Selection: The Mechanism of Evolution

Thisbookhasbeenwritten tomake a pointand tofulfill a need. Thepoint is that the importance and the distinctiveness of the process of selection have been undervalued by most biologists. There is, consequently, the need for a book that describes the principles of selection in a simple but reasonably comprehensive way. Selection Is a Distinct Kind ofProcess Although we are now well into the second century of Darwinism, the theorythatDarwinand Wallaceannouncedin 1858hasnotyetmademuch progress beyond a small coterie of professional biologists. The reason is thatit isjarringlyunfamiliar toournormalexperienceofhow things come to be. Few ofus would be able to design a light bulb or a lathe, still fewer the computerand itsattendant softwarewithwhich this sentence is being written. But we all have a clear idea of what is meant by "design", and we readily, too readily, transfer this notion to the natural world. A light bulb or a lathe are prefigured in the mind, and constructed according to a plan. It is entirely reasonable to assume that beetles and daisies must be constructed after the same fashion, especially because they are much morecomplicatedthananythingthathumaningenuityhassofarmanaged to devise. There is, however, a second route to complex organization, throughtheselectionofrandomvariantsthatpropagatenearlyexactcopies ofthemselves. Itisofverylittleconsequenceinourdailylives, becauseifis somuchmorelaboriousandexpensivethandeliberatedesign. However, it isanotherwayofconstructingthings. Indeed, sofarasIknow, itistheonly other way of constructing things that we have ever been able to imagine.

The history and diversity of life on earth are testimony to evolutionary processes that extend back to the dawn of time. The agent of change and diversification is natural selection acting over long periods of time. We might, however, ask how a process so simple can give rise to the intricate and complex organization of living things, and might wonder how a process so long-drawn-out can be studied at all. These questions can be answered by recognizing that selection is a distinctive kind of process whose apparent simplicity can lead to very surprising outcomes. For the first time, this book brings together the work of laboratories throughout the world, showing how experimental evolution provides a solid foundation for our understanding of the living world. Selection: The Mechanism of Evolution offers both organismal and molecular biologists and professionals in a wide range of biological disciplines an exciting single-source reference that provides extensive documentation of the experimental basis of our understanding of selection. This book is also an important reference for university professors and graduate students doing research in evolution, evolutionary and ecological genetics, biology, zoology, botany and genetics.