Evolution 101

What should the average person know about science? Because science is so central to life in the 21st century, science educators and other leaders of the scientific community believe that it is essential that everyone understand the basic concepts of the most vital and far-reaching disciplines. Evolution 101 does exactly that. This accessible volume provides readers - whether students new to the field or just interested members of the lay public - with the essential ideas of evolution using a minimum of jargon and mathematics. Concepts are introduced in a progressive order so that more complicated ideas build on simpler ones, and each is discussed in small, bite-sized segments so that they can be more easily understood. Evolution 101 provides an introduction for non-scholars to this most powerful scientific theory, covering such issues as: the history of evolutionary thought, from before Darwin to the present day; the evidence for evolution, from fields as diverse as geology, molecular biology, paleontology, and more, that show how strongly supported evolution is; how evolution works, including topics ranging from behavior (e.g., sexual selection) to molecular biology (e.g., mutation); and evolution in our daily lives, including how evolution accounts for phenomena such as antibiotic resistance and pesticide resistance. This essential resource will answer the questions students and lay people have regarding evolution, and will point them on the path to further understanding.

Table of Contents:
Series Foreword Preface 1 The History of Evolutionary Thought Early Ideas About Life's Diversity Naming Life Lamarck Proposes the First Testable Theory of Evolution Charles Darwin Darwin Sets Sail Aboard the Beagle and Sees the World Darwin's Life Back in England Down House Wallace Provokes Darwin to Announce His Idea The Theory of Evolution After Darwin Darwin's Bold Prediction Summary 2 Evidence for Evolution The Evidence for Evolution The Age of the Earth Determining the Ages of Fossils and Rocks Fossils Extinctions Artificial Selection Embryology Biogeography Comparative Anatomy Vestigial Structures Molecular Biology We Can Watch Evolution Happen Evolution, Life, and Death: The Evolution of Drug Resistance Can Evolution Be Stopped? Contradictory Evidence? Evolution in the Courtroom Summary 3 How Evolution Works Genes Link Generations Pesticide Resistance DNA and Chromosomes The Frequencies of Genes Can Change What Causes Genetic Variation? Mutation Can Cause Genetic Variation Gene Flow Can Cause Genetic Variation Genetic Mixing Can Cause Genetic Variation Evolution Is Change in Gene Frequency—How Do Gene Frequencies Change? Conservation and Genetic Diversity Natural Selection Produces Adaptive Change in Gene Frequencies Sexual Reproduction Increases Genetic Variation The Red Queen and Sexual Reproduction Mate Choice Can Be Adaptive Selection for One Extreme, Both Extremes, or the Middle Nice Guys Don't Have to Finish Last Calculating Coefficients of Relatedness Mutualism Summary 4 The Scale and Products of Evolution Microevolution Occurs Within Populations Macroevolution Produces Species Diversity What Is a Species? How Do Species Form? Species Form by Geographic Isolation, A Disturbance in Gene Flow Species Form When Shifts in Resources Disturb Gene Flow Species Form When Mate Choice Restricts Gene Flow Species Form When Genetic Changes Disturb Gene Flow The Common Theme of Speciation Is Reproductive Isolation A Phylogeny Traces the History of Speciation Shared Traits Reveal Shared Ancestry Three Types (Branches) of Living Organisms Where Did Life Come From? The Evolution of Multicellular Organisms Adaptive Radiation Fuels Biodiversity Poisonous Oceans, Death Stars, and Mass Extinction Summary 5 Evolution and Our Daily Lives Darwin's Predictions Continue to Ring True Social Darwinism Eugenics The Evolution of Pathogens Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology Human Evolution Summary Appendices Appendix 1: The Geological Timescale Appendix 2: Legal Decisions Involving the Teaching of Evolution and Creationism in Public Schools Appendix 3: A Timeline for Evolutionary Thought Appendix 4: Meiosis and Crossing Over Appendix 5: The Products of Evolution Glossary Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Randy Moore is H.T. Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota. He had edited The American Biology Teacher and Journal of College Science Teaching, and serves on the editorial board of Journal of Biological Education. He has won numerous grants and teaching awards, including the Teacher Exemplar Award (Society for College Science Teachers). Moore, an Honorary Member of the National Association of Biology Teachers, has written over 200 articles and books, including numerous textbooks and Evolution in the Courtroom: A Reference Guide (2002). Janice Moore is professor of Biology at Colorado State University. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles and the book Parasites and the Behavior of Animals (2002). She is also co-editor of Host-Parasite Evolution (1997) and serves on the editorial board of BioScience.

Review :
[E]ven younger, motivated students should be able to gain some understanding of these topics without assistance or prior knowledge. Teachers will appreciate the depth and clairity. NSTA Recommends Seldom is a book so well written and so well researched that it ought to be required reading for every thinking person. Moores one-volume reference on the theory of evolution comes as close as anything I have ever encountered in my career as both a biologist and an educator. From its thorough history of the development of the theory over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries to its painstaking analysis of how evolution works and the evidence for it, this book explains in simple but accurate language everything any person needs to know to grasp the essence of one of the most important scientific explanations of all time….Not only should every high school, community, and university library have a copy of Evolution 101 but every science teacher in the country should as well. [T]his book is a valuable, concise introduction to evolutionary thought. The authors have succeeded in providing a simple explanation of evolutionary theory that should be understandable to the average reader. This book should be essential for school and public libraries, and would be a valuable resource for any biology teacher concerned about teaching this subject accurately. Written to be fully accessible and with a minimum of jargon, this covers what general readers should know about evolution for them to apply to further reading or study. Randy Moore and Janice Moore take a practical approach but also offer the theory necessary to get the point across, starting with the history of evolutionary thought (Darwin and the Beagle), extension and elaboration of Darwin's basic theories, and the impact of those who thought they knew Darwin's work but wandered off a bit by themselves. They describe the evidence for evolution in fossils, rocks and drug resistance, examine how evolution works (DNA, genetic variation and gene frequency, mate choices and coefficients of relatedness), the scale and products of evolution and the role of evolution in our daily lives.