The letters, most of which are published for the first time, include all that have been preserved from Darwin's correspondence with family, undergraduate friends as well as others in Shropshire and Staffordshire. voyage.

The three greatest scientific mysteries, which remain poorly understood, are the origin of the universe, the origin of life and the development of consciousness. This book describes the processes preceding the Big Bang, the creation of matter, the concentration of that matter into stars and planets, the development of simple life forms and the theory of evolution that has given higher life forms, including mankind.There are many popular and excellent science books that present various aspects of science. However, this book follows a narrow scientific pathway from the Big Bang to mankind, and depicts the causal relationship between each step and the next. The science covered will be enough to satisfy most readers. Many important areas of science are dealt with, and these include cosmology, particle physics, atomic physics, galaxy and star formation, planet formation and aspects of evolution. The necessary science is described in a narrative form that general-interest readers should understand, without the use of equations or formulae.This 2nd edition includes several updates on the subjects that form the pillars of this book. They are: cosmology and astronomy, the features and formation of the solar system, the origin of life, and genetics and evolution. This book will appeal to readers with an interest in biology and those curious about the origins of the universe.

The three greatest scientific mysteries, which remain poorly understood, are the origin of the universe, the origin of life and the development of consciousness. This book describes the processes preceding the Big Bang, the creation of matter, the concentration of that matter into stars and planets, the development of simple life forms and the theory of evolution that has given higher life forms, including mankind.There are many popular and excellent science books that present various aspects of science. However, this book follows a narrow scientific pathway from the Big Bang to mankind, and depicts the causal relationship between each step and the next. The science covered will be enough to satisfy most readers. Many important areas of science are dealt with, and these include cosmology, particle physics, atomic physics, galaxy and star formation, planet formation and aspects of evolution. The necessary science is described in a narrative form that general-interest readers should understand, without the use of equations or formulae.This 2nd edition includes several updates on the subjects that form the pillars of this book. They are: cosmology and astronomy, the features and formation of the solar system, the origin of life, and genetics and evolution. This book will appeal to readers with an interest in biology and those curious about the origins of the universe.

When this book was first published in German, it topped Switzerland's non-fiction bestseller list. Now available in English, In the Sign of the Butterfly asks why natural selection eliminated the gigantic dinosaur from the game of evolution some 65 million years ago, yet the delicate butterfly, which already existed at the time, continues to survive. Gottlieb Guntern's conclusion: the dinosaur based its survival strategy on a maximization of body weight and size, while the butterfly responded flexibly when faced with drastic changes in environmental conditions. This takes the author to the core issue of the book: the basic leadership failures that typify present-day society. His diagnosis rings ever truer in the course of recent events: leadership failures are symptoms of a deep-seated illness - a spiritual crisis. Our greedy society has forgotten how to adapt as it attempts to survive in the sign of the dinosaur. Guntern shows us how to learn from the butterfly and succeed in abandoning the dino-strategy of maximizing single variables. There is no question that wanting to be bigger, faster, richer, more ruthless, and more powerful, with no thought of the consequences, is mindless and dangerous - a perfect prescription for doom.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology is an exciting collection of new essays written especially to give the reader an introduction to one of the most vibrant areas of scholarship today, and at the same time to move the subject forward dramatically. Written in a clear and rigorous style it will give the more experienced scholar much to think about and will also be of great value to the new student of the subject. The handbook covers the history of the topic, then moves into important analyses of contemporary evolutionary thinking, and continues with discussions of genetics and the moral and epistemological foundations of our understanding of heredity. The book goes on to cover ecology, behavior and morality, and does not neglect religion or feminist issues. Finally, it takes up matters to do with language and metaphor.
The authors range from the senior and experienced to new and exciting young scholars. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology is a collection that will be of interest to philosophers of science, to philosophers generally, as well as biologists of all kinds. There is no better way to learn about this dynamic field than through the essays in this volume.

This collection of essays looks at sexuality and reproduction from an evolutionary perspective. Covering experimental discoveries as well as theoretical investigations, the volume explores the relationship between evolution and other areas of human behaviour.

