The Fact of Evolution
Evolution is often described as a theory. Technically true, it is much more than “just a theory” as creationists often claim. In The Fact of Evolution, Cameron Smith amply demonstrates that there are few more well-established facts in the scientific canon than that life evolved on Earth.
Smith analyzes evolution as the unintended consequence of three independent facts of nature that we can observe. First, there is the fact that life forms have offspring; this is the fact of replication. Second, there is the fact that offspring are not identical; this is the fact of variation. Third, there is the fact that some offspring pass more of their genes on to the next generation than other offspring; this is the fact of selection. Viewed in terms of this analysis, says Smith, evolution is no longer debatable; in fact it has to occur. It is simply the inevitable outcome of three obvious, observable, factual natural phenomena.
Walking us through the steps in the evolutionary process, Smith uses plenty of real-world examples to show that not only does evolution happen, it must happen. For example, he covers the evolution of a social order among meerkats that helps a colony survive; traces the development of a parasitic relationship between the jewel wasp and the cockroach, in which the former lays an egg inside the body of the latter; and studies the ability of hermit crabs to appropriate the shells they inhabit from sea snails that have died. In addition to these and many other examples, Smith discusses a host of issues such as speciation, phylectic gradualism vs. punctuated equilibrium, the Evo-Devo paradigm, and more.
The Fact of Evolution makes the case for Darwin’s theory as the true explanation of life’s diversity.
Softcover : 280 pages
Publisher: Prometheus Books Inc ( May 24, 2011 )
Item #: 13-411294
ISBN: 9781616144418
Product Dimensions: 6.0 x 9.0 inches
Product Weight: 17.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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