- Table View
- List View
Evolution in Isolation: The Search for an Island Syndrome in Plants
by Kevin C. BurnsOceanic islands are storehouses for unique creatures. Zoologists have long been fascinated by island animals because they break all the rules. Speedy, nervous, little birds repeatedly evolve to become plump, tame and flightless on islands. Equally strange and wonderful plants have evolved on islands. However, plants are very poorly understood relatives to animals. Do plants repeatedly evolve similar patterns in dispersal ability, size and defence on islands? This volume answers this question for the first time using a modern quantitative approach. It not only reviews the literature on differences in defence, loss of dispersal, changes in size, alterations to breeding systems and the loss of fire adaptations, but also brings new data into focus to fill gaps in current understanding. By firmly establishing what is currently known about repeated patterns in the evolution of island plants, this book provides a roadmap for future research.
Evolution in Minutes (In Minutes)
by Darren NaishEvolution in Minutes is your compact and accessible guide to the central concepts of the science of evolution, revealing how biological populations change over successive generations. Covering the basics of speciation, genesis, and extinction in animals, plants, and humans alike--from the origins and development of life to artificial selection and evolutionary algorithms--this is the fastest, fullest path to understanding evolution. Contents include fossils, microbes, genes, DNA, natural selection, Darwinism, genetic drift, mutation, gene migration, heredity, adaptation, and variation, as well as key biological concepts necessary to understand the fascinating field of evolution.
Evolution in Minutes (IN MINUTES)
by Darren NaishHow did life begin? What is the theory of evolution and is it proven? Are we really descended from apes? And has evolution stalled or is humanity just a step on the way to more advanced forms of life?Through 200 mini-essays, expert palaeontologist Darren Naish answers these and many other fundamental questions on the most controversial topic of all. From the theories of Charles Darwin and the Survival of the Fittest to cutting-edge research on consciousness and artificial life, he explains where we came from, how we became human, and what might happen to us next. Immense in scope, and with 200 informative images and diagrams, Evolution in Minutes concisely covers the concepts, rival theories, history and politics of evolution, as well as explaining the development of life across deep time as revealed by the fossil record, from the earliest bacteria via dinosaurs and Neanderthals to humankind - and beyond.
Evolution in the Dark
by Naoyuki Fuse Tasuku Kitamura Takashi Haramura Kentaro Arikawa Michio ImafukuHow organisms come to possess adaptive traits is a fundamental question for evolutionary biology. Although it is almost impossible to demonstrate evolution in the laboratory, this issue can be approached by using an unusual organism, "Dark-fly": Drosophila melanogaster kept in complete darkness for 57 years through 1,400 generations, which corresponds to 28,000 years in terms of human generations. Has Dark-fly adapted to an environment of total darkness? If so, what is the molecular nature of the adaptation? In Evolution in the Dark, the remarkable findings from the Dark-fly project performed at Kyoto University are presented. It was found that Dark-fly did not have poor eyesight, but rather exhibited higher phototaxis ability and displayed lengthened bristles on the head that function as tactile receptors. Circadian rhythms were weakened but still retained in Dark-fly. With recent progress in genome science enabling researchers to perform whole genome sequencing for Dark-fly, a large number of mutations were identified including genes encoding a light receptor, olfactory receptors, and enzymes involved in neural development. The Dark-fly project is a simple but very long-term experiment. Combined with advanced techniques in genetics and genomics, it is a valuable tool for understanding the molecular nature of adaptive evolution.
