Evolution

by Zimmer, Carl

• ISBN13: 9780061138409
• ISBN10: 0061138401
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-12
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

About This Book

Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea

Author: Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer is a renowned author known for his engaging and accessible writing style, particularly in the field of evolution. This book, "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea," is a comprehensive exploration of the theory of evolution from Darwin to the 21st century. Zimmer collaborates with leading scholars to present a compelling narrative that delves into the far-reaching implications of evolutionary theory.

Who Uses It?

Primarily, this book is used by students and educators in introductory biology and evolutionary science courses at the college and university levels. It is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding the basics of evolution, including professionals looking to refresh their knowledge or expand their understanding of biological principles.

History and Editions

"Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" was first published in 2006 by Harper Perennial. This book has been a go-to resource for those seeking an up-to-date view of evolution. It serves as a companion volume to the PBS series, offering a rich and detailed exploration of evolutionary concepts.

Author and Other Works

Carl Zimmer is the author of three well-received books on evolution. He is also a Guggenheim fellow and writes regularly for magazines such as *National Geographic*, *Science*, *Newsweek*, and *Natural History*. Zimmer's writing style is characterized by his ability to make complex scientific concepts accessible to a broad audience.

Detailed Information

ISBNs and Formats

Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780061138409

eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780061138416 (The ebook for "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" is available right here on eCampus.com!)

eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780061138423 (The ebook for "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" is available right here on eCampus.com!)

Loose-leaf: ISBN-13: 9780061138430

Rental Options: Available through eCampus.com with various rental durations

Publication Details

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Publication Date: September 5, 2006

Number of Pages: 528

Language: English

Other Editions and Formats

Please note that while additional editions or formats may exist, the primary focus here is on the specified ISBNs and formats listed above.

Rental Options

Rental options are available through eCampus.com for all formats listed above, ensuring that students can access this valuable resource in the format that best suits their needs.

Table of Contents

Preface by Carl Zimmer	xi
Introduction by Stephen Jay Gould	xxix
Part 1 SLOW VICTORY: DARWIN AND THE RISE OF DARWINISM
1 Darwin and the Beagle	3	(29)
2 "Like Confessing a Murder": The Origin of Origin of Species	32	(36)
3 Deep Time Discovered: Putting Dates to the History of Life	68	(17)
4 Witnessing Change: Genes, Natural Selection, and Evolution in Action	85	(34)
Part 2 CREATION AND DESTRUCTION
5 Rooting the Tree of Life: From Life's Dawn to the Age of Microbes	119	(17)
6 The Accidental Tool Kit: Chance and Constraints in Animal Evolution	136	(32)
7 Extinction: How Life Ends and Begins Again	168	(59)
Part 3 EVOLUTION'S DANCE
8 Coevolution: Weaving the Web of Life	227	(27)
9 Doctor Darwin: Disease in the Age of Evolutionary Medicine	254	(20)
10 Passion's Logic: The Evolution of Sex	274	(39)
Part 4 HUMANITY'S PLACE IN EVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION'S PLACE IN HUMANITY
11 The Gossiping Ape: The Social Roots of Human Evolution	313	(45)
12 Modern Life, 50,000 B.C.: The Dawn of Us	358	(23)
13 What About God?	381	(43)
Further Reading	424	(29)
Acknowledgments	453	(4)
Index	457

Excerpts

Evolution
The Triumph of an Idea

Chapter One

Darwin and the Beagle

In late October 1831 a 90-foot coaster named HMS Beagle lay docked at Plymouth, England. Its crew scrambled about it like termites in a nest. They were packing the ship as tightly as they could for a voyage around the world, one that would last five years. They rolled barrels of flour and rum into the hold and crammed the deck with wooden boxes that contained experimental clocks resting on beds of sawdust. The Beagle's voyage was a scientific one: its crew would be testing the clocks for the British navy, which depended on precise timekeeping to navigate. Exquisitely detailed maps would be drawn on the voyage as well, so mahogany lockers were installed in the poop cabin and packed with navigational charts. The crew replaced the ship's 10 steel cannons with brass ones so that not even the slightest interference could confuse the Beagle's compasses.

