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Synopsis
In the 150 years since Darwin, evolutionary biology has proven as essential as it is controversial, a critical concept for answering questions about everything from the genetic code and the structure of cells to the reproduction, development, and migration of animal and plant life. But today, as David P. Mindell makes undeniably clear in The Evolving World, evolutionary biology is much more than an explanatory concept. It is indispensable to the world we live in. This book provides the first truly accessible and balanced account of how evolution has become a tool with applications that are thoroughly integrated, and deeply useful, in our everyday lives and our societies, often in ways that we do not realize.
When we domesticate wild species for agriculture or companionship; when we manage our exposure to pathogens and prevent or control epidemics; when we foster the diversity of species and safeguard the functioning of ecosystems: in each of these cases, Mindell shows us, evolutionary biology applies. It is at work when we recognize that humans represent a single evolutionary family with variant cultures but shared biological capabilities and motivations. And last but not least, we see here how evolutionary biology comes into play when we use knowledge of evolution to pursue justice within the legal system and to promote further scientific discovery through education and academic research.
More than revealing evolution's everyday uses and value, The Evolving World demonstrates the excitement inherent in its applications—and convinces us as never before that evolutionary biology has become absolutely necessary for human existence.
Publishers Weekly
In the heated landscape of public discourse about evolution, books are weapons, lobbed by each side at the other. While creationists tend to directly attack the credibility of evolution, scientists have generally been loath to engage in direct comparison of evolutionary and creationist theories, preferring instead to simply focus on laying out the facts of evolution. Evolutionary biologist Mindell's contribution to the fray breaks little new ground. Couched as a general and accessible overview of how evolutionary reasoning pervades our lives, from the selective breeding of animals to understanding disease-causing pathogens, this book does have a few daggers tucked into its belt; the book opens with an examination of three "unpopular discoveries" (heliocentrism, the germ theory of disease and evolution) and ends with a coda that cursorily nods toward tolerance of religious and moral qualms but has little patience for them. What lies between is a perfectly reasonable survey of the ways that evolution explains biology, medicine, culture and religion. Written for a general audience, the book is solid but unremarkable, another salvo in the roar of the larger cultural war. B&w illus. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.