Although their vocabularies differ, biologists, biblical authors, and serious playwrights describe the paradox that Charles Darwin outlined in The Origin of Species (1859) when he observed the coexistence of a drive for permanence and a contrasting capacity to modify, deviate from, or transform established identities. The paradox generates evolutionary consequences reported by notable dramatic and biblical works. The Hebrew Torah, the Books of Ecclesiastes, Job, and Matthew, and plays by Shakespeare, O'Neill, and Beckett embody a convergence of constancy and change. Their principle literary mechanisms-their challenge-response narrative design, rhetorical repetitions, and metaphorical associations-translate a biological contradiction into a moral dilemma that leads to recurring Darwinian outcomes. An evolutionary process becomes the template for the progressions and problems of belief systems transmitted by masterpieces of Western literature. Surprisingly, most biblical writing celebrates an outcome entirely consonant with the narratives of evolution.This study does not focus either on popular superheroes whose perfected integrity never engages in moral revision, or on monstrous mutants who have dissolved integrity. It deals primarily with characters and their communities in biblical and tragic texts who toil mightily, usually with limited success, to integrate the certainty of inherited dogma with the originality of useful change. The supreme necessity to implement a balanced cultural adaptation will serve as our subject, and The Origin of Species, though it is silent on literary accounts of that endeavor, will serve as our guide. Darwin's insight can expand our understanding of literature, and literary analysis will support Darwin's insight.

The concept of this book arises from a symposium entitled "Human-Macaque Interactions: Traditional and Modern Perspectives on Cooperation and Conflict " organized at the 23rd Congress of the International Primatological Society, that was held in Kyoto in September 2010. The symposium highlighted the many aspects of human-macaque relations and some of the participants were invited to contribute to this volume. The volume will include about 11 chapters by a variety of international authors and some excerpts from published literature that illustrate cultural notions of macaques. Contributions from invited authors will engage with four main perspectives - traditional views of macaques, cooperative relationships between humans and macaques, current scenarios of human-macaque conflict, and how living with and beside humans has affected macaques. Authors will address these concerns through their research findings and reviews of their work on the Asian, and the lone African, macaques.

This volume considers the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. This is the only book dealing in depth with this subject. It is particularly relevant in light of recent investigations of Halley's comet, of new insights into organic synthesis in meteorites and comets, and of new results of numerical simulations of cometary orbits and impacts on Earth. The book is intended as a comprehensive review of current research.

More than two thirds of all living organisms described to date belong to the phylum Arthropoda. But their diversity, as measured in terms of species number, is also accompanied by an amazing disparity in terms of body form, developmental processes, and adaptations to every inhabitable place on Earth, from the deepest marine abysses to the earth surface and the air. The Arthropoda also include one of the most fashionable and extensively studied of all model organisms, the fruit-fly, whose name is not only linked forever to Mendelian and population genetics, but has more recently come back to centre stage as one of the most important and more extensively investigated models in developmental genetics. This approach has completely changed our appreciation of some of the most characteristic traits of arthropods as are the origin and evolution of segments, their regional and individual specialization, and the origin and evolution of the appendages. At approximately the same time as developmental genetics was eventually turning into the major agent in the birth of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), molecular phylogenetics was challenging the traditional views on arthropod phylogeny, including the relationships among the four major groups: insects, crustaceans, myriapods, and chelicerates. In the meantime, palaeontology was revealing an amazing number of extinct forms that on the one side have contributed to a radical revisitation of arthropod phylogeny, but on the other have provided evidence of a previously unexpected disparity of arthropod and arthropod-like forms that often challenge a clear-cut delimitation of the phylum.

Fungi are sessile, highly sensitive organisms that actively compete for environmental resources both above and below the ground. They assess their surroundings, estimate how much energy they need for particular goals, and then realise the optimum variant. They take measures to control certain environmental resources. They perceive themselves and can distinguish between 'self' and 'non-self'. They process and evaluate information and then modify their behaviour accordingly. These highly diverse competences show us that this is possible owing to sign(aling)-mediated communication processes within fungal cells (intraorganismic), between the same, related and different fungal species (interorganismic), and between fungi and non-fungal organisms (transorganismic). Intraorganismic communication involves sign-mediated interactions within cells (intracellular) and between cells (intercellular). This is crucial in coordinating growth and development, shape and dynamics. Such communication must function both on the local level and between widely separated mycelium parts. This allows fungi to coordinate appropriate response behaviors in a differentiated manner to their current developmental status and physiological influences.

