This is the most complete book I've ever seen when it comes to the subject of evolution. The author writes with incredible detail and a mastery not often found when it comes to evolutionary biology.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 starsA fascinatingly complete and accessible work, April 8, 2000
"Evolution" covers all of the possible topics with completion and accuracy. The work is made accessible to any reader through wide use of graphics to illustrate key concepts.The book is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different facet of evolutionary science: "The Organic Framework" concerns with the evolution of each of the five kingdoms of organisms; "The Psysical and Chemical Framework" focuses on the cellular level, dealing with the common chemical background and mechanisms of living creatures; "The Historical Framework" discusses the events leading up to Darwin's concept of evolution and further into our time; and, finally, "The Mechanisms", which reveals the workings of evolution on small-scale levels, such as gene frequencies and populations. Each of the book's chapters is further supported by an accompinying web site.
I used the second edition of this book and have not had a chance to view the third, but it no doubt is an excellent and comprehensive overview of the theory of evolution, just as in the second. In the edition I used, there are many fine diagrams illustrating the main points and also exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce the concepts presented. Space probibits a detailed review so I will list only the areas in the book that I found exceptionally well-written: 1. The philosophical and religious issues in evolution theory. 2. The history of biology before Darwin. 3. The comparison between the pangenesis and germ plasm theories in the formation of a human. 4. The table on the comparison of views on variation and heredity. 5. The clarification by the author that evolution is primarily a historical process, and not arising by a lucky combination of events. 6. The general scheme of protein synthesis in Escherchia coli. 7. The schematic diagram outlining the mutual dependence of information carried by nucleotide sequences and function governed by proteins. 8. The dicussion on the "RNA world". 9. The universality of the genetic code. 10. The evolution of the genetic code. 11. The discussion on exceptions to Mendelism. 12. The highly interesting discussion on the evolution of sex-determining systems. 13. The discussion on sickle cell mutation. 14. Evolutionary solutions to problems of locomotion. 15. The evolution of the human brain. 15. Conservation of gene frequencies and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. 16. The treatment of adaptive landscapes showing adaptive heights of different possible genotypes.
💬 댓글 2개
진화에 대한 일반적인 지식과 개념들을 정리하여 수록한 책으로, 학부생을 위한 사고의 진화적 토대를 제공한다. 생물학 개론 강의를 마친 생물학 전공 학생들의 교재로 사용된다.
Customer Reviews
This is the most complete book I've ever seen when it comes to the subject of evolution. The author writes with incredible detail and a mastery not often found when it comes to evolutionary biology.
"Evolution" covers all of the possible topics with completion and accuracy. The work is made accessible to any reader through wide use of graphics to illustrate key concepts.The book is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different facet of evolutionary science: "The Organic Framework" concerns with the evolution of each of the five kingdoms of organisms; "The Psysical and Chemical Framework" focuses on the cellular level, dealing with the common chemical background and mechanisms of living creatures; "The Historical Framework" discusses the events leading up to Darwin's concept of evolution and further into our time; and, finally, "The Mechanisms", which reveals the workings of evolution on small-scale levels, such as gene frequencies and populations. Each of the book's chapters is further supported by an accompinying web site.
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
총천연색이 아닌 2도,3도의 450여개의 그림,표,도표들이 '느낌'이 있어서 좋다.
저자는 진화가 '세상에서 가장 길고 포괄적인 웅장한 이야기'라고 한다.
<137억년>강의 듣고,
그 현장학습으로 학습탐사 다녀오고,
<특별한 뇌과학>에서 발생학을 듣고 나니
이 말이 실감이 난다.
발생학.유전학,생리학,분자생물학,해부학,신경과학의 교과서들이
'이야기책'으로 읽힌다.
어떤 인문학적 상상력도 따라올 수 없는 대서사시가 거기에 있다.
저자는 진화를 두가지 측면에서 다루고 있는데
1. 유전물질의 변화와
2. 진화 관념의 개념적 변화다.
' "같은 것(like)"에서 "같은 것" 뿐만 아니라 "다른 것(unlike)"도 나온다.'
화학이나 물리학과 다른 생물학의 특별함은
'역사적 사건들로 부터 오고,
현재도 계속되고 있는 생물학적 구조와 기능'이다.
생물학적 역사성과 진화학적 예측의 우연성.
이것이 '웅장한' 이야기를 만든다.