Best of
Evolution

2001

Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea


Carl Zimmer - 2001
    After all, we ourselves are the product of evolution, and we can tackle many of our gravest challenges –– from lethal resurgence of antiobiotic–resistant diseases to the wave of extinctions that looms before us –– with a sound understanding of the science.

The Ape and the Sushi Master: Reflections of a Primatologist


Frans de Waal - 2001
    The book's title derives from an analogy de Waal draws between the way behavior is transmitted in ape society and the way sushi-making skills are passed down from sushi master to apprentice. Like the apprentice, young apes watch their group mates at close range, absorbing the methods and lessons of each of their elders' actions. Responses long thought to be instinctive are actually learned behavior, de Waal argues, and constitute ape culture. A delightful mix of intriguing anecdote, rigorous clinical study, adventurous field work, and fascinating speculation, The Ape and the Sushi Master shows that apes are not human caricatures but members of our extended family with their own resourcefulness and dignity.

Tree of Origin: What Primate Behavior Can Tell Us about Human Social Evolution


Frans de Waal - 2001
    In Tree of Origin nine of the world's top primate experts read these clues and compose the most extensive picture to date of what the behavior of monkeys and apes can tell us about our own evolution as a species.It has been nearly fifteen years since a single volume addressed the issue of human evolution from a primate perspective, and in that time we have witnessed explosive growth in research on the subject. Tree of Origin gives us the latest news about bonobos, the make love not war apes who behave so dramatically unlike chimpanzees. We learn about the tool traditions and social customs that set each ape community apart. We see how DNA analysis is revolutionizing our understanding of paternity, intergroup migration, and reproductive success. And we confront intriguing discoveries about primate hunting behavior, politics, cognition, diet, and the evolution of language and intelligence that challenge claims of human uniqueness in new and subtle ways.Tree of Origin provides the clearest glimpse yet of the apelike ancestor who left the forest and began the long journey toward modern humanity.

The Birth Of The Earth (A Cartoon History of the Earth, #1)


Jacqui Bailey - 2001
    Cartoon illustrations accompany the text to retell the story of the Big Bang, evolution, dinosaurs and the beginning of mankind. Events are explained in simple terms with statistics and timelines included.

The Dawn of Life (A Cartoon History of the Earth, #2)


Jacqui Bailey - 2001
    The Dawn of Life is part of A Cartoon History of the Earth. Each book closes with a timeline, a comprehensive glossary and an index. Scientific consultants, chosen for their particular areas of expertise, have verified all the factual information. Combined with humorous dialogue and comic-strip illustrations, each book in the series is at once entertaining, engaging and -- educational!

Getting the Facts Straight: A Viewer's Guide to PBS's Evolution


Discovery Institute - 2001
    It points out areas where the history is inaccurate or the reasoning flawed. It illustrates how issues vigorously debated within the scientific community are presented as established facts.

The Stick and Stone Age (A Cartoon History of the Earth, #4)


Jacqui Bailey - 2001
    The Stick and Stone Age is part of A Cartoon History of the Earth. Each book closes with a timeline, a comprehensive glossary and an index. Scientific consultants, chosen for their particular areas of expertise, have verified all the factual information. Combined with humorous dialogue and comic-strip illustrations, each book in the series is at once entertaining, engaging and -- educational!

Palmer: Evolutionary Psychology


Jack A. Palmer - 2001
     10 short chapters introduce the reader to the major topics within the field of evolutionary psychology (from "Social Order and Disorder" to "Mating and Reproduction" to "The Creative Impulse: The Origins of Technology and Art"). For psychologists, students, or anyone interested in evolutionary psychology.

A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism


Discovery InstituteVladimir L. Voeikov - 2001
    It deserves to be heard!During recent decades, new scientific evidence from many scientific disciplines such as cosmology, physics, biology, "artificial intelligence" research, and others have caused scientists to begin questioning Darwinism's central tenet of natural selection and studying the evidence supporting it in greater detail.Yet public TV programs, educational policy statements, and science textbooks have asserted that Darwin's theory of evolution fully explains the complexity of living things. The public has been assured that all known evidence supports Darwinism and that virtually every scientist in the world believes the theory to be true.The scientists on this list dispute the first claim and stand as living testimony in contradiction to the second. Since Discovery Institute launched this list in 2001, hundreds of scientists have courageously stepped forward to sign their names.The list is growing and includes scientists from the US National Academy of Sciences, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Indian, Nigerian, and Brazilian National Academies, as well as from universities such as Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and others.

The Day of the Dinosaurs (A Cartoon History of the Earth, #3)


Jacqui Bailey - 2001
    Cartoon illustrations accompany the text to retell the story of the Big Bang, evolution, dinosaurs and the beginning of mankind. Events are explained in simple terms with statistics and timelines included.

Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives


Robert T. Pennock - 2001
    This anthology of writings by prominent creationists and their critics focuses on what is novel about the new movement. It serves as a companion to Robert Pennock's Tower of Babel, in which he criticizes the wedge movement, as well as other new varieties of creationism. The book contains articles previously published in specialized, hard-to-find journals, as well as new contributions. Each section contains introductory background information, articles by influential creationists and their critics, and in some cases responses by the creationists. The discussions cover IDC as a political movement, IDC's philosophical attack on evolution, the theological debate over the apparent conflict between evolution and the Bible, IDC's scientific claims, and philosopher Alvin Plantinga's critique of naturalism and evolution. The book concludes with Pennock's Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught in the Public Schools.