This book takes a new look at one of the most contentious periods in American history. The battles over schools that surrounded the famous Scopes "monkey" trial in 1925 were about much more than evolution. Fundamentalists fought to maintain cultural control of education. As this book reveals for the first time, the successes and the failures of these fundamentalist campaigns transformed both the fundamentalist movement and the nature of education in America. In turn, those transformations determined many of the positions of the "culture wars" that raged throughout the twentieth century.

Seymour W. Itzkoff is one of the world's leading intelligence researchers. His exciting new book Our Unfinished Biological Revolution offers a bold and highly original new study on the evolution of human intelligence from the origin of life to our times. With the help of evolutionary theory, Itzkoff explains the nature of human intelligence as we know it today. Most importantly, it demonstrates that evolution led to the rise of what intelligence researchers call the general intelligence factor: the human ability to plan ahead and solve problems for which natural selection did not prepare us. The book also argues that humans vary in intelligence (as with all traits shaped by Darwinian evolution), and hence in their propensity to think abstractly and anticipate long-term consequences of their actions. Our Unfinished Biological Revolution explores the social implications of these two factors as they unfold in modern technological societies, in which intelligence plays an increasingly important role. Finally, the book argues that human intelligence may offer our best hope in solving the daunting problems of the present era?including population growth, the exhaustion of natural resources, and the rise of simplistic and devastating ideologies.

Over 50% of known flaviviruses have been associated with human disease. The "Flavivirus" genus constitutes some of the most serious human pathogens including Japanese encephalitis, dengue and yellow fever. Flaviviruses are known for their complex life cycles and epidemic spread, and are considered a globally-emergent viral threat.
Detection, Diagnosis and Vaccine Development, the third volume of The Flaviviruses details the current status of technologies for detection and differentiation of these viruses, their use in surveillance and outbreak investigation, and also reviews the latest clinical research.
* Comprehensive approach to the scientific disciplines needed to unravle the complexities of virus-host interactions
* Descibes the technologies that have contributed to our current knowledge about the Flaviviruses
* Identifies the major problems faced in understanding the virus-host interactins that result in disease
* An exhaustive compendium of current and past knowledge on the Flavivirus family

Why do minds exist? How did mud and stone develop into beings that can experience longing, regret, love and compassion-beings that are aware of their own experience? Until recently, science offered few answers to these existential questions. Journey of the Mind is the first book to offer a unified account of the mind that explains how consciousness, language, the Self and civilisation emerged incrementally out of chaos. The journey begins three billion years ago with the emergence of the simplest possible mind, a nanoscopic archeon, then ascends through amoebas, worms, frogs, birds, monkeys and AI, examining successively smarter ways of thinking. The authors explain the mathematical principles generating conscious experience and show how these principles led cities and democratic nations to develop new forms of consciousness-the self-aware "superminds". Journey of the Mind concludes by contemplating a higher stage of consciousness already emerging-and the ultimate fate of all minds in the universe.

A new voice in the nature-nurture debate can be heard at the interface between evolution and development. Phenotypic integration--or, how large numbers of characteristics are related to make up the whole organism, and how these relationships evolve and change their function--is a major growth area in research, attracting the attention of evolutionary biologists, developmental biologists, and geneticists, as well as, more broadly, ecologists, physiologists, and paleontologists. This edited collection presents much of the best and most recent work the topic.

