Lucy's Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution

Lucy's Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution
Alison Jolly (Author)
(9)

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Organic

Alison Jolly believes that biologists have an important story to tell about being human--not the all-too-familiar tale of selfishness, competition, and biology as destiny but rather one of cooperation and interdependence, from the first merging of molecules to the rise of a species inextricably linked by language, culture, and group living. This is the story that unfolds in Lucy's Legacy, the saga of human evolution as told by a world-renowned primatologist who works among the female-dominant ringtailed lemurs of Madagascar.

We cannot be certain that Lucy was female--the bones themselves do not tell us. However, we do know, as Jolly points out in this erudite, funny, and informative book, that the females who came after Lucy--more adept than their males in verbal facility, sharing food, forging links between generations, migrating among places and groups, and devising creative mating strategies--played as crucial a role in the human evolutionary process as "man" ever did. In a book that takes us from the first cell to global society, Jolly shows us that to learn where we came from and where we go next, we need to understand how sex and intelligence, cooperation and love, emerged from the harsh Darwinian struggle in the past, and how these natural powers may continue to evolve in the future.

• Rank: #930616 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-31
• Released on: 2001-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.13" h x 6.06" w x 1.38" l, 1.59 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

The Darwinian Tourist: Viewing the World Through Evolutionary Eyes

The Darwinian Tourist: Viewing the World Through Evolutionary Eyes
Christopher Wills (Author)
(6)

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In this magnificently illustrated book, Christopher Wills takes us on a series of adventures. From the underwater life of Indonesia's Lambeh Strait to a little valley in northern Israel, to an earthquake in the coral reef off the island of Yap and the dry valleys of western Mongolia, Wills demonstrates how ecology and evolution have interacted to yield the world we live in.

Each chapter features a different location and brings out a different and important message. With the author's own stunning photographs of the wildlife he discovered on his travels, he draws out the evolutionary stories behind the wildlife and shows how our understanding of the living world can be deepened by a Darwinian perspective. Wills demonstrates how looking at the world with evolutionary eyes leaves us with a renewed sense of wonder about life's astounding present-day diversity, along
with an appreciation of our evolutionary history.

• Rank: #43556 in Books
• Published on: 2010-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 10.04" h x 7.17" w x 1.18" l, 2.45 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Darwin in Galapagos:: Footsteps to a New World

Darwin in Galapagos:: Footsteps to a New World
K. Thalia Grant (Author), Gregory B. Estes (Author)
(6)

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In 1835, during his voyage on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin spent several weeks in Galápagos exploring the islands and making extensive notes on their natural history. Darwin in Galápagos is the first book to recreate Darwin's historic visit to the islands, following in his footsteps day by day and island by island as he records all that he observes around him.

Thalia Grant and Gregory Estes meticulously retrace Darwin's island expeditions, taking you on an unforgettable guided tour. Drawing from Darwin's original notebooks and logs from the Beagle, the latest findings by Darwin scholars and modern science, and their own intimate knowledge of the archipelago, Grant and Estes offer rare insights into Darwin's thinking about evolution in the context of the actual locales that inspired him. They introduce Darwin as a young naturalist in England and onboard the Beagle and then put you in his shoes as he explores remote places in the islands. They identify the unique animals and plants he observed and collected, and describe dramatic changes to the islands since Darwin's time. They also explore the importance of Darwin's observations and collections to the development of his thinking after the voyage.

Ideal for visitors to Galápagos and a delight for armchair travelers, Darwin in Galápagos is generously illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs and line drawings, as well as detailed maps of Darwin's island itinerary and informative box features on the archipelago's natural history.

• Rank: #262300 in Books
• Brand: Brand: Princeton University Press
• Published on: 2009-11-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.86" h x 6.02" w x 1.10" l, 1.65 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 440 pages

• Used Book in Good Condition

The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature

The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature
Geoffrey Miller (Author)
(62)

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At once a pioneering study of evolution and an accessible and lively reading experience, The Mating Mind marks the arrival of a prescient and provocative new science writer. Psychologist Geoffrey Miller offers the most convincing–and radical–explanation for how and why the human mind evolved.

