He proposes that we look at evolution as a battle between genes instead of between whole organisms. We can then view changes in phenotypes—the end products of genes, like eye color or leaf shape, which are usually considered to increase the fitness of an individual—as serving the evolutionary interests of genes.Dawkins makes a convincing case that considering one’s body, personality, and environment as a field of combat in a kind of “arms race” between genes fighting to express themselves on a strand of DNA can clarify and extend the idea of survival of the fittest. This influential and controversial book illuminates the complex world of genetics in an engaging, lively manner.

    And no book has ever established the life sciences so firmly in the mainstream of Western intellectual history as The Growth of Biological Thought. Ten years in preparation, this is a work of epic proportions, tracing the development of the major problems of biology from the earliest attempts to find order in the diversity of life to modern research into the mechanisms of gene transmission.

    Gould's brilliant, funny, engaging prose dissects the motivations behind those who would judge intelligence, and hence worth, by cranial size, convolutions, or score on extremely narrow tests. How did scientists decide that intelligence was unipolar and quantifiable? Why did the standard keep changing over time? Gould's answer is clear and simple: power maintains itself. European men of the 19th century, even before Darwin, saw themselves as the pinnacle of creation and sought to prove this assertion through hard measurement. When one measure was found to place members of some "inferior" group such as women or Southeast Asians over the supposedly rightful champions, it would be discarded and replaced with a new, more comfortable measure. The 20th-century obsession with numbers led to the institutionalization of IQ testing and subsequent assignment to work (and rewards) commensurate with the score, shown by Gould to be not simply misguided--for surely intelligence is multifactorial--but also regressive, creating a feedback loop rewarding the rich and powerful. The revised edition includes a scathing critique of Herrnstein and Murray's The Bell Curve, taking them to task for rehashing old arguments to exploit a new political wave of uncaring belt tightening. It might not make you any smarter, but The Mismeasure of Man will certainly make you think.--Rob LightnerThis edition is revised and expanded, with a new introduction

    John Reader's lifelong passion for this quest--palaeoanthropology--began when he reported on the celebrated "Lucy" finds in Ethiopia, for Life Magazine. Drawing on both historic and recent research, he tells the fascinating story of the science as it has developed from the activities of a few dedicated individuals, into the rigorous multidisciplinary work of today. His arresting photographs give a unique insight into the fossils, the discoverers, and the settings. His vivid narrative reveals both the context in which our ancestors evolved, and also the realities confronting the modern scientist. The story he tells is peopled by eccentrics and enthusiasts, and punctuated by controversy and even fraud. It is a celebration of discoveries--Neanderthal Man in the 1850s, Java Man (1891), Australopithecus (1925), Peking Man (1926), Homo habilis (1964) and beyond. It is a story of fragmentary shards of evidence, and the competing interpretations built upon them. And it is a tale of scientific breakthroughs--dating technology, genetics and molecular biology--that have enabled us to set the fossil evidence in the context of human evolution.Boasting seventy-five original color photographs--taken by the author, specifically for this book--Missing Links offers a wealth of scientific insight.

    Since then, revolutions have taken place in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience. All of these innovations have been brought into account in this greatly expanded edition of a book originally called an "overwhelming achievement" by The Times Literary Supplement. A masterful synthesis of biology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, The Tangled Wing reveals human identity and activity to be an intricately woven fabric of innumerable factors. Melvin Konner's sensitive and straightforward discussion ranges across topics such as the roots of aggression, the basis of attachment and desire, the differences between the sexes, and the foundations of mental illness.

    Generously illustrated and easy to follow, it not only allows students to sample the full range of life forms inhabiting our planet but to familiarize themselves with the taxonomic theories by which all organisms' origins and distinctive characteristics are traced and classified.This completely revised and updated third edition includes an introduction by Stephen Jay Gould.* New ideas on molecular systematics, symbiogenisis, and the place of microbes in the evolution of life* Newly expanded chapter openings that define each kingdom and place its members in context in time and space* Definitions of terms in the glossary and, now, also appropriately placed throughout the book* A new table comparing the main features of each kingdom, showing the logic of the overall classification scheme* A list of prehistoric dioramas in science museums and in U.S. national parks and monuments guiding readers to trips to the past* A list of websites directing students to additional information

    An authoritative, visual presentation by a highly respected anthropologist, the second edition of this popular classic is entirely rewritten, with 40% new drawings, and includes the latest discoveries in human and primate evolution.

    

    With this long-awaited new edition, Lynn Margulis and Michael Dolan integrate new discoveries from the past two decades, such as the enormous contribution of molecular biology, especially the accumulation of protein and DNA sequence information upon which the Woese three-domain system is based. Yet the prokaryotic-eukaryotic distinction remains the largest evolutionary discontinuity in life on Earth. Are the well-formed filaments found so recently in the Warrawoona Series of northwestern Australia really evidence of the oldest life on the planet? Do the fossils found in the great Gunflint Iron Formation of Ontario tell that bacteria were instrumental in the accumulation of the most important iron reserves in the world? These questions are not solved here, but they are raised for students, scientists, and general readers interested in the most basic evolution and its consequences. No special scientific background is required of the reader, only a lively interest.

    Using the fluid writing style that made Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution such a success, Dr. Fortey brings the study of fossils into the 21st-century.