Selection: The Mechanism of Evolution

ISBN-13: 9781461377399 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 699 str.

Graham Bell

Opis

Thisbookhasbeenwritten tomake a pointand tofulfill a need. Thepoint is that the importance and the distinctiveness of the process of selection have been undervalued by most biologists. There is, consequently, the need for a book that describes the principles of selection in a simple but reasonably comprehensive way. Selection Is a Distinct Kind ofProcess Although we are now well into the second century of Darwinism, the theorythatDarwinand Wallaceannouncedin 1858hasnotyetmademuch progress beyond a small coterie of professional biologists. The reason is thatit isjarringlyunfamiliar toournormalexperienceofhow things come to be. Few ofus would be able to design a light bulb or a lathe, still fewer the computerand itsattendant softwarewithwhich this sentence is being written. But we all have a clear idea of what is meant by "design," and we readily, too readily, transfer this notion to the natural world. A light bulb or a lathe are prefigured in the mind, and constructed according to a plan. It is entirely reasonable to assume that beetles and daisies must be constructed after the same fashion, especially because they are much morecomplicatedthananythingthathumaningenuityhassofarmanaged to devise. There is, however, a second route to complex organization, throughtheselectionofrandomvariantsthatpropagatenearlyexactcopies ofthemselves. Itisofverylittleconsequenceinourdailylives, becauseifis somuchmorelaboriousandexpensivethandeliberatedesign. However, it isanotherwayofconstructingthings. Indeed, sofarasIknow, itistheonly other way of constructing things that we have ever been able to imagine.

Recenzje

...readers will expect and find erudition, breadth, unusual diversity of examples and good writing in latest works...this book is explicity about selection. What makes this book useful is its singleness of purpose toegether with the great breadth of coverage of the chosen subject. - Nature, Vol. 384, Dec., 1996; I recommend the book to anyone interested in almost any aspect of natural selection and its importance in evolution. - Science, August 1997

Spis treści

Simple selection; Selection on a single character; Single episode of selection; Selection of pre-existing variation; Continued selection; The Evolution of novelty; Selection on several characters; Selection acting on different components of fitness; Selection in several environments; Selection acting at different levels; Autoselection; Elements that utilize existing modes of transmission; Elements that modify existing modes of transmission; Social selection; Selection within a single uniform population; density-dependent selection; Selection within a single diverse population; frequency-dependent selection; Selection among populations; kin selection and group selection; Coevolution; Sexual selection.