Evolution in the Dark
by Horst Wilkens Ulrike StreckerThis book provides fascinating insights into the development and genetics of evolutionary processes on the basis of animals living in the dark, such as the Astyanax cave fish. Biologically functionless traits show high variability, which results from neutral deleterious mutations no longer being eliminated by natural selection, which normally acts to preserve functional capability. These negative mutations accumulate until the traits they are responsible for become rudimentary or even lost. The random genetic basis of regressive evolution is in accordance with Nei's Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution, which applies to the molecular level. Such processes are particularly conspicuous in species living in constant darkness, where, for example in Astyanax, all traits depending on the exposure to light, like eyes, pigmentation, visually triggered aggressive behaviour, negative phototaxis, and several peripheral outcomes of circadian rhythmicity, are useless and diminish. In compensation constructive traits like taste, olfaction or the lateral line senses are improved by selection and do not show variability. Regressive and constructive traits inherit independently, proving that the rudimentation process is not driven by pleiotropic linkage between them. All these traits are subject to mosaic evolution and exhibit unproportional epistatic gene effects, which play an important role in evolutionary adaptation and improvement. Offering valuable evolutionary insights and supplemented by a wealth of illustrations, this book will appeal to evolutionary and developmental biologists alike.
Evolution Inclusions and Variation Inequalities for Earth Data Processing III
by José Valero Mikhail Z. Zgurovsky Nina V. Zadoianchuk Oleksiy V. Kapustyan Pavlo O. KasyanovIn this sequel to two earlier volumes, the authors now focus on the long-time behavior of evolution inclusions, based on the theory of extremal solutions to differential-operator problems. This approach is used to solve problems in climate research, geophysics, aerohydrodynamics, chemical kinetics or fluid dynamics. As in the previous volumes, the authors present a toolbox of mathematical equations. The book is based on seminars and lecture courses on multi-valued and non-linear analysis and their geophysical application.
Evolution, Kultur und Kriminalität
by Christian LaueDie Evolutionsbiologie gilt einerseits als Königsdisziplin der Biologie, andererseits wird sie nach den erschreckenden Erfahrungen mit der Kriminalbiologie vor allem mit Eugenik, Sozialdarwinismus und Rassismus in Verbindung gebracht. Tatsächlich bietet die Evolutionstheorie viele Antworten auf kriminologisch interessante Fragen. Der Autor überbrückt den Graben zwischen sozialwissenschaftlich orientierter Kriminologie und den Biowissenschaften und untersucht, inwieweit neue Erkenntnisse aus der Evolutionsbiologie die Kriminologie bereichern können.
Evolution Made to Order: Plant Breeding and Technological Innovation in Twentieth-Century America
by Helen AnnePlant breeders have long sought technologies to extend human control over nature. Early in the twentieth century, this led some to experiment with startlingly strange tools like x-ray machines, chromosome-altering chemicals, and radioactive elements. Contemporary reports celebrated these mutation-inducing methods as ways of generating variation in plants on demand. Speeding up evolution, they imagined, would allow breeders to genetically engineer crops and flowers to order. Creating a new food crop or garden flower would soon be as straightforward as innovating any other modern industrial product. In Evolution Made to Order, Helen Anne Curry traces the history of America’s pursuit of tools that could intervene in evolution. An immersive journey through the scientific and social worlds of midcentury genetics and plant breeding and a compelling exploration of American cultures of innovation, Evolution Made to Order provides vital historical context for current worldwide ethical and policy debates over genetic engineering.
Evolution Mechanism on Structural Characteristics of Lead-Contaminated Soil in the Solidification/Stabilization Process (Springer Theses)
by Jiang-Shan LiThis book highlights the use of Solidification/Stabilization (S/S) to treat lead-contaminated soils, which are widely present in China. It reveals the evolutionary mechanism of the structural characteristics of Pb contaminated soil during the S/S process. In addition, the book systematically analyzes laws influencing the S/S process and its internal mechanisms, and develops new models for the strength prediction and Pb leaching prediction of S/S monolith. The results can provide essential theoretical guidance and parameter-related support for the design of Pb-contamiated soil S/S remediation and recycling solutions.