Amid the flurry of preparations, a 22-year-old man picked his way. He moved awkwardly around the ship, not only because his 6-foot frame was oversized for the cramped quarters, but also because he felt profoundly out of place. He had no official position on the ship, having been invited to keep the captain company during the voyage and act as an unofficial naturalist. It was usually up to a ship's surgeon to act as the naturalist for a voyage, but this awkward young man had no such practical skill. He was a medical school dropout who, for want of any other respectable line of work, was considering a career as a country parson when the voyage was over. Once he had stowed away his preserving jars, his microscope, and the rest of his equipment in the poop cabin, he had nothing more to do. He tried helping the assistant surveyor calibrate some of the timepieces, but he didn't even know enough math to do the most basic calculations.

The name of this awkward young man was Charles Darwin. By the time the Beagle returned to England five years later, he would be transformed into one of Britain's most promising young scientists. And out of his experiences on the journey, he would discover the single most important idea in the history of biology, one that would permanently alter humanity's perception of its place in the natural order. From clues that he collected aboard the Beagle, Darwin would show that nature had not been created in exactly the form it takes today. Life evolves: it changes gradually but perpetually over vast gulfs of time, driven through those changes thanks to the laws of heredity, without any need of direct divine intervention. And humans, far from being the pinnacle and destiny of God's creation, were but a single species among many, another product of evolution.

Darwin would send Victorian England into a crisis with his theory, but he would offer an alternative view of life that has turned out to have a grandeur of its own. It is clear today that evolution connects us to the dawn of Earth, to showers of comets and death-winds of stars. It produced the crops we eat and now helps insects destroy them. It illuminates the mysteries of medicine, such as how mindless bacteria can outwit the best minds in science. It holds a warning for those who would take from Earth without limits; it reveals how our minds were assembled among lonely bands of apes. We may still struggle with what evolution says about our place in the universe, but that universe is all the more remarkable.

The Beagle is remembered today only because of Darwin's experience on board the ship. But if you tried to tell that to the sailors rolling barrels aboard they might have laughed without even a glance at the young man who was pretending to know what he was doing.

“My chief employment,” Darwin wrote to his family from Plymouth, “is to go on board the Beagle and try to look as much like a sailor as ever I can. I have no evidence of having taken in man, woman or child.”

In Search of Beetles and Respectability

Darwin had grown up along the banks of the Severn River in Shropshire, collecting pebbles and birds, completely unaware of the fortunes that made his life pleasant. His mother, Susannah, came from the wealthy Wedgwood family, which made china of the same name. Although his father, Robert, came from less wealthy stock, he built up a fortune of his own by working as a doctor and discreetly lending money to his patients. He eventually became rich enough to build his family a large house, the Mount, on a hillside overlooking the Severn.

Charles and his older brother Erasmus had the close, practically telepathic connection that brothers sometimes have. As teenagers they built themselves a laboratory at the Mount where they would dabble in chemicals and crystals. When Charles was 16, Erasmus went to Edinburgh to study medicine. Their father sent Charles along with him to keep Erasmus company, and ultimately to go to medical school as well. Charles was happy to tag along, for the company of his brother and for the adventure.

When they arrived in Edinburgh, Charles and Erasmus were shocked by the squalor and spectacle of the city. These two boys, raised in the genteel countryside where Jane Austen set her novels, encountered slums for the first time. Politics raged around them as Scottish nationalists, Jacobites, and Calvinists jostled over church and country. At Edinburgh University they faced a rabble of rough students shouting and shooting off pistols in the middle of lectures. Charles and Erasmus recoiled into each other's company, spending their time talking together, walking along the shore, reading newspapers, and going to the theater.Charles realized very quickly that he hated medicine. The lectures were dreary, the dissected corpses a nightmare, the operations—often amputations without anesthesia—terrifying. He kept himself busy with natural history. But although Charles knew that . . .

Evolution
The Triumph of an Idea. Copyright © by Carl Zimmer. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer
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