In this book, Benoit Dubreuil explores the creation and destruction of hierarchies in human evolution. Combining the methods of archaeology, anthropology, cognitive neuroscience and primatology, he offers a natural history of hierarchies from the point of view of both cultural and biological evolution. This volume explains why dominance hierarchies typical of primate societies disappeared in the human lineage and why the emergence of large-scale societies during the Neolithic period implied increased social differentiation, the creation of status hierarchies, and, eventually, political centralisation.

The Metaphysical Society was founded in 1869 at the instigation of James Knowles (editor of the Contemporary Review and then of the Nineteenth Century) with a view to 'collect, arrange, and diffuse Knowledge (whether objective or subjective) of mental and moral phenomena' (first resolution of the society in April 1869). The Society was a private dining and debate club that gathered together a latter-day clerisy. Building on the tradition of the Cambridge Apostles, they elected talented members from across the Victorian intellectual spectrum: Bishops, one Cardinal, philosophers, men of science, literary figures, and politicians. The Society included in its 62 members prominent figures such as T. H. Huxley, William Gladstone, Walter Bagehot, Henry Edward Manning, John Ruskin, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The Metaphysical Society (1869-1880) moves beyond Alan Willard Brown's 1947 pioneering study of the Metaphysical Society by offering a more detailed analysis of its inner dynamics and its larger impact outside the dining room at the Grosvenor Hotel. The contributors shed light on many of the colourful figures that joined the Society as well as the alliances that they formed with fellow members. The collection also examines the major concepts that informed the papers presented at Society meetings. By discussing groups, important individuals, and underlying concepts, the volume contributes to a rich, new picture of Victorian intellectual life during the 1870's, a period when intellectuals were wondering how, and what, to believe in a time of social change, spiritual crisis, and scientific progress.

There is hardly any university, college, or even high school left where they do not teach Darwinism-and rightly so. Yet, most of these places do more preaching than teaching. They teach more than they should, and at the same time, they teach less than they should. Most books on Darwinism are either oriented on biology or philosophy, but this book tries to combine both approaches, so it explains the biological aspects for (future) philosophers as well as the philosophical aspects for (future) biologists. It leaves Darwinism intact, but removes the "sting" that many of its opponents dislike. In what Verschuuren calls "The Good" parts of Darwin's legacy, the author explores what Darwin's great contributions are to the study and theory of evolution. At the same time, the book will also delve into the areas where Darwin's thoughts were not so perfect or even wrong, especially in a philosophical sense - "The Not So Good" parts of his legacy. Almost all books on the philosophy of biology, and neo-Darwinism in particular, were born in the cradle of logical positivism or linguistic analysis. This book, on the other hand, tries to cross the border between the physical and the meta-physical.

This is a compelling exploration of how our understanding of evolution is key to the future of our planet. When Charles Darwin started writing his work On "Origin of Species", he could hardly have envisioned how much we would discover about the origin of life over the next 150 years. Today's evidence points to an inescapable and simple conclusion - we evolved and we are still evolving. This persuasive and elegant book, argues that understanding evolution has never mattered more in human history. It explains in detail how health, food production, and human impact on the environment are dependent on our knowledge of evolution.

This book compares the three most prominent representatives of evolutionary algorithms - genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, and evolutionary programming - computational methods at the border between computer science and evolutionary biology. The algorithms are explained within a common formal framework, thereby clarifying the similarities and differences of these methods. The author also presents new results regarding the role of mutation and selection in genetic algorithms and uses a meta-evolutionary approach to confirm some of the theoretical results.

