The End Of Evolution

A finalist for a Los Angeles Times book award, this contagiously enthusiastic book eloquently recreates the dramatic history of life and its great extinctions, and issues an unprecedentedly compelling call to act to preserve our planet's biodiversity. Line art & photos.

Mikhail Gorbachev and Zdenek Mlynar were friends for half a century, since they first crossed paths as students in 1950. Although one was a Russian and the other a Czech, they were both ardent supporters of communism and socialism. One took part in laying the groundwork for and carrying out the Prague spring; the other opened a new political era in Soviet world politics. In 1993 they decided that their conversations might be of interest to others and so they began to tape-record them. This book is the product of that "thinking out loud" process. It is an absorbing record of two friends trying to explain to one another their views on the problems and events that determined their destinies. From reminiscences of their starry-eyed university days to reflections on the use of force to "save socialism" to contemplation of the end of the cold war, here is a far more candid picture of Gorbachev than we have ever seen before.

The human race: what exactly are we racing towards? Our desires are endless, and our actions in pursuit of their fulfillment are unsustainable, along with their consequences. Indeed many people today wonder about the survival of our species. To change the direction we're headed in, we need to take a new, critical look at the underlying beliefs that are steering us. The reason we see for our future is a natural extension of the reason we see for our past - i.e. our belief about how we got here. The End of Evolution? will inform and uplift your perspective on life, its evolution and purpose. In the words of one reviewer: "The End of Evolution? is a bold and captivating book that critically explores not only the topic of evolution, but also dogma in all its forms - including the dogmas of science and of religion. It is a book that, with tremendous clarity and charm, reveals the essential value of rational skepticism, particularly with regard to the theory of evolution. ... Through wise and poignant analogies, Lyons again and again eloquently disarms some of science's most sacred doctrines. Yet his open and unhostile voice welcomes readers of all backgrounds (I am myself an agnostic), and the curious reader who bares an open mind is rewarded on every page." The End of Evolution? questions today's most widely accepted belief with an open-minded rational appraisal of where we are, and where we are likely headed. Thomas Nagel, one of the world's foremost atheistic philosophers, recently lent serious credibility and relevance to precisely such questioning in his book: Mind & Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinist Conception is Almost Certainly False. The old out-of-hand dismissal of any anti-evolutionary stance as being but a religious promotion, no longer holds true. Many scientists and scholars now challenge this theory due to its own flaws and inadequacies without any reference to personal beliefs or ideologies. The End of Evolution? is free from the tired motive of hoping to establish some brand of religion by default. The current accepted 'truth' of how we all got here may be false. The purpose of this book is to reinvigorate the paths of scientific and philosophical enquiry. This will rejuvenate the general direction society is taking. The End of Evolution? promises to empower you, the reader. Written in an easy and non-technical style with many analogies and examples from nature, the subject becomes readily accessible and clear. It will extend you an opportunity, and an invitation, to think critically for yourself unburdened by either secular or religious dogmas.

A new vision is sweeping through ecological science: The dense web of dependencies that makes up an ecosystem has gained an added dimension-the dimension of time. Every field, forest, and park is full of living organisms adapted for relationships with creatures that are now extinct. In a vivid narrative, Connie Barlow shows how the idea of "missing partners" in nature evolved from isolated, curious examples into an idea that is transforming how ecologists understand the entire flora and fauna of the Americas. This fascinating book will enrich and deepen the experience of anyone who enjoys a stroll through the woods or even down an urban sidewalk. But this knowledge has a dark side too: Barlow's "ghost stories" teach us that the ripples of biodiversity loss around us now are just the leading edge of what may well become perilous cascades of extinction.

Where did we come from? It's a simple question, but not so simple an answer to explain—especially to young children. Charles Darwin's theory of common descent no longer needs to be a scientific mystery to inquisitive young readers. Meet Grandmother Fish. Told in an engaging call and response text where a child can wiggle like a fish or hoot like an ape and brought to life by vibrant artwork, Grandmother Fish takes children and adults through the history of life on our planet and explains how we are all connected. The book also includes comprehensive backmatter, including: - An elaborate illustration of the evolutionary tree of life - Helpful science notes for parents - How to explain natural selection to a child

Everyone wonders what tomorrow holds, but what will the real future look like? Not decades or even hundreds of years from now, but thousands or millions of years into the future. Will our species change radically? Or will we become builders of the next dominant intelligence on Earth- the machine? These and other seemingly fantastic scenarios are the very possible realities explored in Peter Ward's Future Evolution, a penetrating look at what might come next in the history of the planet. Looking to the past for clues about the future, Ward describes how the main catalyst for evolutionary change has historically been mass extinction. While many scientist direly predict that humanity will eventually create such a situation, Ward argues that one is already well underway--the extinction of large mammals--and that a new Age of Humanity is coming that will radically revise the diversity of life on Earth. Finally, Ward examines the question of human extinction and reaches the startling conclusion that the likeliest scenario is not our imminent demise but long term survival--perhaps reaching as far as the death of the Sun! Full of Alexis Rockman's breathtaking color images of what animals, plants and other organisms might look like thousands and millions of years from now, Future Evolution takes readers on an incredible journey through time from the deep past into the far future.

A major new book overturning our assumptions about how evolution works Earth’s natural history is full of fascinating instances of convergence: phenomena like eyes and wings and tree-climbing lizards that have evolved independently, multiple times. But evolutionary biologists also point out many examples of contingency, cases where the tiniest change—a random mutation or an ancient butterfly sneeze—caused evolution to take a completely different course. What role does each force really play in the constantly changing natural world? Are the plants and animals that exist today, and we humans ourselves, inevitabilities or evolutionary flukes? And what does that say about life on other planets? Jonathan Losos reveals what the latest breakthroughs in evolutionary biology can tell us about one of the greatest ongoing debates in science. He takes us around the globe to meet the researchers who are solving the deepest mysteries of life on Earth through their work in experimental evolutionary science. Losos himself is one of the leaders in this exciting new field, and he illustrates how experiments with guppies, fruit flies, bacteria, foxes, and field mice, along with his own work with anole lizards on Caribbean islands, are rewinding the tape of life to reveal just how rapid and predictable evolution can be. Improbable Destinies will change the way we think and talk about evolution. Losos's insights into natural selection and evolutionary change have far-reaching applications for protecting ecosystems, securing our food supply, and fighting off harmful viruses and bacteria. This compelling narrative offers a new understanding of ourselves and our role in the natural world and the cosmos.