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"Darwin and Modern Science" is a comprehensive book written by a team of experts, including A.C. Seward, on the impact of Darwin's theories on modern scientific research. The book covers a wide range of topics related to evolution, including genetics, paleontology, biogeography, and ecology, to name a few. The book begins with an overview of Darwin's life and work, including his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle and the development of his theory of natural selection. The subsequent chapters delve into the various fields of study that have been influenced by Darwin's work, with each chapter written by a different expert in that field. The authors explore how Darwin's ideas have shaped our understanding of genetics and heredity, and how they have contributed to the development of the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory. They also examine the role of fossils in the study of evolution, the impact of Darwin's theories on biogeography and the distribution of species around the world, and the ways in which evolution has influenced our understanding of ecology and the natural world.
First published in 1943, this was the last book of the eminent botanist and geologist Sir Albert Seward, who completed the manuscript three days before his death in 1941. The book was intended to be a useful and simply worded guide to geology for the general reader. Seward wished to emphasise the attraction which an understanding of geology could afford to anyone who enjoys a walk over the countryside. After a preliminary survey of the essentials of geology, the book then proceeds as a series of journeys through the British Isles, bringing the geological history and features of various regions under review.
Often regarded as the 'Cinderella' of palaeontological studies, palaeobotany has a history that contains some fascinating insights into scientific endeavour, especially by palaeontologists who were perusing a personal interest rather than a career. The problems of maintaining research facilities in universities, especially in the modern era, are described and reveal a noticeable absence of a national UK strategy to preserve centres of excellence in an avowedly specialist area. Accounts of some of the pioneers demonstrate the importance of collaboration between taxonomists and illustrators. The importance of palaeobotany in the rise of geoconservation is outlined, as well as the significant and influential role of women in the discipline. Although this volume has a predominantly UK focus, two very interesting studies outline the history of palaeobotanical work in Argentina and China.
One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. ...
Offers a practical guide for the non-specialist on studying and learning from plant fossils to understand the evolution of vegetation on Earth.
The Paleobiological Revolution chronicles the incredible ascendance of the once-maligned science of paleontology to the vanguard of a field. With the establishment of the modern synthesis in the 1940s and the pioneering work of George Gaylord Simpson, Ernst Mayr, and Theodosius Dobzhansky, as well as the subsequent efforts of Stephen Jay Gould, David Raup, and James Valentine, paleontology became embedded in biology and emerged as paleobiology, a first-rate discipline central to evolutionary studies. Pairing contributions from some of the leading actors of the transformation with overviews from historians and philosophers of science, the essays here capture the excitement of the seismic changes in the discipline. In so doing, David Sepkoski and Michael Ruse harness the energy of the past to call for further study of the conceptual development of modern paleobiology.
Donald Wiebe, Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Trinity College, University of Toronto, has spent much of his academic career arguing for a clear demarcation between Theology and Religious Studies. The Science of Religion: A Defence offers a brilliant overview of Professor Wiebe's contributions on methodology in the academic study of religion, of the development of his thinking over time, and of his intellectual commitment to 'a science of religion'. The work is divided into three parts. The first part identifies pertinent connections between 'religion', 'religious studies', and 'science' and why 'reductionism' in the academic study of religion, when properly applied, can bridge the exp...
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