This is the story of a profound revolution in the way biologists explore life's history, understand its evolutionary processes, and reveal its diversity. It is about life's smallest entities, deepest diversity, and greatest cellular biomass: the microbiosphere. Jan Sapp introduces us to a new field of evolutionary biology and a new brand of molecular evolutionists who descend to the foundations of evolution on Earth to explore the origins of the genetic system and the primary life forms from which all others have emerged. In so doing, he examines-from Lamarck to the present-the means of pursuing the evolution of complexity, and of depicting the greatest differences among organisms.
The New Foundations of Evolution takes us into a world that classical evolutionists could never have imagined: a deep phylogeny based on three domains of life and multiple kingdoms, and created by mechanisms very unlike those considered by Darwin and his followers. Evolution by leaps seems to occur regularly in the microbial world where molecular evolutionists have shown the inheritance of acquired genes and genomes are major modes of evolutionary innovation.
Revisiting the history of microbiology for the first time from the perspective of evolutionary biology, Sapp shows why classical Darwinian conceptions centering on questions of the origin of species were forged without a microbial foundation, why classical microbiologists considered it impossible to know the course of evolution, and classical molecular biologists considered the evolution of the molecular genetic system to be beyond understanding. In telling this stirring story of scientific iconoclasm, this book elucidates how the new evolutionary biology arose, what methods and assumptions underpin it, and the fiery controversies that continue to shape biologists' understanding of the foundations of evolution today.

Recently, technological progress and the rise of DNA barcoding efforts have led to a significant increase in the availability of molecular datasets on intraspecific variability. Carcinologists and other organismal biologists, who want to use molecular tools to investigate patterns on the scale of populations, face a bewildering variety of genetic markers, analytical methods, and computer programs from which to choose. A modern overview of population genetic and phylogeographic studies, Phylogeography and Population Genetics in Crustacea offers insights to guide research on intraspecific genetic variation in crustaceans. Combining theory and case studies of current best practices, the book helps researchers select methods of analysis and interpret their results. The theoretical chapters discuss the potential of currently used and upcoming molecular markers in the context of marine non-model species. They also gather practical tips and address the effect of seldom-discussed sources of error, such as spatial and temporal variation, stochasticity, and choice of statistical parameters. Case studies of marine and limnic crustaceans from around the world highlight the importance and diversity of sources of population structure in intraspecific variation. Written by an international team of 46 leading experts, the book showcases the use and analysis of molecular markers, including mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data, coding and non-coding sequences, microsatellites, and cytogenetics. It gives researchers and students a valuable summary of current knowledge on the processes that shape genetic variability and geographic distribution patterns in space and time.

What separates modern humans from our primate cousins--are we a mere blink in the march of evolution, or does human culture represent the definitive evolutionary turn? Dwight Read explores the dilemma in this engaging, thought-provoking book, taking readers through an evolutionary odyssey from our primate beginnings through the development of culture and social organization. He assesses the two major trends in this field: one that sees us as a logical culmination of primate evolution, arguing that the rudiments of culture exist in primates and even magpies, and another that views the human transition as so radical that the primate model provides no foundation for understanding human dynamics. Expertly synthesizing a wide body of evidence from the anthropological and life sciences in accessible prose, Read's book will interest a broad readership from experts to undergraduate students and the general public.

This book focuses on human anatomy and medicine and specifically on both muscular and skeletal birth defects in humans with trisomy. Moreover, this book also deals with Down syndrome, which is one of the most studied human syndromes and, due to its high incidence and the fact that individuals with this syndrome often live until adulthood, is of special interest to the scientific and medical community. This new line of inquiry is addressed to a wide audience, including medical researchers, physicians, surgeons, medical and dental students, pathologists, and pediatricians, among others, while also being of interest to developmental and evolutionary biologists, anatomists, functional morphologists, and zoologists.

For decades, the creationist movement was primarily fixed in the United States. Then, in the 1970s, American creationists found their ideas welcomed abroad, first in Australia and New Zealand, then in Korea, India, South Africa, Brazil, and elsewhere--including Europe, where creationism plays an expanding role in public debates about science policy and school curricula. In this, the first comprehensive history of creationism in Europe, leading historians, philosophers, and scientists narrate the rise of--and response to--scientific creationism, creation science, intelligent design, and organized anti-evolutionism in countries and religions throughout Europe.

The book provides a unique map of creationism in Europe, plotting the surprising history of creationist activities and strategies there. Over the past forty years, creationism has spread swiftly among European Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, and Muslims, even as anti-creationists sought to smother its flames. Anti-evolution messages gained such widespread approval, in fact, that in 2007 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a Resolution advising member states to "defend and promote scientific knowledge" and "firmly oppose the teaching of creationism as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution."

