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Understanding evolution / Kostas Kampourakis, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Author
Kampourakis, Kostas
Published
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Physical Description
1 online resource (xix, 253 pages)
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Contents
Machine generated contents note: How we know what we know about evolution -- Questions answered by evolutionary biology -- Domestication -- Epidemic infectious disease -- Conclusions -- Further reading -- Creation and design in nature -- Evolution and worldviews: perceived conflicts -- Evolution and religion: scientists' views -- Distinguishing between knowing and believing -- Conclusions -- Further reading -- Conceptual change in science -- Design teleology as a conceptual obstacle to understanding evolution -- Psychological essentialism as a conceptual obstacle to understanding evolution -- Conceptual change in evolution -- Conclusions -- Further reading -- The development of Darwin's theory -- Darwin's conceptual change -- The publication of the Origin of Species -- Science and religion in the reviews of the Origin of Species -- Conclusions -- Further reading -- The evolutionary network of life -- Homology and common descent -- Homoplasy and convergence -- Evolutionary developmental biology -- Conclusions -- Further reading -- Adaptation and natural selection -- Stochastic events and processes in evolution -- Speciation, extinction, and macroevolution -- Evolutionary explanations and the historicity of nature -- Conclusions -- Further reading -- The virtues of evolutionary theory -- Questions not answered by evolutionary theory.
Summary
"Current books on evolutionary theory all seem to take for granted the fact that students find evolution easy to understand when actually, from a psychological perspective, it is a rather counterintuitive idea. Evolutionary theory, like all scientific theories, is a means to understanding the natural world. Understanding Evolution is intended for undergraduate students in the life sciences, biology teachers or anyone wanting a basic introduction to evolutionary theory. Covering core concepts and the structure of evolutionary explanations, it clarifies both what evolution is about and why so many people find it difficult to grasp. The book provides an introduction to the major concepts and conceptual obstacles to understanding evolution, including the development of Darwin's theory, and a detailed presentation of the most important evolutionary concepts. Bridging the gap between the concepts and conceptual obstacles, Understanding Evolution presents evolutionary theory with a clarity and vision students will quickly appreciate"--
Subject(s)
ISBN
9781139542357 (electronic bk.)
1139542354 (electronic bk.)
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 12744728