This unique anthology brings together a marvelous collection of Darwin's most accessible and significant writings, providing the most fully rounded... picture of his ideas to be found in a single volume. This marvelous book presents readers with the key chapters of his most important books, including excerpts from the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage (1845), the Origin of Species (1859), and the Descent of Man (1871), along with the full, authoritative text of Darwin's delightful autobiography Recollections. These writings are accompanied by generous selections of responses from Darwin's nineteenth-century readers, providing a keen sense of the original controversy sparked by his ideas. The wide-ranging Introduction by James A. Secord explores the global impact and origins of Darwin's work and the reasons for its unparalleled significance today. The book also includes a map of the Beagle's voyage, a biographical appendix identifying everyone mentioned in the texts, illustrations from the Journal of Researches, and an index. This generous collection of Darwin's finest writings will make a superb introduction to ideas that truly changed the world.About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Midgley exposes the illogical logic of poor doctrines that shelter themselves behind the prestige of science. Always at home when taking on the high... priests of evolutionary theory - Dawkins, Wilson and their acolytes - she has described evolution as "the creation-myth of our age". In "Evolution As A Religion" she examines how science comes to be used as a substitute for religion and points out how badly that role distorts it. Her argument is insightful - a lively indictment of these misuses of science.

This book covers the crucial role of evolutionary biology in transforming our view of human origins and relation to the universe, and its impact on... traditional philosophy and religion. Furthermore, it explains the most important basic findings and procedures in the area, and how it has developed since the first publications of Darwin and Wallace 150 years ago.

James A. Shapiro's Evolution: A View from the 21st Century proposes an important new paradigm for understanding biological evolution. Shapiro... demonstrates why traditional views of evolution are inadequate to explain the latest evidence, and presents a compelling alternative. His information- and systems-based approach integrates advances in symbiogenesis, epigenetics, and mobile genetic elements, and points toward an emerging synthesis of physical, information, and biological sciences.

Who should decide what children are taught in school? This question lies at the heart of the evolution-creation wars that have become a regular feature... of the U.S. political landscape. Ever since the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial" many have argued that the people should decide by majority rule and through political institutions; others variously point to the federal courts, educational experts, or scientists as the ideal arbiter. Michael Berkman and Eric Plutzer illuminate who really controls the nation's classrooms. Based on their innovative survey of 926 high school biology teachers they show that the real power lies with individual educators who make critical decisions in their own classrooms. Broad teacher discretion sometimes leads to excellent instruction in evolution. But the authors also find evidence of strong creationist tendencies in America's public high schools. More generally, they find evidence of a systematic undermining of science and the scientific method in many classrooms.

BIOLOGY is an authoritative majors textbook focusing on evolution as a unifying theme. Volume I covers Chemistry, Cell Biology, and Genetics; Volume II... covers Plant and Animal Biology; and Volume III covers Evolution, Diversity, and Ecology. BIOLOGY is distinguished from other texts by its strong emphasis on natural selection and the evolutionary process that explains biodiversity. The new 8th edition continues that tradition and advances into modern biology by featuring the latest in cutting edge content reflective of the rapid advances in biology. That same modern perspective was brought into the completely new art program offering readers a dynamic, realistic, and accurate, visual program.

The most trusted nonfiction series on the market, Eyewitness Books provide an in-depth, comprehensive look at their subjects with a unique integration... of words and pictures. Eyewitness Evolution is DK's classic look at Charles Darwin and the theory of natural selection, now reissued with a CD and wall chart.

What is the biological reason for gossip?For laughter? For the creation of art?Why do dogs have curly tails?What can microbes tell us about... morality?These and many other questions are tackled by renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson in this witty and groundbreaking new book. With stories that entertain as much as they inform, Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion. Now everyone can move beyond the sterile debates about creationism and intelligent design to share Darwin’s panoramic view of animal and human life, seamlessly connected to each other.Evolution, as Wilson explains, is not just about dinosaurs and human origins, but about why all species behave as they do—from beetles that devour their own young, to bees that function as a collective brain, to dogs that are smarter in some respects than our closest ape relatives. And basic evolutionary principles are also the foundation for humanity’s capacity for symbolic thought, culture, and morality.In example after example, Wilson sheds new light on Darwin’s grand theory and how it can be applied to daily life. By turns thoughtful, provocative, and daringly funny, Evolution for Everyone addresses some of the deepest philosophical and social issues of this or any age. In helping us come to a deeper understanding of human beings and our place in the world, it might also help us to improve that world.From the Hardcover edition.