Biology of Marine Birds


E.A. Schreiber - 2001
    It both summarizes and analyzes their breeding biology, ecology, taxonomy, evolution, fossil history, physiology, energetics, and conservation. The book covers four orders of marine birds: penguins (Sphenisciformes); albatross, shearwaters, petrels (Procellariiformes); pelicans, boobies, frigatebirds, tropicbirds, cormorants (Pelecaniformes); and gulls, terns, guillemots, auks (Charadriiformes - Families Laridae and Alcidae). Two summary chapters address the biology of shorebirds and wading birds and their lives in the marine environment.This comprehensive book contains numerous summary tables that give you exhaustive information on various aspects of their life histories, breeding biology, physiology and energetics, and demography. It also discusses research techniques and future research needed, providing a guide to ornithologists and students for research projects.Written by acknowledged experts in this field, Biology of Marine Birds is the ideal resource. The authors not only present known information, but provide new analyses and insights into marine bird biology. You will find no other book that covers all the major seabird groups and all the major topics with this depth of detail. Whether you are studying, researching, or managing marine environments, you will find yourself reaching for this resource repeatedly.

A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness


Merlin Donald - 2001
    Donald makes "a persuasive case...for consciousness as the central player in the drama of mind" (Peter Dodwell), as he details the forces, both cultural and neuronal, that power our distinctively human modes of awareness. He proposes that the human mind is a hybrid product, interweaving a super-complex form of matter (the brain) with an invisible symbolic web (culture) to form a "distributed" cognitive network. This hybrid mind, he argues, is our main evolutionary advantage, for it allowed humanity as a species to break free of the limitations of the mammalian brain. "Donald transcends the simplistic claims of Evolutionary Psychology,...offering a true Darwinian perspective on the evolution of consciousness."—Philip Lieberman

The Alfred Russel Wallace Reader: A Selection of Writings from the Field


Alfred Russel Wallace - 2001
    Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist and pioneer evolutionist who researched biological diversity through extensive exploration and travel. Independent of Darwin, Wallace developed a theory of evolution through natural selection, which ultimately spurred Darwin to complete and publish his own Origin of Species. Famous for drawing Wallace's Line, the boundary line separating the Asian and Australian zoological regions, Wallace's studies of the distribution of plants and animals pioneered an evolutionary approach to global and island biogeography. This study reintroduces Wallace to a general readership beyond the cadre of scientists and historians familiar with his work.

Victorian Sensation: The Extraordinary Publication, Reception, and Secret Authorship of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation


James A. Secord - 2001
    More than a hundred thousand readers were spellbound by its startling vision—an account of the world that extended from the formation of the solar system to the spiritual destiny of humanity. As gripping as a popular novel, Vestiges combined all the current scientific theories in fields ranging from astronomy and geology to psychology and economics. The book was banned, it was damned, it was hailed as the gospel for a new age. This is where our own public controversies about evolution began.In a pioneering cultural history, James A. Secord uses the story of Vestiges to create a panoramic portrait of life in the early industrial era from the perspective of its readers. We join apprentices in a factory town as they debate the consequences of an evolutionary ancestry. We listen as Prince Albert reads aloud to Queen Victoria from a book that preachers denounced as blasphemy vomited from the mouth of Satan. And we watch as Charles Darwin turns its pages in the flea-ridden British Museum library, fearful for the fate of his own unpublished theory of evolution. Using secret letters, Secord reveals how Vestiges was written and how the anonymity of its author was maintained for forty years. He also takes us behind the scenes to a bustling world of publishers, printers, and booksellers to show how the furor over the book reflected the emerging industrial economy of print.Beautifully written and based on painstaking research, Victorian Sensation offers a new approach to literary history, the history of reading, and the history of science. Profusely illustrated and full of fascinating stories, it is the most comprehensive account of the making and reception of a book (other than the Bible) ever attempted. Winner of the 2002 Pfizer Award from the History of Science Society

Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions: Speciation--The Evolution of New Species


Menno Schilthuizen - 2001
    But what triggers this fantastic explosion of life? How does one species split into another? Even Charles Darwin was baffled before such questions, calling them "The Mystery of Mysteries." In this fascinating, witty, and vividly written book, Menno Schilthuizen illuminates these questions, showing how biologists and zoologists over the last two centuries have responded to them, assessing our current knowledge of species, and proposing his own solution to Darwin's mystery. Using the sometimes-vicious academic debates and the powerful personalities of scientists as background, Schilthuizen explores the meandering path of species research and sets it out in the clearest possible terms. From looking at how we define a species, to exploring how geographical isolation and sexual selection contribute to making new species, to showing how species may appear gradually or instantaneously, Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions offers a comprehensive account of this evolutionary drama. Along the way, we get to know a remarkable cast of characters from the plant and animal kingdoms, from the copper-loving monkey flower to sockeye salmon, fire-bellied toads, lyrebirds, apple maggot flies, and many others. Most important, we get a clear picture of all the conditions necessary for one species to give birth to another. Written with engaging panache, and illuminating an area of study intensely relevant to any assessment of the earth's biodiversity, Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions will appeal to everyone--scientist and layperson alike--curious about nature and animal behavior.