This books sets out to explain how and why religion came into being. Today this question is as fascinating as ever, especially since religion has moved to the centre of socio-political relationships. In contrast to the current, but incomplete approaches from disciplines such as cognitive science and psychology, the present authors adopt a new approach, equally manifest and constructive, that explains the origins of religion based strictly on behavioural biology. They employ accepted research results that remove all need for speculation. Decisive factors for the earliest demonstrations of religion are thus territorial behaviour and ranking, coping with existential fears, and conflict solution with the help of rituals. These in turn, in a process of cultural evolution, are shown to be the roots of the historical and contemporary religions.

Genes and Evolution, the latest volume in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, covers genes and evolution, with contributions from an international board of authors. The chapters provide a comprehensive set of reviews covering such topics as genes and plant domestication, gene networks, phenotypic loss in vertebrates, reproducible evolutionary changes, and epithelial tissue.

Evolution is just a theory, isn't it? What is a scientific theory anyway? Don't scientists prove things? What is the difference between a fact, a hypothesis and a theory in science? How does scientific thinking differ from religious thinking? Why are most leading scientists atheists? Are science and religion compatible? Why are there so many different religious beliefs but only one science? What is the evidence for evolution? Why does evolution occur? If you are interested in any of these questions and have some knowledge of biology, this book is for you.

An engaging journey into the biological principles underpinning a beloved science-fiction franchise In Star Trek, crew members travel to unusual planets, meet diverse beings, and encounter unique civilizations. Throughout these remarkable space adventures, does Star Trek reflect biology and evolution as we know it? What can the science in the science fiction of Star Trek teach us? In Live Long and Evolve, biologist and die-hard Trekkie Mohamed Noor takes readers on a fun, fact-filled scientific journey. Noor offers Trekkies, science-fiction fans, and anyone curious about how life works a cosmic gateway into introductory biology, including the definitions and origins of life, DNA, reproduction, and evolutionary processes, such as natural selection and genetic drift. For instance, he shows how the rapid change in a population of nanite robots follows basic principles of natural selection that apply to species on Earth. He explains how certain creatures depicted in the series are bisexual, not asexual, and what evolutionary advantage that difference provides. And he considers factors that affect successful interspecies mating and delves into what keeps species distinct. Noor discusses the importance of research and how Star Trek has influenced scientists to engage in cutting-edge work. Giving readers irresistible and entertaining insights, Live Long and Evolve looks at some of the powerful science behind one of the most popular and longest-running science-fiction series.

This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on correspondence to collect data from all over the world, and to discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically: Volume 21 includes letters from 1873, the year in which Darwin received responses to his work on human and animal expression. Also in this year, Darwin continued his work on carnivorous plants and plant movement, finding unexpected similarities between the plant and animal kingdoms, raised a subscription for his friend Thomas Henry Huxley, and decided to employ a scientific secretary for the first time - his son Francis.

How did the zebra really get its stripes, and the giraffe its long neck? What is the science behind camel humps, leopard spots, and other animal oddities? Such questions have fascinated us for centuries, but the expanding field of evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology) is now providing, for the first time, a wealth of insights and answers. Taking inspiration from Kipling's 'Just So Stories', this book weaves emerging insights from evo-devo into a narrative that provides startling explanations for the origin and evolution of traits across the animal kingdom. Held's unique and engaging style makes this narrative both enlightening and entertaining, guiding students and researchers through even complex concepts and encouraging a fuller understanding of the latest developments in the field. The first five chapters cover the first bilaterally symmetric animals, flies, butterflies, snakes, and cheetahs. A final chapter surveys recent results about a menagerie of other animals.

This volume summarizes recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms that produce successful symbiotic partnerships involving microorganisms. It begins with a basic introduction to the nature of and mechanistic benefits derived from symbiotic associations. Taking that background knowledge as the starting point, the next sections include chapters that examine representative examples of coevolutionary associations that have developed between species of microbes, as well as associations between microbes and plants. The authors conclude with a section covering a broad range of associations between microbes and invertebrate animals, in which they discuss the spectrum of hosts, with examples ranging from bryozoans and corals to nematodes, arthropods, and cephalopods. Join the authors on this journey of understanding!

