Evolution

Oxford Readers

by Mark Ridley (Editor)

This exciting and unique Reader presents a wide spectrum of views and issues involved in the ever expanding debates about evolution. Can we trace the origin of life? How important is the theory of natural selection? Why did we start talking? Is there an evolutionary argument for the existence of God? It includes extracts which look at the roles of mutations, inbreeding, crossbreeding, and gene selection; the puzzle of sex; the evolutionary consequences of being a plant, and the means of measuring time by using molecular clocks. With articles by Darwin, Fisher, Haldane, Dawkins, Gould, and Medawar amongst others, this Oxford Reader offers a combination of classic accounts and modern research which will appeal both to students and a broad general audience.

Genres: Evolution, Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Reference, Textbooks, Ebooks

Paperback

First published October 11, 1989

Reviews

[Krishan · Rating 4 out of 5]

an incredibly phat smorgasboard of essays and commentary on evolutionary theory. well worth the time.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

از بهترین کتابهای ترجمه شده در باب تکامل هب زبان فارسی
پیش نیازی بیش از آنچه در کتاب زیست شناسی پیش دانشگاهی پیرامون ژنتیک میخواندیم لازم ندارد

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poorly written. The syntax is easy to read but it's long winded. I skip over the equations because they're too hard to comprehend, but the author does not seem that bright; he struggles with what "evolution" and "natural selection" conceptually fundamentally mean, and he claims that the existence of sexual reproduction is an evolutionary mystery.
I have read a third of the book (200 pages- I'm a slow reader) as my principal activity for the last two days and intend to finish it, only skipping occasional short sections.
I've read a tiny bit of Futuyma's Evolutionary Biology and anticipate that it will be better (the text is a bit less "matte"; Evolution is easy to accidentally gloss over without it making an impression on my mind). It's supposed to be more advanced, but it's about the same length- the only difference I see is that the format is less fancy and attractive.
This book is probably good for more technical people. Despite his flaws, the author is obviously very well-versed in his subject. His References seems impossibly long. It has 33 pages and packs 30 papers per page- that's 3 pages of very tightly listed citations that have authors whose names start with H. How did he read all that?!
*The full text is available for free online.
**There is a good website pairing with this book with free access, that you can look up individual topics and vocabulary on.
***The author denies climate change (outside this book) and disagrees with group selection. Judge as you will.

[Mills College Library]

575 R546e 2004

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never finished the book, it's too technical for me, but it's very well written.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

*college related *