Sex is the queen of problems in evolutionary biology. Generations of researchers have investigated one of the last remaining evolutionary paradoxes: why sex exists at all. Given that sexual reproduction is costly from an evolutionary point of view, one could wonder why not all animals and plants reproduce asexually. Dozens of contemporary hypotheses attempt to explain the prevalence of sex and its advantages and predict the early extinction of fully asexual lineages. The major theme of this book is: what is the fate of animal and plant groups in which sex is lost? Initial chapters discuss theory behind asexual life: what major disadvantages do asexual groups have to face, what are the genetic and ecological consequences and what does this theory predict for more applied aspects of asexual life, for example in agricultural pests, diseases as well as in cultural crops such as grapes. Cases studies in many animals (focusing on both invertebrates and vertebrates) and plants reveal parallel, but also singularly novel adaptations to the absence of meiosis and syngamy. And last but not least, are asexuals really doomed to early extinction or do genuine ancient asexuals exist? This book assembles contributions from the most important research groups dealing with asexual evolution in eukaryotes. It is a milestone in research on parthenogenesis and will be useful to undergraduate as well as graduate students and to senior researchers in all fields of evolutionary biology, as the paradox of sex remains its queen of problems. Written for: All who are interested in parthenogenesis and evolutionary biology, including undergraduate and graduate students and senior researchers

Bioinformatics has never been as popular as it is today. The genomics revolution is generating so much data in such rapid succession that it has become difficult for biologists to decipher. In particular, there are many problems in biology that are too large to solve with standard methods. Researchers in evolutionary computation (EC) have turned their attention to these problems. They understand the power of EC to rapidly search very large and complex spaces and return reasonable solutions. While these researchers are increasingly interested in problems from the biological sciences, EC and its problem-solving capabilities are generally not yet understood or applied in the biology community.

This book offers a definitive resource to bridge the computer science and biology communities. Gary Fogel and David Corne, well-known representatives of these fields, introduce biology and bioinformatics to computer scientists, and evolutionary computation to biologists and computer scientists unfamiliar with these techniques. The fourteen chapters that follow are written by leading computer scientists and biologists who examine successful applications of evolutionary computation to various problems in the biological sciences.
* Describes applications of EC to bioinformatics in a wide variety of areas including DNA sequencing, protein folding, gene and protein classification, drug targeting, drug design, data mining of biological databases, and biodata visualization.
* Offers industrial and academic researchers in computer science, biology, and bioinformatics an important resource for applying evolutionary computation.
* Includes a detailed appendix of biological data resources.

Haldane, Mayr, and Beanbag Genetics presents a summary of the classic exchange between two great biologists - J.B.S. Haldane and Ernst Mayr - regarding the value of the contributions of the mathematical school represented by J.B.S. Haldane, R.A. Fisher and S. Wright to the theory of evolution. Their pioneering contributions from 1918 to the 1960s dominated and shaped the field of population genetics, unique in the annals of science. In 1959, Mayr questioned what he regarded as the beanbag genetic approach of these pioneers to evolutionary theory, "an input or output of genes, as the adding of certain beans to a beanbag and the withdrawing of others." In 1964, Mayr's contention was refuted by Haldane in a remarkably witty, vigorous and pungent essay, "A defense of beanbag genetics" which compared the mathematical theory to a scaffolding within which a reasonably secure theory expressible in words may be built up. Correspondence between Haldane and Mayr is included.
Beanbag genetics has come a long way since 1964. Mayr's (1959) critique of simple uncomplicated population genetics is no longer valid. Population genetics today includes much more than Mayr's beanbag genetics. Population genetics models now include multiple factors, linkage, dominance and epistasis. These may be regarded as the advanced beanbag models. Furthermore, population genetics and developmental genetics have become interdependent. Contemporary beanbag genetics includes molecular clocks, nucleotide diversity, coalescence and DNA-based phylogenetic trees, along with the four major holdovers from classical genetics, mutation, selection, migration and random drift. Molecular genetics has made it possible to study evolution rates at the nucleotide level. It is also possible today to compare DNA similarities and divergence in diverse species of animals and plants, which were not previously crossable.

