Evolution (eBook)

What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters

Donald R. Prothero (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2007
Columbia University Press (Verlag)
978-0-231-51142-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Over the past twenty years, paleontologists have made tremendous fossil discoveries, including fossils that mark the growth of whales, manatees, and seals from land mammals and the origins of elephants, horses, and rhinos. Today there exists an amazing diversity of fossil humans, suggesting we walked upright long before we acquired large brains, and new evidence from molecules that enable scientists to decipher the tree of life as never before.The fossil record is now one of the strongest lines of evidence for evolution. In this engaging and richly illustrated book, Donald R. Prothero weaves an entertaining though intellectually rigorous history out of the transitional forms and series that dot the fossil record. Beginning with a brief discussion of the nature of science and the "e;monkey business of creationism,"e; Prothero tackles subjects ranging from flood geology and rock dating to neo-Darwinism and macroevolution. He covers the ingredients of the primordial soup, the effects of communal living, invertebrate transitions, the development of the backbone, the reign of the dinosaurs, the mammalian explosion, and the leap from chimpanzee to human. Prothero pays particular attention to the recent discovery of "e;missing links"e; that complete the fossil timeline and details the debate between biologists over the mechanisms driving the evolutionary process.Evolution is an absorbing combination of firsthand observation, scientific discovery, and trenchant analysis. With the teaching of evolution still an issue, there couldn't be a better moment for a book clarifying the nature and value of fossil evidence. Widely recognized as a leading expert in his field, Prothero demonstrates that the transformation of life on this planet is far more awe inspiring than the narrow view of extremists.

Autor

Donald R. Prothero is a Research Associate in Vertebrate Paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He has taught college geology and paleontology for 40 years at institutions such as Columbia University, Vassar College, Knox College, and Pierce College, and currently at Cal Poly Pomona. For 27 years, he was Professor of Geology at Occidental College in Los Angeles and Lecturer in Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He earned his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in geological sciences from Columbia University. He is the author of over 300 scientific papers published in leading journals and over 30 titles in geology, paleontology and evolutionary biology.

Inhalt

Foreword: Why People Do Not Accept EvolutionTo the Reader: Is Evolution a Threat to Your Religious Beliefs?Prologue: Fossils and EvolutionAcknowledgmentsPart I: Evolution and the Fossil Record1. The Nature of Science2. Science and Creationism3. The Fossil Record4. The Evolution of Evolution5. Systematics and EvolutionPart II: Evolution? The Fossils Say YES!6. Life's Origins7. Cambrian "Explosion"—or Slow Fuse?8. Spineless Wonders of Evolution9. Fish Tales10. Fish Out of Water11. Onto the Land and Back to the Sea: The Amniotes12. Dinosaurs Evolve—and Fly13. Mammalian Explosion14. Bossies and Blowholes15. The Ape's Reflection?16. Why Does It Matter?BibliographyIndex

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.11.2007
• Illustrationen: Carl Buell
• Zusatzinfo: 208 illus.
• Verlagsort: New York
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Evolution
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Mineralogie / Paläontologie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre
• ISBN-10: 0-231-51142-6 / 0231511426
• ISBN-13: 978-0-231-51142-1 / 9780231511421