In this worldwide survey, Clive Gamble explores the evolution of the human imagination, without which we would not have become a global species. He sets out to determine the cognitive and social basis for our imaginative capacity and traces the evidence back into deep human history. He argues that it was the imaginative ability to 'go beyond' and to create societies where people lived apart yet stayed in touch that made us such effective world settlers. To make his case Gamble brings together information from a wide range of disciplines: psychology, cognitive science, archaeology, palaeoanthropology, archaeogenetics, geography, quaternary science and anthropology. He presents a novel deep history that combines the archaeological evidence for fossil hominins with the selective forces of Pleistocene climate change, engages with the archaeogeneticists' models for population dispersal and displacement, and ends with the Europeans' rediscovery of the deep history settlement of the Earth.

Originally published in 1933, this book is a culmination of a lifetime of research by Hans Friedrich Gadow into the evolution of the vertebrae. Gadow outlines the various forms of vertebral development as a guide to larger and more general questions on the morphological scheme of the evolution of vertebrate creatures, and uses plentiful diagrams, photographs and reconstructions to trace spinal development. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of science.

Now in its third edition and supplemented with more online material, this book aims to make the "new" information-based (rather than gene-based) bioinformatics intelligible both to the "bio" people and the "info" people. Books on bioinformatics have traditionally served gene-hunters, and biologists who wish to construct family trees showing tidy lines of descent. While dealing extensively with the exciting topics of gene discovery and database-searching, such books have hardly considered genomes as information channels through which multiple forms and levels of information have passed through the generations. This "new bioinformatics" contrasts with the "old" gene-based bioinformatics that so preoccupies previous texts. Forms of information that we are familiar with (mental, textual) are related to forms with which we are less familiar (hereditary). The book extends a line of evolutionary thought that leads from the nineteenth century (Darwin, Butler, Romanes, Bateson), through the twentieth (Goldschmidt, White), and into the twenty first (the final works of the late Stephen Jay Gould). Long an area of controversy, diverging views may now be reconciled.

Genetics professor Michelle Murphy loses her husband under mysterious circumstances and without warning, while their brilliant eight year old daughter Avalon, adopted in Kazakhstan, stubbornly believes she is a mutant. As if this were not enough she soon finds herself thrown into the middle of a quickly thickening plot, where the legacy of Genghis Khan meets the hunt for FOXP5, a genetic transcription factor that could herald the dawn of new human species. Initially caught helplessly between well-meaning fellow scientists, the government and more sinister agents, Michelle, with the help of a host of unlikely heroes, eventually takes control and finds the courage to confront the decision of whether to save human lives or humanity. The scientific and technical aspects underlying the plot - in particular aspects of FOX proteins, genetic mutations, viruses and cancer as well as the relation between intelligence and cortical complexity - are introduced and discussed by the authors in an extensive non-technical appendix.

This book was written for graduate and medical students, as well as clinicians and postdoctoral researchers. It describes the theory of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in
twelve introductory chapters and then introduces protocols and their theoretical background relevant for experimental research. These 43 practical chapters cover: Basic methods, Detection of splicing events, Analysis of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in vitro and in vivo, Manipulation of splicing events, and Bioinformatic analysis of alternative splicing.
A theoretical introduction and practical guide for molecular biologists, geneticists, clinicians and every researcher interested in alternative splicing.
Website: www.wiley-vch.de/home/splicing

Bergstrom and Dugatkin's highly regarded text now offers an expanded InQuizitive course. InQuizitive provides adaptive learning activities for students. Its unique coaching pedagogy helps them learn important concepts and develop critical thinking skills. In addition, the text focuses on getting students to think like evolutionary biologists, with critical thinking questions throughout every chapter and expanded end-of-chapter problems emphasising data interpretation.