Presented in an epistolary form addressed mainly to the African American philosopher Alain Locke (1886-1954), evolution, history and destiny constitute... the main themes of this book. Destiny, the controlling theme, is defined as an ideal of transcendent unity toward which a people strives in successive generations. Destiny includes four modalities: the ethnic, the national, the world, and the cosmic. Destiny is both immanent and transcendent, the one pertaining to the actual world, the other, to the ideal world. Part I focuses on the first three modalities, devoting special attention to the ethnic experiences of Africans/African Americans, their history, identity, and appellations, including « African American, « Black, « Negritude and the novel appellation, « Africantude. Although focusing on the experiences of Africans and African Americans, the destiny model is applicable to all people. Another novel term explored is « Destinicity, a synthesis of both the destiny and ethnic ideals of a people. In Part II, the emphasis is on the collaborative works of the author and Dr. Manohar A. Tilak, a chemist. Here the cosmic mode, the physical-biological universe, is described as having undergone unique phases of evolution: robotic evolution is now occurring and will give rise to new artificial « beings to which Destinicity ethics are applicable.

Ideas about heredity and evolution are undergoing a revolutionary change. New findings in molecular biology challenge the gene-centered version of... Darwinian theory according to which adaptation occurs only through natural selection of chance DNA variations. In Evolution in Four Dimensions, Eva Jablonka and Marion Lamb argue that there is more to heredity than genes. They trace four "dimensions" in evolution -- four inheritance systems that play a role in evolution: genetic, epigenetic (or non-DNA cellular transmission of traits), behavioral, and symbolic (transmission through language and other forms of symbolic communication). These systems, they argue, can all provide variations on which natural selection can act. Evolution in Four Dimensions offers a richer, more complex view of evolution than the gene-based, one-dimensional view held by many today. The new synthesis advanced by Jablonka and Lamb makes clear that induced and acquired changes also play a role in evolution.After discussing each of the four inheritance systems in detail, Jablonka and Lamb "put Humpty Dumpty together again" by showing how all of these systems interact. They consider how each may have originated and guided evolutionary history and they discuss the social and philosophical implications of the four-dimensional view of evolution. Each chapter ends with a dialogue in which the authors engage the contrarieties of the fictional (and skeptical) "I.M.," or Ifcha Mistabra -- Aramaic for "the opposite conjecture" -- refining their arguments against I.M.'s vigorous counterarguments. The lucid and accessible text is accompanied by artist-physician Anna Zeligowski's lively drawings, which humorously and effectively illustrate the authors' points.

In this fully revised and updated edition, the editors have integrated a completely new set of contributions from the leading researchers in the field... to describe the latest research in evolutionary medicine, providing a fresh summary of this rapidly expanding field 10 years after its predecessor was first compiled. It continues to adopt a broad approach to the subject, drawing on medically relevant research from evolutionary genetics, human behavioral ecology, evolutionary microbiology (especially experimental evolution of virulence and resistance), the evolution of aging and degenerative disease, and other aspects of biology or medicine where evolutionary approaches make important contributions. Evolution in Health and Disease describes how evolutionary thinking gives valuable insights and fresh perspectives into human health and disease, establishing evolutionary biology as an essential complementary science for medicine. Integrating evolutionary thought into medical research and practice helps to explain the origins of many medical conditions, including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, asthma, allergies, other autoimmune diseases, and aging. It also provides life-saving insights into the evolutionary responses of pathogens to antibiotics, vaccinations, and other human interventions. Why do we grow old? How can we stay healthy as we age? The book discusses these and many other fascinating questions, as well as suggesting exciting possibilities for future treatment and research. This research level text is suitable for graduate level students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary (Darwinian) medicine, evolutionary biology, anthropology, developmental biology and genetics. It will also be of relevance and use to medical researchers and doctors.