San Antonio College Library

"In this dynamic account, award-winning science writer Ann Gibbons chronicles an extraordinary quest to answer the most primal of questions: When and where was the dawn of humankind? Following four intensely competitive international teams of scientists in a heated race to find the 'missing link' - the fossil of the earliest human ancestor - Gibbons ventures to Africa, where she encounters a fascinating array of fossil hunters: Tim White, the irreverent...

"All aspects of evolution, including theories, researchers, history, philosophy, processes, plants, and animals, are covered in this reference work. Other science reference publications include information about evolution, but this source is unique because of its comprehensive and thorough examination of the subject. It includes thought-provoking essays on such topics as culture in chimpanzees, motherhood, and Darwinian medicine, all written by recognized...

"With attention to detail, Stephen Jay Gould first describes the content and discusses the history and origins of the three core commitments of classical Darwinism: that natural selection works on organisms, not genes or species; that it is almost exclusively the mechanism of adaptive evolutionary change; and that these changes are incremental, not drastic. Next, he examines the three critiques that currently challenge this classic Darwinian edifice:...

"Referring to Lewis Carroll's Red Queen from Through the Looking-Glass, a character who has to keep running to stay in the same place, Matt Ridley demonstrates why sex is humanity's best strategy for outwitting its constantly mutating internal predators."--Back cover.