Friedrich Nietzsche's complex connection to Charles Darwin has been much explored, and both scholarly and popular opinions have tended to assume a convergence in their thinking. In this study, Dirk Johnson challenges that assumption and takes seriously Nietzsche's own explicitly stated 'anti-Darwinism'. He argues for the importance of Darwin for the development of Nietzsche's philosophy, but he places emphasis on the antagonistic character of their relationship and suggests that Nietzsche's mature critique against Darwin represents the key to understanding his broader (anti-)Darwinian position. He also offers an original reinterpretation of the Genealogy of Morals, a text long considered sympathetic to Darwinian naturalism, but which he argues should be taken as Nietzsche's most sophisticated critique of both Darwin and his followers. His book will appeal to all who are interested in the philosophy of Nietzsche and its cultural context.

This book is the first of its kind, providing in-depth analysis of the retrograde evolution occurring during major extinction periods. The text offers a non-strictly adaptative explanation of repetition of phyla after the major extinctions, utilizing a study of seven phylogenetically distinct groups. This opens a new experimental field in evolutionary biology with the possibility of reconstructing ancestral forms in lab by applying artificial stresses.

This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on correspondence to collect data from all over the world and to discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically: volume 20 includes letters from 1872, the year in which The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was published, making ground-breaking use of photography. Also in this year, the sixth and final edition of On the Origin of Species was published and Darwin resumed his work on carnivorous plants and plant movement, finding unexpected similarities between the plant and animal kingdoms.

Sometimes referred to as 'the grand old man of science', Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was a naturalist, evolutionary theorist, and friend of Charles Darwin. In this study of tropical flora and fauna, he takes the reader on a tour of the equatorial forest belt - the almost continuous band of forest that stretches around the world between the tropics. There, chameleon-like caterpillars alter the colours of their cocoons, parasitical trees override their hosts with spectacular aerial root systems, and some of the most pressing questions of Victorian evolutionary science arise: how do animals and plants come to be brightly coloured? Can their adaptations provide clues about past geological eras? And was Darwin wholly correct in his theory of sexual selection? First published in 1878, Wallace's book is a skilfully written reflection of contemporary naturalism, still highly readable and relevant to students in the history of science.

Christians often have a complicated relationship with science-especially when it comes to evolution. In recent years there has been an explosion in scientific understanding of evolutionary theory and its implications for human nature. Yet many Christians still see evolution as at best irrelevant to their faith and at worst threatening to it. Is it possible that adopting an evolutionary view of human origins can actually help us cultivate a relationship with God and a holy life? In Embracing Evolution, Matthew Nelson Hill invites readers into a constructive conversation about why contemporary science matters for Christians. Bringing clarity to an often fraught conversation, he provides an accessible overview of evolutionary concepts and takes on common concerns about tensions with Christian theology. He then explores what insights and practical benefits await the Christian who adopts an integrative approach to evolution and Christianity. The more we are aware of the complex milieu of instincts, acquired traits, and environmental influences humans find themselves in, the better equipped we can be to overcome tempting urges and adopt life-giving habits. From food cravings and addictions to altruistic impulses, understanding our biological heritage gives us power to change for the better. What's more, as scientific evidence affirms, the transformation process cannot take place in isolation. Drawing on the work of John Wesley, Hill considers the questions, What kind of community will best encourage individuals to live godly lives, and how do we practically form such communities? At some point, every Christian will have to grapple with scientific evidence related to evolution. Full of stories and real-life examples, this book will help church leaders, small groups, students, and anyone curious about science and faith discover how embracing evolution can assist them toward a fulfilling, virtuous Christian life.

