The Evidence for Evolution

Rogers, Alan R.

ISBN 10: 0226723828 / ISBN 13: 9780226723822

Published by University of Chicago Press, 2011

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Evidence for Evolution
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226723828
• ISBN 13: 9780226723822
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

According to polling data, most Americans doubt that evolution is a real phenomenon. And it’s no wonder that so many are skeptical: many of today’s biology courses and textbooks dwell on the mechanisms of evolution—natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow—but say little about the evidence that evolution happens at all. How do we know that species change? Has there really been enough time for evolution to operate?

With The Evidence for Evolution, Alan R. Rogers provides an elegant, straightforward text that details the evidence for evolution. Rogers covers different levels of evolution, from within-species changes, which are much less challenging to see and believe, to much larger ones, say, from fish to amphibian, or from land mammal to whale. For each case, he supplies numerous lines of evidence to illustrate the changes, including fossils, DNA, and radioactive isotopes. His comprehensive treatment stresses recent advances in knowledge but also recounts the give and take between skeptical scientists who first asked “how can we be sure” and then marshaled scientific evidence to attain certainty. The Evidence for Evolution is a valuable addition to the literature on evolution and will be essential to introductory courses in the life sciences.

About the Author

Alan R. Rogers is professor of anthropology and biology at the University of Utah.