Evolution, Morality and the Fabric of Society (Elements in the Philosophy of Biology)
by R. Paul ThompsonRecent interest in the evolution of the social contract is extended by providing a throughly naturalistic, evolutionary account of the biological underpinnings of a social contract theory of morality. This social contract theory of morality (contractevolism) provides an evolutionary justification of the primacy of a moral principle of maximisation of the opportunities for evolutionary reproductive success (ERS), where maximising opportunities does not entail an obligation on individuals to choose to maximise their ERS. From that primary principle, the moral principles of inclusion, individual sovereignty (liberty) and equality can be derived. The implications of these principles, within contractevolism, are explored through an examination of patriarchy, individual sovereignty and copulatory choices, and overpopulation and extinction. Contractevolism is grounded in evolutionary dynamics that resulted in humans and human societies. The most important behavioural consequences of evolution to contractevolism are reciprocity, cooperation, empathy, and the most important cognitive consequences are reason and behavioural modification.
The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans
by Michael TomaselloA leading developmental psychologist proposes an evolutionary pathway to human psychological agency.Nature cannot build organisms biologically prepared for every contingency they might possibly encounter. Instead, Nature builds some organisms to function as feedback control systems that pursue goals, make informed behavioral decisions about how best to pursue those goals in the current situation, and then monitor behavioral execution for effectiveness. Nature builds psychological agents. In a bold new theoretical proposal, Michael Tomasello advances a typology of the main forms of psychological agency that emerged on the evolutionary pathway to human beings. Tomasello outlines four main types of psychological agency and describes them in evolutionary order of emergence. First was the goal-directed agency of ancient vertebrates, then came the intentional agency of ancient mammals, followed by the rational agency of ancient great apes, ending finally in the socially normative agency of ancient humans. Each new form of psychological organization represented increased complexity in the planning, decision-making, and executive control of behavior. Each also led to new types of experience of the environment and, in some cases, of the organism&’s own psychological functioning, leading ultimately to humans&’ experience of an objective and normative world that governs all of their thoughts and actions. Together, these proposals constitute a new theoretical framework that both broadens and deepens current approaches in evolutionary psychology.
The Evolution of Animal Communication: Reliability and Deception in Signaling Systems (Monographs in Behavior and Ecology #30)
by William A. Searcy Stephen NowickiGull chicks beg for food from their parents. Peacocks spread their tails to attract potential mates. Meerkats alert family members of the approach of predators. But are these--and other animals--sometimes dishonest? That's what William Searcy and Stephen Nowicki ask in The Evolution of Animal Communication. They take on the fascinating yet perplexing question of the dependability of animal signaling systems. The book probes such phenomena as the begging of nesting birds, alarm calls in squirrels and primates, carotenoid coloration in fish and birds, the calls of frogs and toads, and weapon displays in crustaceans. Do these signals convey accurate information about the signaler, its future behavior, or its environment? Or do they mislead receivers in a way that benefits the signaler? For example, is the begging chick really hungry as its cries indicate or is it lobbying to get more food than its brothers and sisters? Searcy and Nowicki take on these and other questions by developing clear definitions of key issues, by reviewing the most relevant empirical data and game theory models available, and by asking how well theory matches data. They find that animal communication is largely reliable--but that this basic reliability also allows the clever deceiver to flourish. Well researched and clearly written, their book provides new insight into animal communication, behavior, and evolution.
The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us
by Richard O. PrumA FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZENAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNALA major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences—what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world. In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life: which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature? Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum—reviving Darwin's own views—thinks not. Deep in tropical jungles around the world are birds with a dizzying array of appearances and mating displays: Club-winged Manakins who sing with their wings, Great Argus Pheasants who dazzle prospective mates with a four-foot-wide cone of feathers covered in golden 3D spheres, Red-capped Manakins who moonwalk. In thirty years of fieldwork, Prum has seen numerous display traits that seem disconnected from, if not outright contrary to, selection for individual survival. To explain this, he dusts off Darwin's long-neglected theory of sexual selection in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasons—for the mere pleasure of it—is an independent engine of evolutionary change. Mate choice can drive ornamental traits from the constraints of adaptive evolution, allowing them to grow ever more elaborate. It also sets the stakes for sexual conflict, in which the sexual autonomy of the female evolves in response to male sexual control. Most crucially, this framework provides important insights into the evolution of human sexuality, particularly the ways in which female preferences have changed male bodies, and even maleness itself, through evolutionary time. The Evolution of Beauty presents a unique scientific vision for how nature's splendor contributes to a more complete understanding of evolution and of ourselves.
