In this fascinating book, John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary present an original picture of evolution. They propose that during evolution there have been a number of major transitions in the way in which information is passed between generations. These transitions include the appearance of the first replicating molecules, the emergence of co-operative animal societies, and the unique language ability of humans. Containing many new ideas, this book is contemporary biology on the grandest scale, from the birth of life to the origin of language.
| ISBN | 019286209X | | Pages | 192 | | ISBN13 | 9780192862099
(What's this?) | | Volumes | 1 | | Publisher | Oxford University Press | | Weight (grammes) | 208 | | Imprint | Oxford Paperbacks | | Published in | Oxford | | Format | Paperback | | Previous ISBN | 9780198504931 | | Publication date | 16 Mar 2000 | | Height (mm) | 198 | | Library of Congress | QH366.2 | | Width (mm) | 129 | | DEWEY | 576.8 | | Spine width (mm) | 9 | | DEWEY edition | DC21 | | Academic level | Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly |
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PREFACE; 1. LIFE AND INFORMATION; 2. THE MAJOR TRANSITIONS; 3. FROM CHEMISTRY TO HEREDITY; 4. FROM THE RNA WORLD TO THE MODERN WORLD; 5. FROM HEREDITY TO SIMPLE CELLS; 6. THE ORIGIN OF EUKARYOTIC CELLS; 7. THE ORIGIN OF SEX; 8. GENETIC CONFLICT; 9. LIVING TOGETHER; 10. THE EVOLUTION OF MANY-CELLED ORGANISMS; 11. ANIMAL SOCIETIES; 12. FROM ANIMAL TO HUMAN SOCIETIES; 13. THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE; GLOSSARY; NOTES; FURTHER READING; INDEX
"Moving speedily from epoch to epoch, fueled by a few important concepts (such as the division of labor) and explaining all the genetics they use, Smith and Szathmary show just how difficult it has been to evolve complex organisms whose genes cooperate rather than compete'.... Compact, dense, formidable yet accessible, this book exposes readers to the cutting edge in theoretical evolutionary biology."--Publishers Weekly
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