Animals and Evolution Books

Great book at giving the readers dynamic information not just about marine mammals, but also their systematic relationships. It is inclusive of both fossil and extant taxa. Covers most aspects of pinniped, cetacea, and sirenian biology. It is highly understandable to the novice of phylogenetic systematics.

Having read this book You are fully updated on the melanism phenomenom. It gives a very detailed and refreshing critical orientation on melanism among butterflies and especially the critical review on the classical peppered moth story is very interesting and informative for both laymen and scientists. And in addition a chapter on what is known about melanism among ladybirds is included giving the most comprehensive information available to day. After reading it You know a lot more about evolution in action just outside Your door!

I used this book in a course by the same name and it was a helpful source to read. It gives good explanations that sometimes are a little too short. I still use this book and it is a great place to jump off from when trying to understand a topic. One problem is that somtimes it gets too much into the biochemical steps and falls away from the concepts of the pathway. But all in all, it is a helpful book if this is your field or if you want to start and understand bacteria from a entire bacteria level and not just one gene at a time. The parts on genetics and genetic regulation of systems (focusing on transcriptional regulation) are also great. It is due for an update though.

An excellent historical overview of the interwoven, complex, conflicting, and quite frequently complementary influences of Darwin and Marx on the social sciences. I'd rate this as a "must read" for any social scientist interested in the cultural history of the "nature" concept, or for those interested in learning more about the fascinating points of contact between the respective philosophies of Marx and Darwin.

This is a good reference book for those with a strong background in biology who are interested in primates. The essays are well organized and color photos in the center provide easy reference to some species. However, the language can be difficult to understand. I would not recommend it for someone who is looking for lite reading

Excellent book for people working on the interface of behavior and ethology. It gives very good info on how to do experiments and observing.

There isn't too much to say, except that this is a great book. The artistic depictions are by turns evocative and poignant (Who can look at the pair of emaciated Apatosaurs without wincing?), and the text is well-written, occasionally poetic, even. However, I can't quite recommend it for beginners; the book's general focus is actually more on paleoecology and geology than dinosaurs proper, which may make it slow-going for neophytes. Nevertheless, for people who consider themselves to be at the intermediate level and up, I think it's a great choice.

All too often reefs have been described as merely geological phenomena. In her book, Rachel Wood takes a different approached missing for a long time: she treats reefs mainly from the biological perspective, i.e. as phenomena with biological intercations in its ecological community. Appropriate space is devoted to the discussion of reef-builder ecology (clonality vs. modularity), predators, herbivores, and symbionts.

Part I of the book rather briefly (90 pp.) deals with reefs in Earth history and excessively (30 pp.) discussions the effects of mass extinctions on reefs. This chapter is oriented mainly at major episodes of constructor consortia blooms, whereas times of reduced reef growth do not receive much attention (although the discussion of the reasons for this reduction seem at least as interesting). Part II of the volume (40 pp.) is concerned with environmental controls of reef growth and does not provide much new information; nonetheless, these issues need to be mentioned within the given scope. Part III certainly is the most interesting and supplies the reader with several new interpretations of biological interactions in reefs: Growth form and autecology of reef builders are seen in close correlation; the role of biological disturbance is discussed at length; the origins and consequences of photosymbiosis are treated as well as the means and ways of competition among reef organisms. With its 150 pages, this chapter is the most rewarding and well justifies buying this book.

A few criticisms have to be raised, however. The contents are skewed towards the author's favourite subject (Archaeocyatha); the importance of bioerosion is not stressed adequately and remains rather sketchy; the geological time-scale used is a little outdated; and the ethymologically incorrect form "microbialite" (instead of microbolite) is used throughout.

Nonetheless, the text is very well-structured and arranged logically, with meaningful headings providing rapid orientation. An index further contributes to the easy access. Up-to-date references and a glossary for the non-specialist are additional positive features. All in all, this volume is well worth reading from the first to the last page for everyone interested in this fascinating facet of biological and physical interaction. Compulsory for the palaeontology teacher, and at least every library focussing on Earth Sciences should have it available!

M. Bertling

When he was very young, my son continually begged me to teach him to dive. Once I considered him old enough, he got that training and went on to be come a very good diver. In the meantime, however, he was always very frustrated and disappointed. All I could do was discuss it with him and buy him books similar to this one.

Aimed at the younger reader - though not too young, this book explains all about the Shark and does so under a series heading of "Great Creatures of the World." I was delighted to see this magnificent and much maligned fish given such status alongside other equally magnificent creatures in the same series.

Some excellent photographs and diagrams - but most of all, this is a book from which the younger generation will learn something positive and I fully recommend it.

NM

This textbook provides a good overview of social evolution. It is written in simple, easy-to-understand language and is accessable to most readers. However, there are some topics covered (with accompanying photographs) which may shock or offend some readers--many experiments have been conducted on animals to provide the information covered in this book and some of them are not pleasant to read about.