Evolution of Black Holes in Anti-de Sitter Spacetime and the Firewall Controversy
by Yen Chin OngThis thesis focuses on the recent firewall controversy surrounding evaporating black holes, and shows that in the best understood example concerning electrically charged black holes with a flat event horizon in anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime, the firewall does not arise. The firewall, which surrounds a sufficiently old black hole, threatens to develop into a huge crisis since it could occur even when spacetime curvature is small, which contradicts general relativity. However, the end state for asymptotically flat black holes is ill-understood since their curvature becomes unbounded. This issue is avoided by working with flat charged black holes in AdS. The presence of electrical charge is crucial since black holes inevitably pick up charges throughout their long lifetime. These black holes always evolve toward extremal limit, and are then destroyed by quantum gravitational effects. This happens sooner than the time required to decode Hawking radiation so that the firewall never sets in, as conjectured by Harlow and Hayden. Motivated by the information loss paradox, the author also investigates the possibility that "monster" configurations might exist, with an arbitrarily large interior bounded by a finite surface area. Investigating such an object in AdS shows that in the best understood case, such an object -- much like a firewall -- cannot exist.
Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology)
by Isaac Casanovas-Vilar Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende Christine M. Janis Juha SaarinenThis volume presents an array of different case studies which take as primary material data sourced from the NOW (‘New and Old Worlds’) database of fossil mammals. The NOW database was one of the very first large paleobiological databases, and since 1996 it has been expanded from including mainly Neogene European land mammals to cover the entire Cenozoic at a global scale. In the last two decades the number of works that are based in the use of huge databases to explore ecological and evolutionary questions has increased exponentially, and even though the importance of big data in paleobiological research has been outlined in selected chapters of general works, no volume has appeared before this one which solely focuses on the databases as a primary source in reconstructing the past. The purpose of this book is to provide an illustrative volume showing the importance of big data in paleobiological research, and presenting a broad array of unpublished examples and case studies. The book is mainly aimed to professional palaeobiologists working with Cenozoic land mammals, but the scope of the book is broad enough to fit the interest for evolutionary biologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoecologists.The volume is divided in four parts. The first part includes two chapters on the development of large paleobiological databases, providing a first-hand account on the logic and the functioning of these databases. This is a much-needed perspective which is ignored by most researchers and users of such databases and, even if centered in the NOW database, the lessons that can be learned from this part can be extended to other examples. After this introductory part, the body of the book follows and is divided into three parts: patterns in regional faunas; large scale patterns and processes; and ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary patterns of key taxa. Each chapter is written by well-known specialists in the field, with some participation of members of the NOW advisory board. The array of selected mammal taxa ranges from carnivores, equids, ruminants and rodents to the genus Homo. The topics studied also include the diversification and radiation of major clades, large-scale paleobiogeographical patterns, the evolution of ecomorphological patterns and paleobiological problems such as evolution of body size or species longevity. In most cases the results are discussed in relation to protracted environmental or paleogeographic changes.
The Evolution of Charles Darwin (Routledge Revivals)
by George A. DorseyCharles Darwin is well-known throughout the world for his revolutionary work from 1859; The Origin of Species, the foundational study of evolution which greatly challenged the near-universal belief in the Christian world, at that time, of creationism. Originally published in 1928, Dorsey attempts to provide a detailed account of the scientist’s life and personality informed by letters, published works and an autobiography written by Darwin. Darwin’s life was full of challenges both in his personal life as well as his career and The Evolution of Charles Darwin explores all aspects of his life from birth to death emphasising the great impact his work had in the scientific community and humanity as a whole.
