evolution

This is a superb textbook. Where it surpasses the most widely known textbook in the field (Futuyma)is in its detailed listing of original source material after every chapter. This makes it an excellent springboard into serious background study for virtually any aspect of evolution or the topics surrounding evolution.

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.

"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.