Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution (Oxford Biology) - Softcover

Sherratt, Thomas N.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199548617 ISBN 13: 9780199548613

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 2009

Synopsis

Why do we age? Why cooperate? Why do so many species engage in sex? Why do the tropics have so many species? When did humans start to affect world climate?

This book provides an introduction to a range of fundamental questions that have taxed evolutionary biologists and ecologists for decades. Some of the phenomena discussed are, on first reflection, simply puzzling to understand from an evolutionary perspective, whilst others have direct implications for the future of the planet. All of the questions posed have at least a partial solution, all have seen exciting breakthroughs in recent years, yet many of the explanations continue to be hotly debated.

Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution is a curiosity-driven book, written in an accessible way so as to appeal to a broad audience. It is very deliberately not a formal text book, but something designed to transmit the excitement and breadth of the field by discussing a number of major questions in ecology and evolution and how they have been answered. This is a book aimed at informing and inspiring anybody with an interest in ecology and evolution. It reveals to the reader the immense scope of the field, its fundamental importance, and the exciting breakthroughs that have been made in recent years.

About this title

About the Author:

Prof. Tom Sherratt has authored and co-authored over 90 scientific publications in evolution and ecology, including several papers in Nature. Co-author of an earlier book for Oxford University Press on anti-predator defence, and an Associate Editor of The American Naturalist, Tom has a wide range of teaching and research interests, especially in entomology and evolutionary theory.

Dr. Dave Wilkinson has authored and co-authored over 80 scientific publications in biology, environmental science, archaeology and the history of science. He authored a previous award winning book for Oxford University Press, Fundamental Processes in Ecology; an Earth systems approach. He has wide research and teaching interests in biology and environmental sciences.

Books by the Same Authors:
Fundamental Processes in Ecology: An Earth Systems Approach, Duel Editions |a David M. Wilkinson
Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry, Duel Editions |a Graeme D. Ruxton, Tom N. Sherratt and Mike Speed

Review:

"It is perhaps both frustrating and fascinating that long-standing questions -- such as Why Sex?, Why Do We Age?, Why Cooperate?, Why is the World Green?, and Why are the Tropics so Diverse? -- do not have completely solid answers But clearly much has been learned in the attempts to pin these questions down and lay them open to empirical attack. This feeling comes through in this book by Thomas Sherratt and David Wilkinson. They do a brilliant job. The authors show a special gift for getting directly to the crux of the conceptual biscuit, and then walking their readers through the theoretical and empirical nuances."--The Quarterly Review of Biology

"The serious fun of Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution comes from considering the child-like "why?" Unlike the average responses to question posed by children, here Sherratt and Wilkinson offer answers as good as science currently can deliver. The chapters on topics with which I was familiar I found well written, and those I knew nothing about beforehand were eye-opening."--Science

"Paul Colinvaux's 1978 book Why Big Fierce Animals are Rare was the inspiration for this book. The authors have not tried to write an update of Colinvaux's book but rather to follow its example of asking current big questions but on a wider topic - including evolutionary ecology. And the answer is that there is no simple over-arching answer; an important lesson for students to learn - that evological and evolutionary answers are often not clear-cut and it is about weighing up which factors have what effect. Not a light read but well worth spending time with."--Bulletin of the British Ecological Society

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0199548617
• ISBN 13: 9780199548613
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312