The Evolution of Chemical Knowledge: A Formal Setting for its Analysis (Wissenschaft und Philosophie – Science and Philosophy – Sciences et Philosophie)
by Jürgen Jost Guillermo RestrepoChemistry shapes and creates the disposition of the world's resources and provides novel substances for the welfare and hazard of our civilisation at an exponential rate. Can we model the evolution of chemical knowledge? This book not only provides a positive answer to the question, it provides the formal models and available data to model chemical knowledge as a complex dynamical system based on the mutual interaction of the social, semiotic and material systems of chemistry. These systems, which have evolved over the history, include the scientists and institutions supporting chemical knowledge (social system); theories, concepts and forms of communication (semiotic system) and the substances, reactions and technologies (material system) central for the chemical practice. These three systems, which have traditionally been mostly studied in isolation, are brought together in this book in a grand historical narrative, on the basis of comprehensive data sets and supplemented by appropriate tools for their formal analysis. We thereby develop a comprehensive picture of the evolution of chemistry, needed for better understanding the past, present and future of chemistry as a discipline. The interdisciplinary character of this book and its non-technical language make it an ideal complement to more traditional material in undergraduate and graduate courses in chemistry, history of science and digital humanities.
The Evolution of Chinese Filiality: Insights from the Neurosciences
by Deborah Lynn PorterThis unique book brings a fresh interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of ancient Chinese history, creating a historical model for the emergence of cultural mainstays by applying recent dramatic findings in the fields of neuroscience and cultural evolution. The centrality in Chinese culture of a deep reverence for the lives of preceding generations, filial piety, is conventionally attributed to Confucius (551-479 B.C.), who viewed hierarchical family relations as foundational for social order. Here, Porter argues that Confucian conceptions of filiality themselves evolved from a systemized set of behaviors and thoughts, a mental structure, which descended from a specific Neolithic mindset, and that this psychological structure was contoured by particular emotional conditions experienced by China’s earliest farmers. Using case study analysis from Neolithic sky observers to the dynastic cultures of the Shang and Western Zhou, the book shows how filial piety evolved as a structure of feeling, a legacy of a cultural predisposition toward particular moods and emotions that were inherited from the ancestral past. Porter also brings new urgency to the topic of ecological grief, linking the distress central to the evolution of the filial structure to its catalyst in an environmental crisis. With a blended multidisciplinary approach combining social neuroscience, cultural evolution, cognitive archaeology, and historical analysis, this book is ideal for students and researchers in neuropsychology, religion, and Chinese culture and history.
The Evolution of Communitarian Ideas: History, Theory and Practice
by Henry TamThis book deals with three key questions about communitarian ideas: how to distinguish what constitutes communitarian thinking; what lessons to take from the historical development of communitarian arguments; and why their practical implications are relevant in devising reforms at the local, national, and global levels. Each chapter covers a distinct period, with a critical exposition of the leading thinkers of that time who contributed to communitarian philosophy and politics. Beginning with an examination of the rise of proto-communitarian ideas in classical Western and Eastern thought, the book closes with a review of communitarian responses to the emergent social and technological changes in the 21st century. Readers will learn about the core features and significance of communitarian theories and practices in relation to morality, education, the economy, freedom and security, community development, and democratic governance; and how they compare and contrast with other ethical and intellectual outlooks.
The Evolution of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: From Schloss Rettershof to a New Clinical Language
by Michael Stanton-HicksLong before any written accounts of what has come to be described as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), this book entails a record that began in the department of Anesthesiology headed by Dr. John Bonica who during the Pacific arena of World War II came to manage thousands of wounded servicemen many of whom suffered from this complicated clinical entity often long after their original wounds had healed. Divided into two sections, the first provides a detailed chronology of the research and establishment of diagnostic criteria for CRPS. The second section provides an overview of how CRPS is evaluated and treated, along with the research that serves as its foundations.
The Evolution of Complexity: Simple Simulations of Major Innovations (Emergence, Complexity and Computation #37)
by Larry BullThis book gathers together much of the author’s work – both old and new - to explore a number of the key increases in complexity seen in the natural world, seeking to explain each of them purely in terms of the features of fitness landscapes. In a very straightforward manner, the book introduces basic concepts to help readers follow the main ideas. By using variations of the NK model and including the concept of the Baldwin effect, the author presents new abstract models that are able to explain why sources of evolutionary innovation (genomes, symbiosis, sex, chromosomes, multicellularity) have been selected for and hence how complexity has increased over time in some lineages.
