Why Evolution Is True

by Coyne, Jerry A.

• ISBN13: 9780670020539
• ISBN10: 0670020532
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-01-22
• Publisher: Viking Adult

Summary

Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design," there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned-the evidence, the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from many different fields of science. Scientists are observing species splitting into two and are finding more and more fossils capturing change in the past-dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs. Why Evolution Is Trueweaves together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. In crisp, lucid prose accessible to a wide audience, Why Evolution Is Truedispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms that this amazing process of change has been firmly established as a scientific truth.

Author Biography

Jerry A. Coyne has been a professor at the University of Chicago in the department of ecology and evolution for twenty years. He specializes in evolutionary genetics and works predominantly on the origin of new species. He is a regular contributor to The New Republic, the Times Literary Supplement, and other publications.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. xv
What Is Evolution?	p. 1
Written in the Rocks	p. 20
Remnants: Vestiges, Embryos, and Bad Design	p. 55
The Geography of Life	p. 86
The Engine of Evolution	p. 111
How Sex Drives Evolution	p. 144
The Origin of Species	p. 168
What About Us?	p. 190
Evolution Redux	p. 221
Notes	p. 235
Glossary	p. 247
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 251
References	p. 257
Illustration Credits	p. 271
Index	p. 273
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