Entomology as a science of inter-depended branches like molecular entomology, insect biotechnology, has made rapid progress. This also implies that there is an urgent need to manage the available resources. In the past five decades, entomology has taken giant steps ahead. The aim of this work is to integrate perspectives across molecular and biochemistry, physiology, reproduction, developmental biology, molecular evolution, genetics and RNAi applications. This century is proclaimed as the Era of Biotechnology and it consists of all types of Mol-Bio-Gen applications, which is an essential component for a thorough understanding of the insect biology. The aim of this work is to provide the comprehensive review of recent research from various geographic areas around the world and contributing authors that are recognized experts in their respective field of Genomic entomology. This Volume emphasizes upon the need for and relevance of studying molecular aspects of entomology in Universities, Agricultural Universities and other centers of molecular research. It will also serve as a landmark source for Insect advance science technology.

In January 1995 the first Complexity Seminar was held at the London School of Economics, in the UK. This was quite a momentous occasion as it proved to be the turning point for the series of seminars, which had started in December 1992. That seminar and those that followed it, had a profound effect on the research interests of Eve Mitleton-Kelly, the initiator and organiser of the series and editor of this volume, and thus laid the foundation for what became the LSE Complexity Research Programme, which proceeded to win several research awards for collaborative projects with companies. But the series also provided the material for this book. Earlier versions of the papers selected for this volume were first given at the LSE Complexity Seminar series.
The seminar series, focussed primarily on the application of the theories of complexity to organisations - an area of study which was quite new to UK businesses and academics; it slowly helped to disseminate these ideas and today, there is a proliferation of networks and seminar series throughout the UK on complexity; a strong and active academic community studying complexity in different disciplines and a growing number of organisations, experimenting with these revolutionary ideas and putting them into practice.
The 14 international authors in this volume reflect this interest in 10 chapters that range from the very practical application of the theory to more philosophical reflections on its nature and applicability. They do not all agree with each other, but since diversity and variety is at the heart of complexity they each provide a strand of an intertwined whole, which will enrich and deepen our understanding. In an environmentof increasing uncertainty and ambiguity it is necessary to learn how to hold, in tension, disparate or even contradictory views, without undue stress. The world is not a simple dyadic black or white entity, but a rich multi-coloured and many-hued ensemble, each strand or perspective contributing to an intricate and inter-related n-dimensional whole.

This volume provides in-depth reviews of model systems that exemplify the arms race in host-pathogen interactions. Somatic adaptations are responsible for the individualization of biological responses to the environment, and the continual struggle between host immune systems and invading pathogens has given rise to corresponding processes that produce molecular variation. Whether in mollusks or human beings, various host somatic mechanisms have evolved independently, providing responses to counter rapidly-changing pathogens. The pathways they utilize can include non-heritable changes involving RNA and post-translational modifications, or changes that produce somatic DNA recombination and mutation. For infectious organisms such as protozoans and flatworms, antigenic variation is central to their survival strategy. Evolving the ability to evade the host immune system not only increases their chances of survival but is also necessary for successful re-infection within the host population.

This book presents cutting edge methods that provide insights into the pathways by which salt and water traverse cell membranes and flow in an orchestrated fashion amongst the many compartments of the body. It focuses on a number of molecular, cellular and whole animal studies that involve multiple physiological systems and shows how the internal milieu is regulated by multifactorial gene regulation, molecular signaling, and cell and organ architecture. Topics covered include: water channels, the urinary concentrating mechanism, angiotensin, the endothelin system, miRNAs and MicroRNA in osmoregulation, desert-adapted mammals, the giraffe kidney, mosquito Malpighian tubules, and circadian rhythms. The book highlights how different approaches to explaining the same physiological processes greatly increase our understanding of these fundamental processes. Greater integration of comparative, evolutionary and genetic animal models in basic science and medical science will improve our overall grasp of the mechanisms of sodium and water balance.

