Synopses & Reviews
According to polling data, most Americans doubt that evolution is a real phenomenon. And its no wonder that so many are skeptical: many of todays biology courses and textbooks dwell on the mechanisms of evolution—natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow—but say little about the evidence that evolution happens at all. How do we know that species change? Has there really been enough time for evolution to operate?
With The Evidence for Evolution, Alan R. Rogers provides an elegant, straightforward text that details the evidence for evolution. Rogers covers different levels of evolution, from within-species changes, which are much less challenging to see and believe, to much larger ones, say, from fish to amphibian, or from land mammal to whale. For each case, he supplies numerous lines of evidence to illustrate the changes, including fossils, DNA, and radioactive isotopes. His comprehensive treatment stresses recent advances in knowledge but also recounts the give and take between skeptical scientists who first asked “how can we be sure” and then marshaled scientific evidence to attain certainty. The Evidence for Evolution is a valuable addition to the literature on evolution and will be essential to introductory courses in the life sciences.
Review
“Lucid, compact, up-to-date, and highly readable.” Ross H. Nehm, Ohio State University
Review
“The Evidence for Evolution is a find advocate’s case for Darwin’s theory.” BioScience
Review
“The volume is clearly written and presents helpful examples for readers. In addition to providing an excellent introduction for general readers, this book will be of use in a variety of introductory courses on biology or as a supplement to a more general treatment of evolutionary theory.” Michael J. Behe, Lehigh University - Review of Metaphysics
Review
“[A] fresh and splendid little book.”
Chris Zarpentine, University of Utah - Quarterly Review of Biology
Review
“Alan Rogers addresses the political controversy over the theory of evolution (theres no longer any scientific controversy) in the best scientific spirit: with evidence and logic. For anyone with an open mind, a curiosity about the natural world, and a desire to see controversies settled with evidence rather than rhetoric, this is an invaluable contribution and a fascinating read.”
Warren D. Allmon - Reports of the National Center for Science Education
Review
“This work is novel and significant because of the growing misunderstanding of the concepts of evolution. Rogers does a great job of presenting the creationists arguments and providing some of the best evidence to counter those arguments. He brings the full arsenal of what modern science has to offer, but also does so in a respectful manner that is accessible to a broad audience without condescending language. This is exactly the kind of message that evolutionary biologists should be sending.”
Steven Pinker, Harvard University
Review
“An elegant little128-page book by a veteran University of Utah scientist that explains and defends the theory of evolution.”
Christina Richards, University of South Florida
About the Author
Alan R. Rogers is professor of anthropology and biology at the University of Utah.
Table of Contents
1. Darwin's mockingbird
2. Do species change?
3. Does evolution make big changes?
4. Can evolution explain design?5. Peaks and valleys
6. Islands in the 21st century
7. Has there been enough time?
8. Did humans evolve?
9. Are we still evolving?10. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index