Polls show that 45% of the American public believes that humans were created about 10,000 years ago and that evolution is a fictitious myth. Another 25% believes that changes in the natural world are directed by a supernatural being with a particular goal in mind. This thinking clashes head on with scientific findings from the past 150 years, and there is a dearth of public critical thinking about the natural world within a scientific framework.
Evolution and Religious Creation Myths seeks to educate and arm the public on the differences between myth and science, fiction and theory. The book begins with a whirlwind tour of creation stories from several religions. The authors then explore how certain forms of religious fundamentalism clash with the science of evolution. They review how creationists and intelligent design proponents misuse and misrepresent scientific terminology and conclusions to further their own agendas. How do scientists respond to this threat? Modern science, which includes a level of indeterminacy, or chance, cannot support the premise that a supernatural designer engineered nature for a particular purpose in a deterministic fashion. This holds true for the creation of the universe, the appearance of the first biological molecules, chemical evolution, and the evolution of life forms through mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift. Instead, human biological and cultural evolution is described within a genetic framework. Scientists use a barrage of genetic tests and DNA phylogenies to support the scientific basis for evolution. For anyone who has ever needed to argue why evolution and creationism are not both valid theories that deserve equal attention, this book clearly defines the difference between theory and myth. Scientists, teachers, and defenders of the truth should read this book in preparation for when they are called upon to respond.

Dr. G nti has introduced Chemoton Theory to explain the origin of life. Theoretical Foundations of Fluid Machineries is a discussion of the theoretical foundations of fluid automata. It introduces quantitative methods - cycle stoichiometry and stoichiokinetics - in order to describe fluid automata with the methods of algebra, as well as their construction, starting from elementary chemical reactions up to the complex, program-directed, proliferating fluid automata, the chemotons.

Chemoton Theory outlines the development of a theoretical biology, based on exact quantitative considerations and the consequences of its application on biotechnology and on the artificial synthesis of living systems.

Ostracoda (Crustacea) are potentially excellent model organisms for evolutionary studies, because they combine an extensive fossil record with a wide recent distribution and therefore allow studies on both patterns and processes leading to extant diversity. The main scientific domains contributing theories, concepts, and data to evolutionary biology are morphology (including ontogeny), palaeontology, genetics, and ecology, and to all of these aspects ostracods can contribute. This is clearly illustrated by the fifteen papers presented under Theme 3 of the 13th International Symposium on Ostracoda (Chatham, UK) in 1997 which are grouped in the present proceedings, one of three volumes resulting from this meeting. The contributions deal with the evolution of both extant and fossil forms (including most of the Phanaerozoic), ecology of both marine and freshwater taxa, and (developmental) morphology of both soft parts and valves. Although the canvas is wide, each paper clearly shows how studies on Ostracoda can be relevant to general theory on evolutionary biology and ecology.

Darwinism is fast becoming an orthodoxy of modern thought, a framework within which a wide range of knowledge communities conduct their discourse. Ever since its formation, Darwinian theory has experienced a close, though not always comfortable, association with economics. Evolutionary economists now appear to show little concern for the consistency of knowledge in their embrace of Darwinism. Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics brings together contributions from eminent authors who, building on Darwin's own insights and on developments in evolutionary theory, offer challenging views on how economics can use evolutionary ideas effectively. This collection of critical essays provides a thorough examination of the application of Darwinian theory to economic thought, and will appeal to evolutionary economists and all those with an interest in Darwin, innovation and evolutionary science.

Does there exist, deep within the earth's crust, a second biosphere-- composed of very primitive, thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria, and containing more living matter than the entire surface? This idea, first proposed by the author in the early 1980s, is now supported by a growing body of evidence. The implications are astonishing: is the deep biosphere where life originated? Can Mars and other seemingly dead planets contain deep biospheres? Is there yet another--deeper, hotter--biosphere within the earth, based on silicon instead of carbon? This is the first book to explore this very controversial, intriguing theory.

The volumes in this set, originally published between 1913 and 1997, draw together research by leading academics in the area of evolution and provide a rigorous examination of related key issues. The collection examines evolution from a broad range of disciplines, from the anthropological development of modern society, to the scientific examinations of cellular and genetic evolution. The collection includes volumes across the disciplines of biology, natural history, anthropology, sociology and religion. The 15 books that comprise this collection include rigorous examinations into the psychological evolution of the brain, philosophical and theological examinations of evolution, analysis of genetic and cellular evolution, discussions of Darwinian theory, the affect of survival of the fittest from both genetic and political standpoints and examinations into the affinity between man and ape. This collection brings back into print a collection of insightful and detailed books on the diverse subject of evolution and will be a must have resource for academics and students, not only of biology and anthropology, but of history, psychology and religion.