"Creationism in Europe" offers a discerning introduction to the cultural history of modern Europe, the variety of world views in Europe, and the interplay of science and religion in a global context. It will be of interest to students and scholars in the history and philosophy of science, religious studies, and evolutionary theory, as well as policymakers and educators concerned about the spread of creationism in our time.

Offering coverage of a wide range of topics on snake reproduction and phylogeny, this comprehensive book discusses everything from primordial germ migration in developing embryos to semelparity (death after reproduction) in the aspic viper. Beginning with a review of the history of snake reproductive studies, it presents new findings on development, placentation, spermatogenesis, male and female reproductive anatomy, hormonal control of reproduction, reproductive cycles, sex pheromones, and parental care. An indispensible reference, this book offers comparative chapters on snake phylognetics examining morphological characteristics alongside strictly molecular concerns. It is rife with illustrations and color plates.

Neotropical Biogeography: Regionalization and Evolution presents the most comprehensive single-source treatment of the Neotropical region derived from evolutionary biogeographic studies. The book provides a biogeographic regionalization based on distributional patterns of plant and animal taxa, discusses biotic relationships drawn from track and cladistic biogeographic analyses, and identifies cenocrons (subsets of taxa within biotas identified by their common origin and evolutionary history). It includes maps, area cladograms and vegetation profiles. The aim of this reference is to provide a biogeographic regionalization that can be used by graduate students, researchers and other professionals concerned with understanding and describing distributional patterns of plants and animals in the Neotropical region. It covers the 53 biogeographic provinces of the Neotropical region that are classified into the Antillean, Brazilian and Chacoan subregions, and the Mexican and South American transition zones.

A recent poll revealed that one in four Americans believe in both creationism and evolution, while another 41% believe that creationism is true and evolution is false. A minority (only 13%) believe only in evolution. Given the widespread resistance to the idea that humans and other animals have evolved and given the attention to the ongoing debate of what should be taught in public schools, issues related to the teaching and learning of evolution are quite timely.
Evolution Challenges: Integrating Research and Practice in Teaching and Learning about Evolution goes beyond the science versus religion dispute to ask why evolution is so often rejected as a legitimate scientific fact, focusing on a wide range of cognitive, socio-cultural, and motivational factors that make concepts such as evolution difficult to grasp. The volume brings together researchers with diverse backgrounds in cognitive development and education to examine children's and adults' thinking, learning, and motivation, and how aspects of representational and symbolic knowledge influence learning about evolution. The book is organized around three main challenges inherent in teaching and learning evolutionary concepts: folk theories and conceptual biases, motivational and epistemological biases, and educational aspects in both formal and informal settings. Commentaries across the three main themes tie the book together thematically, and contributors provide ideas for future research and methods for improving the manner in which evolutionary concepts are conveyed in the classroom and in informal learning experiences. Evolution Challenges is a unique text that extends far beyond the traditional evolution debate and is an invaluable resource to researchers in cognitive development, science education and the philosophy of science, science teachers, and exhibit and curriculum developers.

'A landmark in social thought. Henrich may go down as the most influential social scientist of the first half of the twenty-first century' MATTHEW SYED Do you identify yourself by your profession or achievements, rather than your family network? Do you cultivate your unique attributes and goals? If so, perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. Unlike most who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, nonconformist, analytical and control-oriented. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically peculiar? What part did these differences play in our history, and what do they mean for our collective identity? Joseph Henrich, who developed the game-changing concept of WEIRD, uses leading-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics and evolutionary biology to explore how changing family structures, marriage practices and religious beliefs in the Middle Ages shaped the Western mind, laying the foundations for the world we know today. Brilliant, provocative, engaging and surprising, this landmark study will revolutionize your understanding of who - and how - we are now. 'Phenomenal ... The only theory I am aware of that attempts to explain broad patterns of human psychology on a global scale' Washington Post 'You will never look again in the same way at your own seemingly universal values' Uta Frith, Professor of Cognitive Development, University College London

