Evolution

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Darwin

In this rich selection from Darwin's most important and relevant works, Glick and Kohn provide the reader with a map of sorts by which to navigate the ins and outs of the development of the theory of natural selection. A concise general introduction lays out Darwin's theory, which is followed up in the chapter introductions. Each chapter ends with an excerpt from Darwin's correspondence, commenting on the work in question, its significance, impact, and reception. In addition, two essential appendices are included - the first three chapters from Malthus, On Population, which gave Darwin the idea for natural selection, and the paper by Wallace that motivated Darwin to abandon the "Big Species Book" and write Origin of Species.

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Richard Dawkins

In De blinde horlogemaker spelen zowel Paley als Darwin een belangrijke rol. De eerstgenoemde als belichaming van het geloof in een voor ede mens onbekende doelgerichtheid van de natuur. Darwin als ontdekker van het principe van de natuurlijke selectie. Uiterst boeiend schrijft Dawkins over zijn pogingen Darwins evolutieleer met behulp van computers na te bootsen. Het kunstmatige landschap van de computer verschaft meer inzicht in de ontwikkeling van de genen, de belangrijkste bouwstenen van het leven. [(bron)][1] [1]:

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Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin

There have been five great extinctions in the long history of life on earth, the most recent 65 million years ago, when all dinosaur species perished in an astonishingly brief period of time. Each of these great extinctions was unimaginably catastrophic - at least 65 percent of all species living vanished in a geological instant; in the Permian extinction, nearly 95 percent of all species were obliterated. The agency for these extinctions, the why, is hotly debated - sudden climate change, asteroids, evolutionary inadequacy - but the patterns are remarkably consistent. Now, as Leakey and Lewin show with inarguable logic based on irrefutable scientific evidence, the sixth great extinction is underway. And this time the cause is beyond dispute: By the lowest estimate, thirty thousand species are wiped out by human agency every year - a rate that matches the patterns of the other five great extinctions with frightening exactitude. As the authors show, such dramatic and overwhelming extinction threatens the entire complex fabric of life on earth, including the species at fault, Homo sapiens. Unless we come to realize the devastating consequence of our rapacious behavior, we will follow the mastodon, the great auk, the carrier pigeon, and our other victims into the oblivion of extinction.

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Wallace Arthur

"The body of evolutionary theory that currently occupies a dominant position in biological thought is new-Darwinism. While this theory has considerable explanatory power, it is widely recognized as being incomplete in that lacks a component dealing with individual development, or ontogeny. This lack is particularly conspicuous in relation to attempts to explain the evolutionary origin of the 35 or so animal body plans, and of the developmental trajectories that generate them." "This book examines both the origin of body plans in particular and the evolution of animal development in general. In doing so, it ranges widely, covering topics as diverse as comparative developmental genetics, selection theory and Vendian/Cambrian fossils. Particular emphasis is placed on gene duplication, changes in spatiotemporal gene-expression patterns, internal selection, coevolution of interacting genes, and coadaptation." "The book will be of particular interest to researchers and students in evolutionary biology, genetics, palaeontology and development biology."--Jacket.