The Evolution of Complexity by Means of Natural Selection
by John Tyler BonnerJohn Tyler Bonner makes a new attack on an old problem: the question of how progressive increase in the size and complexity of animals and plants has occurred. "How is it," he inquires, "that an egg turns into an elaborate adult? How is it that a bacterium, given many millions of years, could have evolved into an elephant?" The author argues that we can understand this progression in terms of natural selection, but that in order to do so we must consider the role of development--or more precisely the role of life cycles--in evolutionary change. In a lively writing style that will be familiar to readers of his work The Evolution of Culture in Animals (Princeton, 1980), Bonner addresses a general audience interested in biology, as well as specialists in all areas of evolutionary biology. What is novel in the approach used here is the comparison of complexity inside the organism (especially cell differentiation) with the complexity outside (that is, within an ecological community). Matters of size at both these levels are closely related to complexity. The book shows how an understanding of the grand course of evolution can come from combining our knowledge of genetics, development, ecology, and even behavior.
The Evolution of Consciousness
by Bjørn GrindeThis book gives the reader an understanding of what consciousness is about, and of how to make conscious experiences more pleasant. It expands on a new theory that describes the evolutionary trajectory leading to conscious life forms. In short, the evidence suggests that consciousness first evolved some 300 million years ago as a consequence of the introduction of feelings. Feelings offer a strategy for making behavioural decisions. Besides playing a crucial role in the evolution of the human mind, they are a key factor in regard to mental health and quality of life. Fortunately, the human brain is plastic. By exploiting available options for modulating the mind, it is therefore possible to impact on what sort of experiences the brain serves. More specifically, you can strengthen the capacity for positive feelings and reduce the sway of negative feelings. The text covers biological, neurological, psychological, and philosophical aspects of the mind.
The Evolution of Culture: Volume IV (The International Library of Essays on Evolutionary Thought)
by Stefan LinquistRecent years have seen a transformation in thinking about the nature of culture. Rather than viewing culture in opposition to biology, a growing number of researchers now regard culture as subject to evolutionary processes. Recent developments in this field have shifted some of the traditional academic fault lines. Alliances are forming between researchers trained in anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology and philosophy. Meanwhile, several distinct schools of thought have appeared which differ in their vision of what an evolutionary approach to culture should look like. This volume contains some of the most influential publications on these subjects from the past few decades. A theoretical background chapter and critical introduction identify the core issues at stake in the new study of cultural evolution. These chapters are followed by sections on each of the four dominant approaches: the phylogenetic approach, memetics, dual inheritance theory and niche construction. Following these are two chapters on closely related topics: the psychological mechanisms of culture and the existence of culture in non-human animals. Overall, this volume provides an up to date overview of some of the most exciting trends in contemporary evolutionary thought.
The Evolution of Cyber War: International Norms for Emerging-Technology Weapons
by Brian M. MazanecFormer secretary of defense Leon Panetta once described cyber warfare as “the most serious threat in the twenty-first century,” capable of destroying our entire infrastructure and crippling the nation. <p><p> Already, major cyber attacks have affected countries around the world: Estonia in 2007, Georgia in 2008, Iran in 2010, and most recently the United States. As with other methods of war, cyber technology can be used not only against military forces and facilities but also against civilian targets. Information technology has enabled a new method of warfare that is proving extremely difficult to combat, let alone defeat. <p> And yet cyber warfare is still in its infancy, with innumerable possibilities and contingencies for how such conflicts may play out in the coming decades. Brian M. Mazanec examines the worldwide development of constraining norms for cyber war and predicts how those norms will unfold in the future. Employing case studies of other emerging-technology weapons—chemical and biological, strategic bombing, and nuclear weaponry—Mazanec expands previous understandings of norm-evolution theory, offering recommendations for U.S. policymakers and citizens alike as they grapple with the reality of cyber terrorism in our own backyard.