The foreword is barely more than a page long. Embarrassing that the publishing company would feature that on the cover of the book.
The book's diagrams look very, very familiar suggesting that I have visited the book before. But, wow, the subject is always exciting and it will be a joy to pick and choose a few chapters to read.
The first half of the book: essays of evolution, definition, history, etc. Narratives. Brings folks up to day, through 2009.
The second half is an alphabetical guide. The first essay, "Adaptation and Natural Selection." Then, "Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe (1807 - 1873)." Followed by "Alexander, Richard D. (b. 1929)"; and then "Altruism."
The last two alphabetical entries: "Yablokov, Alexei V. (b. 1933)" and interestingly enough, "Zoological Phhilosophy (Jean-Baptiste Lamarck." So, we start with Darwin and end with Lamarck. Ironic.
Under "D" we have "Dinosaurs: The Model System for Evolution."
The five chapters that interest me the most today:
- molecular evolution
- evolution of the genome
- the pattern and process of speciation
- evolution and development
Most interesting: the concept / idea that molecular mutations played a major role in evolution is way too over-emphasized. There are many, many remarkable examples but the operative word is "many." Evolution using other methods way out number the "many" examples of mutation.
Most frustrating is the lack of following up on Lamarck. There is now a mechanism to explains Lamar's observations and it's hard to find much on that mechanism in textbooks like these.
The biggest "aha" in molecular evolution / species variation was the discovery of Hox genes, something "we" did not even know when I was in college, majoring in biology.
Since then, scientists have discovered a new mechanism affecting molecular evolution / species variation: epigenetic DNA methylation. This book was c. 2009, and neither "methylation" nor "epigenetic" are found in the index.
Dinosaurs and birds:
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