Consciousness, morality, creativity, language, and art: these are the traits that make us human. Scientists have traditionally explained these qualities as merely a side effect of surplus brain size, but Miller argues that they were sexual attractors, not side effects. He bases his argument on Darwin’s theory of sexual selection, which until now has played second fiddle to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, and draws on ideas and research from a wide range of fields, including psychology, economics, history, and pop culture. Witty, powerfully argued, and continually thought-provoking, The Mating Mind is a landmark in our understanding of our own species.

• Rank: #215707 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-17
• Released on: 2001-04-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.87" h x 5.12" w x .98" l, .92 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution

The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution
Sean B. Carroll (Author)
(72)

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DNA evidence not only solves crimes—in Sean Carroll's hands it will now end the Evolution Wars.

DNA is the genetic material that defines us as individuals. Over the last two decades, it has emerged as a powerful tool for solving crimes and determining guilt and innocence. But, very recently, an important new aspect of DNA has been revealed—it contains a detailed record of evolution. That is, DNA is a living chronicle of how the marvelous creatures that inhabit our planet have adapted to its many environments, from the freezing waters of the Antarctic to the lush canopy of the rain forest.

In the pages of this highly readable narrative, Sean Carroll guides the general reader on a tour of the massive DNA record of three billion years of evolution to see how the fittest are made. And what a eye-opening tour it is—one featuring immortal genes, fossil genes, and genes that bear the scars of past battles with horrible diseases. This book clinches the case for evolution, beyond any reasonable doubt. 50 black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages of color

• Rank: #31764 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.49" h x 6.26" w x .98" l, 1.30 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Evolution: The Grand Experiment: Vol. 2 - Living Fossils

Evolution: The Grand Experiment: Vol. 2 - Living Fossils
Dr. Carl Werner (Author), Carla Azzara (Editor), Laura Welch (Editor), Alon Prunty (Editor), Adriana Naylor (Illustrator), Debbie Werner (Photographer)
(21)

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In 1938 the discovery of a large, unusual fish turned the scientific community on end. Dubbed a living fossil, the discovery of a coelacanth in South Africa shocked scientists around the world who thought this type of fish had died out millions of years prior during the process of evolution. Living fossils are organisms found preserved in the fossil record, which still exist in similar form today. If the core concepts of the theory of evolution presuppose change over time, then how can these living fossils exist for millions of years remaining virtually unchanged? Whether a shark, leaf, or crab, living fossils are a challenge for evolutionary theorists and create a fascinating debate among scholars. Do they indicate a younger earth than thought, placing the millions of years timeline of evolution in question? Or do they represent a deep mystery Evolution: The Grand Experiment, Vol 2 - Living Fossils delves into these provocative questions and more. A fact-filled learning adventure as Dr. Werner takes you around the world on a unique scientific expedition from remote dig sites and museums to the Australian Rainforest and more. How do living fossils impact one of the most controversial debates of our time - creation vs. evolution? Filled with 700 color photographs and presented in an easy-to-read format.

• Rank: #24159 in Books
• Brand: Brand: New Leaf Publishing Group/New Leaf Press
• Published on: 2009-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .10" h x .85" w x 1.11" l, 3.00 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 274 pages

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At the Water's Edge : Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea

At the Water's Edge : Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea
Carl Zimmer (Author)
(24)

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Everybody Out of the Pond
At the Water's Edge will change the way you think about your place in the world. The awesome journey of life's transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to Homo sapiens today is an epic that we are only now beginning to grasp. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and what we brought with us.
We all know about evolution, but it still seems absurd that our ancestors were fish. Darwin's idea of natural selection was the key to solving generation-to-generation evolution -- microevolution -- but it could only point us toward a complete explanation, still to come, of the engines of macroevolution, the transformation of body shapes across millions of years. Now, drawing on the latest fossil discoveries and breakthrough scientific analysis, Carl Zimmer reveals how macroevolution works. Escorting us along the trail of discovery up to the current dramatic research in paleontology, ecology, genetics, and embryology, Zimmer shows how scientists today are unveiling the secrets of life that biologists struggled with two centuries ago.
In this book, you will find a dazzling, brash literary talent and a rigorous scientific sensibility gracefully brought together. Carl Zimmer provides a comprehensive, lucid, and authoritative answer to the mystery of how nature actually made itself.

• Rank: #24055 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-08
• Released on: 1999-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.62" h x 5.43" w x .74" l, .61 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages