Synopses & Reviews
Here is one biologist's interpretation of the chronology of life during the last six hundred million years of earth history: an extended essay that draws on the author's own data and a wide-ranging literature survey to discuss the nature and dynamics of evolutionary change in organisms and their biological surroundings. Geerat Vermeij demonstrates that escalation--the process by which species adapt to, or are limited by, their enemies as the latter increase in ability to acquire and retain resources--has been a dominant theme in the history of life despite frequent episodes of extinction.
Review
"With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology."--Alan J. Kohn, Science
Review
"An extraordinarily useful book to students of evolutionary paleobiology."--Carlton Brett, Geology
Review
With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology. Science
Review
An extraordinarily useful book to students of evolutionary paleobiology. Carlton Brett
Synopsis
This book is written for those who, like me, are fascinated with evolution, but I hope it will also be read by historians of human affairs. There are some obvious parallels between the history of life and the cultural history of man--the episodic pace of change the effects of crises, and the role of population growth, for example--and the fossil record teaches some sobering lessons about the futility of the seemingly unstoppable arms race between nations.
Synopsis
Here is one biologist's interpretation of the chronology of life during the last six hundred million years of earth history: an extended essay that draws on the author's own data and a wide-ranging literature survey to discuss the nature and dynamics of evolutionary change in organisms and their biological surroundings. Geerat Vermeij demonstrates that escalation--the process by which species adapt to, or are limited by, their enemies as the latter increase in ability to acquire and retain resources--has been a dominant theme in the history of life despite frequent episodes of extinction.