George Gaylord Simpson

Focusing on Simpson's scientific contributions, Laporte provides chapters on Simpson's earliest paleontological research through his distinguished Alexander Agassiz professorship at Harvard and his extensive fieldwork for the American Museum of Natural History, where he developed the core themes set forth in his most prestigious work, "Tempo and Mode in Evolution"

A world-famous scientist presents a synthesis of modern views on the principles of evolution. The result of twenty-five years of research, The Meaning of Evolution follows the rise and fall of the dynasties of life through the 2,000,000,000 years of the history of earth. It explains what forces have been acting to bring about evolution and re-examines human aims, values, and duties in the light of what science discloses of the nature of man and of his place in the history of life. The clearest and soundest exposition of the nature of the evolutionary process that has yet been written...The book may be read with equal profit and pleasure by the general reader, the student, and the expert.-Ashley Montagu, Isis This book is, without question, the best general work on the meaning of evolution to appear in our time.-The New York Times

This classic focuses on the gathering, handling, and interpretation of numerical data from zoological investigations. Contents include types and properties of numerical data, mensuration, frequency distributions and grouping, patterns of frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion and variability, populations and samples, and probability. "Excellent." — Florida Scientist.

"Notes and references": pages 286-302.

Explains biology, in detail, from atoms to human populations, in an easy-to-read format. Also develops historical backgrounds of concepts and contains end-of-chapter summaries.

About paleontology, the study of fossils.