Donald R. Prothero's Evolution is an entertaining and rigorous history of the transitional forms and series found in the the fossil record. Its engaging narrative of scientific discovery and well-grounded analysis has led to the book's widespread adoption in courses that teach the nature and value of fossil evidence. Evolution tackles flood geology, rock dating, neo-Darwinism, and macroevolution. It includes extensive coverage of the primordial soup, invertebrate transitions, the development of the backbone, the reign of the dinosaurs, and the transformation from chimpanzee to human. The book details the many "missing links," including some of the most recent discoveries, that flesh out the fossil timeline and the evolutionary process. In this second edition, Prothero describes new transitional fossils from various periods, vividly depicting such bizarre creatures as the Odontochelys, or the "turtle on the half shell," fossil snakes with legs, and the "Frogamander," a new example of amphibian transition. Prothero's discussion of intelligent-design arguments includes more historical examples and careful examination of the "experiments" and observations that are exploited by creationists seeking to undermine sound science education. With new perspectives, Prothero reframes creationism more as a case study in denialism and pseudoscience than as a field with its own intellectual dynamism. The first edition was hailed as the best book on the fossil evidence for evolution, and this second edition will be welcome in the libraries of scholars, teachers, and general readers who stand up for sound science.
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Donald R. Prothero’s Evolution is an entertaining and rigorous history of the transitional forms and series found in the fossil record. In this second edition, Prothero describes new transitional fossils from various periods, and reframes creationism as a case study in denialism and pseudoscience.
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Foreword: Why People Do Not Accept EvolutionTo the Reader: Is Evolution a Threat to Your Religious Beliefs?Prologue: Fossils and EvolutionPreface to the Second EditionAcknowledgmentsPart 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
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If you're one of these people who likes to read Dawkins, Gould and Darwin, I would highly recommend this book. If you doubted that evolution was true before, and then you looked at this book, I don't see how you could possibly continue to question it. -- Jerry Coyne, author of Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780231180641
Publisert
2017-08-22
Utgave
2. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Columbia University Press
Høyde
254 mm
Bredde
178 mm
Aldersnivå
P, UP, G, 06, 05, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet

Forfatter
Illustratør

Om bidragsyterne

Donald R. Prothero has taught college paleontology and geology for almost four decades at the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Occidental College, Vassar College, and Knox College. He is adjunct professor of geological sciences at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, adjunct professor of astronomy and earth sciences at Mt. San Antonio College, and research associate in vertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. His Columbia University Press books include The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution (2015) and Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids (2013).