This rhetorical study of the various language strategies and competing worldviews involved in the 140-year argument between Biblical creationists and Darwinian evolutionists focuses on the 1860 Huxley/Wilberforce debate, the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, and the 1981 Arkansas Creation-Science Trial. When Darwin published his Origins of Species in 1859, he initiated a debate about the origin of human life and the role of God in human affairs scarcely equalled in world history. Smout traces the response of Biblical creationists to Darwinian evolutionists. Looking carefully at the stories told and the tactics used by both sides, he analyzes all available accounts of the original debate culminating in the 1860 Huxley/Wilberforce debate, the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, and the 1981 Arkansas Creation-Science Trial. Professor Smout argues that both sides in the controversy use various language strategies to persuade the culture as a whole to see the world that they see and to enact their position as public policy. As Smout illustrates, the problem is that both sides rely on an inadequate conception of language as a namer of timeless realities rather than as an instrument used by human communities to achieve their goals. He attempts to articulate a better view of language and to show how it might help solve intractable arguments such as this. He argues that we should see language as a tool that shapes what we see, and definitions of terms as political acts rather than statements of fact made by disciplinary experts. An important analysis for students and scholars in rhetoric, history, religion, and sociology.

Crustaceans are increasingly being used as model organisms in all fields of biology, including neurobiology, developmental biology, animal physiology, evolutionary ecology, biogeography, and resource management. Crustaceans have a very wide range of phenotypes and inhabit a diverse array of environments, ranging from the deep sea to high mountain lakes and even deserts. The evolution of their life histories has permitted crustaceans to successfully colonize this variety of habitats. Few other taxa exhibit such a variety of life histories and behavior. A comprehensive overview of their life histories is essential to the understanding of many aspects of their success in marine and terrestrial environments. This volume provides a general overview of crustacean life histories. Crustaceans have particular life history adaptations that have permitted them to conquer all environments on earth. Crustacean life cycles have evolved to maximize fecundity, growth, and ageing, in a wide range of environmental conditions. Individual contributions contrast benefits and costs of different life histories including sexual versus asexual production, semelparity versus iteroparity, and planktonic larvae versus direct development. Important aspects of particular behaviors are presented (e.g. migrations, defense and territorial behaviors, anti-predator behavior, symbiosis).

By asking how well theological views of human nature stand up to the discoveries of modern science, Alan Olding re-opens the question of whether the "design" argument for the existence of God is fatally undermined. A distinctive feature of the work is its emphasis on the metaphysical implications of biology and how these at times conflict with other, more plausible metaphysical positions. Another is its close critical examination of the "design" argument and of the relation God has to the world he creates. "Modern Biology and Natural Theology" takes up issues currently of concern to many thinkers and will provide fascinating reading for anyone interested in philosophical problems, particularly the impact of Darwinism on natural theology.

Mimicry is a classic example of adaptation through natural selection. The traditional focus of mimicry research has been on defence in animals, but there is now also a highly-developed and rapidly-growing body of research on floral mimicry in plants. This has coincided with a revolution in genomic tools, making it possible to explore which genetic and developmental processes underlie the sometimes astonishing changes that give rise to floral mimicry. Being literally rooted to one spot, plants have to cajole animals into acting as couriers for their pollen. Floral mimicry encompasses a set of evolutionary strategies whereby plants imitate the food sources, oviposition sites, or mating partners of animals in order to exploit them as pollinators. This first definitive book on floral mimicry discusses the functions of visual, olfactory, and tactile signals, integrating them into a broader theory of organismal mimicry that will help guide future research in the field. It addresses the fundamental question of whether the evolutionary and ecological principles that were developed for protective mimicry in animals can also be applied to floral mimicry in plants. The book also deals with the functions of floral rewardlessness, a condition which often serves as a precursor to the evolution of mimicry in plant lineages. The authors pay particular attention to the increasing body of research on chemical cues: their molecular basis, their role in cognitive misclassification of flowers by pollinators, and their implications for plant speciation. Comprehensive in scope and conceptual in focus, Floral Mimicry is primarily aimed at senior undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in plant science and evolutionary biology.