| Author: |
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George Gaylord Simpson
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| Title: |
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Fossils and the History of Life |
| Moochable copies: |
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No copies available |
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| Topics: |
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| Published in: |
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English |
| Binding: |
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Hardcover |
| Pages: |
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239 |
| Date: |
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1983-06-01 |
| ISBN: |
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0716715643 |
| Publisher: |
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Scientific American Books - W. H. Freeman & Co. |
| Weight: |
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2.2 pounds |
| Size: |
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8.8 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches |
| Edition: |
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1st |
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| Description: |
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Product Description
1983, Scientific American Books, NY. Publisher's Scientific American Library series. Hardcover title, 239 pages.
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| Reviews: |
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Debra (USA: OR) (2009/05/09):
Description:
When Charles Darwin published in 1859 his great work "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection..." he had no way to account for variations in the living forms cast up to the selection process. Evolution did not become the comprehensive generalization of the life sciences until nearly mid-20th century. It was then that the theory incorporated new understanding from genetics and paleontology to further knowledge of the history of life.
One of the architects of this modern synthesis is paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson. From the rich and diverse world-wide fossil record as now known, much of it unearthed and studied by Simpson, he has shown how evolution has brought about the enormous numbers of different kinds of organisms, past and present.
In 'Fossils and the History of Life', Simpson establishes the nature-and the true splendor- of the solid evidence upon which much of the theory and the facts of evolution rest. Simpson declares: "The primary record of the history of life is written in the successive strata of rocks as in the pages of a book. Fossils may be called the writing on those pages. Traces of organisms living at successive geological times, they represent once living things and should be seen as such. They must be put in their sequence in time. They were influenced by and bear witness to geographic and geological changes on the earth. They are basic materials for the study of organic evolution. Their study combines historical geology and historical biology into one great synthesis."
In his life work and in this book Simpson presents a picture of evolution very different from that of "nature red in tooth and claw" celebrated in the first crude popularizations of Darwinian evolution and persistent still in the popular imagination.
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| URL: |
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http://bookmooch.com/0716715643 |
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