Zum Lehrbuch:

Diese ungewAhnliche EinfA1/4hrung in die Evolutionsbiologie vermittelt in sehr verstAndlicher Form einen Aoeberblick A1/4ber die Grundlagen dieser Disziplin und A1/4ber die vielfAltigen Facetten moderner Evolutionsforschung. Nicht Fossilien und Erdgeschichte stehen hier im Mittelpunkt, sondern die Prozesse und Mechanismen der Evolution und der konzeptionelle Rahmen, in dem man sie heute erklArt. Das Buch ist auch ansonsten erfrischend anders als traditionelle LehrbA1/4cher: mit leichter Feder und doch prAgnant geschrieben, von zahlreichen didaktischen Elementen durchsetzt und mit anschaulichen Grafiken illustriert, die eine ganz eigene Handschrift tragen. Alte Fragestellungen werden hier in neuem Licht prAsentiert, neue Konzepte und Sichtweisen anhand vieler Beispiele nachvollziehbar gemacht.

Die tschechischen Autoren Jan ZrzavA1/2, David Storch und Stanislav Mihulka erlAutern in ihrem durchdachten Buch die theoretischen Grundlagen und Hypothesen der Evolutionsbiologie, ohne die Leser mit mathematischen AnsAtzen zu A1/4berfordern oder ihnen eine einseitig molekulare Sichtweise zu prAsentieren. Die LehrbuchqualitAten des Originalwerkes, das in Tschechien ein kleiner Bestseller war, wurden in der deutschen Ausgabe konsequent ausgebaut. Die umfangreiche Umarbeitung und Anpassung an die hiesigen Lehrinhalte lag in den HAnden der lehr- und lehrbucherfahrenen Herausgeber Hynek Burda und Sabine Begall.

Evolution lehren und lernen wird mit diesem Buch zu einer ganz neuen Erfahrung.

This book introduces readers to classical population genetics and the ways in which it can be applied to practical problems, including testing for natural selection, genetic drift, genetic differentiation, population structuring, gene flow and linkage disequilibrium. It provides a comprehensive monograph on the topic, addressing the theory, applications and evolutionary deductions, which are clearly explained using experimental results. It also offers separate chapters on origin, establishment and spread of chromosomal aberrations in populations along with details of culturing, maintaining and using Drosophila ananassae (genetically unique and the most commonly used species along with D. melanogaster) for genetic research. Encompassing topics like genetics, evolution, Drosophila genetics, population genetics, population structuring, natural selection and genetic drift in considerable detail, it provides a valuable resource to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as researchers at all level. This book explores some fundamental questions concerning the role of natural selection and genetic drift on the degree of inversion polymorphism. India, with its wide diversity in geo-climatic conditions, provides an excellent platform to conduct such studies. The book showcases sampling records of inversion frequencies in natural Indian populations of D. ananassae that cover more than two decades. It highlights case studies in which sampling data on inversion frequencies was combined with that from earlier surveys, generating a time series that allows the evolutionary dynamics of inversion polymorphism to be explored. Such long time series are rare but nonetheless crucial for studying the evolutionary dynamics of inversion polymorphism. The population-genetic analysis discussed is unprecedented in terms of its temporal (two decades) and spatial (most regions of India covered) scale and investigates the patterns of polymorphic system in D. ananassae to see if there is any temporal divergence. It endeavors to present a holistic picture of inversion polymorphism across the country (India). Chromosomal aberrations, particularly paracentric inversions, are used as a tool for discussing population genetic studies, helping human geneticists, gynecologists and other medical professionals understand why some aberrations are fatal in humans, with affected embryos often not surviving the first trimester of pregnancy, while similar aberrations in Drosophila flies aid in their adaptation to the environmental heterogeneity across the globe.

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the chemical nature of the Earth's early surface environment and how that led to the origin of life. This includes a detailed discussion of the likely process by which life emerged using as much quantitative information as possible. The emergence of life and the prior surface conditions of the Earth have implications for the evolution of Earth's surface environment over the following 2-2.5 billion years. The last part of the book discusses how these changes took place and the evidence from the geologic record that supports this particular version of early and evolving conditions.