Principles of Evolution considers evolution in the context of systems biology, a contemporary approach for handling biological complexity. Evolution needs this systems perspective for three reasons. First, most activity in living organisms is driven by complex networks of proteins and this has direct implications, particularly for understanding evo-devo and for seeing how variation is initiated. Second, it provides the natural language for discussing phylogenetic trees. Third, evolutionary change involves events at levels ranging from the genome to the ecosystem and systems biology provides a context for integrating material of this complexity. Understanding evolution means, on the one hand, describing the history of life and, on the other, making sense of the principles that drove that history. The solution adopted here is to make the science of evolution the primary focus of the book and place the various parts of the history of life in the context of the research that unpicks it. This means that the history is widely distributed across the text. This concise textbook assumes that the reader has a fair amount of biological knowledge and gives equal weight to all the major themes of evolution: the fossil record, phylogenetics, evodevo, and speciation. Principles of Evolution will therefore be an interesting and thought-provoking read for honors-level undergraduates, and graduates working in the biological sciences.

The natural world is infinitely complex and hierarchically structured, with smaller units forming the components of progressively larger systems: molecules make up cells, cells comprise tissues and organs that are, in turn, parts of individual organisms, which are united into populations and integrated into yet more encompassing ecosystems. In the face of such awe-inspiring complexity, there is a need for a comprehensive, non-reductionist evolutionary theory. Having emerged at the crossroads of paleobiology, genetics, and developmental biology, the hierarchical approach to evolution provides a unifying perspective on the natural world and offers an operational framework for scientists seeking to understand the way complex biological systems work and evolve. Coedited by one of the founders of hierarchy theory and featuring a diverse and renowned group of contributors, this volume provides an integrated, comprehensive, cutting-edge introduction to the hierarchy theory of evolution. From sweeping historical reviews to philosophical pieces, theoretical essays, and strictly empirical chapters, it reveals hierarchy theory as a vibrant field of scientific enterprise that holds promise for unification across the life sciences and offers new venues of empirical and theoretical research. Stretching from molecules to the biosphere, hierarchy theory aims to provide an all-encompassing understanding of evolution and—with this first collection devoted entirely to the concept—will help make transparent the fundamental patterns that propel living systems.

The world’s most revered and eloquent interpreter of evolutionary ideas offers here a work of explanatory force unprecedented in our time—a landmark publication, both for its historical sweep and for its scientific vision. With characteristic attention to detail, Stephen Jay Gould first describes the content and discusses the history and origins of the three core commitments of classical Darwinism: that natural selection works on organisms, not genes or species; that it is almost exclusively the mechanism of adaptive evolutionary change; and that these changes are incremental, not drastic. Next, he examines the three critiques that currently challenge this classic Darwinian edifice: that selection operates on multiple levels, from the gene to the group; that evolution proceeds by a variety of mechanisms, not just natural selection; and that causes operating at broader scales, including catastrophes, have figured prominently in the course of evolution. Then, in a stunning tour de force that will likely stimulate discussion and debate for decades, Gould proposes his own system for integrating these classical commitments and contemporary critiques into a new structure of evolutionary thought. In 2001 the Library of Congress named Stephen Jay Gould one of America’s eighty-three Living Legends—people who embody the “quintessentially American ideal of individual creativity, conviction, dedication, and exuberance.” Each of these qualities finds full expression in this peerless work, the likes of which the scientific world has not seen—and may not see again—for well over a century.

Aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this textbook describes some of the basic principles affecting brain evolution. The author refers to data from a wide array of vertebrates while minimizing technical jargon. Particular attention has been paid to the ways in which changes in brain structure impact function and behavior. The volume concludes with a discussion on how mammal brains diverged from other brains and how Homo sapiens evolved a very large and special brain.

“Your interesting, carefully detailed manual about Systems Theory V.S Evolutionary Theory is original in the field. The subject is vividly and easily explained with examples that help the reader understand the peculiarities and insights described. All the aspects of interpreting the human conscience, morality and law, the evolutionary theory in society from a theological and scientific viewpoint. War, conspiracy, are classified in depth, with a simple and clear prose that leaves no doubts regarding the subject. The theological references are correctly placed, and provide crucial additional information for those who want to deepen the content. I think this manual will be very useful for your country’s readers and for European ones as well.” —Source: Ginevra Picani, Assignment Editor for Press House Europe Books Publishing Firm and Manuscript Reviews. The contents of this book is in relation to the subject of human equality with a strong focus on interpreting the human conscience, morality, and law. The book contains references to theological terms from the Holy Bible, as well as scientific references to systems theory and systems science. The book is intended to empower the individual with knowledge concerning the basic rights of a human being, whilst exploring the implications of the evolutionary theory in society from both a theological and scientific viewpoint. The book also contains references to quantum theory, war, conspiracy, the Holocaust, Communism, New Atheism, politics, nudity, sexual immorality, animal cruelty, hell and racism from a Christian perspective. This book is not recommended for individuals under the age of 18. All views within this book are within the spectrum of the law concerning freedom of speech, so as to not break the law, nor infringe upon a person’s basic rights as a human being.

A new updated edition of the first integrated and comprehensive textbook to explain the principles of evolutionary biology from a medical perspective and to focus on how medicine and public health might utilise evolutionary biology.

Evolutionary algorithms, such as evolution strategies, genetic algorithms, or evolutionary programming, have found broad acceptance in the last ten years. In contrast to its broad propagation, theoretical analysis in this subject has not progressed as much. This monograph provides the framework and the first steps toward the theoretical analysis of Evolution Strategies (ES). The main emphasis is deriving a qualitative understanding of why and how these ES algorithms work.

Cabej (biology, U. of Tirana, Albania) explains the epigenetic principles of evolution (as opposed to the theory of evolution as determined by changes in genes) and reconstructs the developmental mechanisms of evolutionary changes in metazoans, based on empirical evidence. He focuses on the mechanisms of the generation of the evolutionary innovations from the influence of environment on heredity rather than the role of natural selection. He discusses control systems and determination of phenotypic traits in metazoans, neural manipulation of gene expression, epigenetic control of reproduction and early development, neural control of postphylotypic development, and the epigenetic system of inheritance. He follows with description of neural-developmental premises of evolutionary adaptation, including evolution and stress responses and behavioral adaptation to changes in environment, ontogeny, and intragenerational developmental plasticity; epigenetics of circumevolutionary phenomena and the mechanism of evolutionary change, including transgenerational developmental plasticity and the evolution of metazoans and their control system; and the origins of evolutionary novelty, evolution by loss or by reverting to ancestral characters, neural crest-determined evolutionary novelties, evolutionary convergences, species and allopatric speciation, and sympatric speciation. He presents the available evidence for his theory, rather than illustrating an established theory, and includes a comparative presentation of the neo-Darwinian view to his epigenetic explanation. There is no index. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The Future of Life: A Unified Theory of Evolution represents the first comprehensive formulation of the hypothesis that evolution is the unifying force underlying the dynamics of all processes in the universe- both organic and inorganic. In essence by combining information, decision, network and quantum theory, it is demonstrated that an overarching evolutionry process shapes the spectrum of life and all phenomena in the universe, beyond Darwin's original biological theory.