the most basic evolutionary facts and principles.