Evolution!: Facts and Fallacies

The proceedings of the March 1997 symposium on Evolution! Facts and Fallacies are published in this short, accessible, and profusely-illustrated text. When Darwin originated his concept of descent with modification by means of natural selection, evolution became the instant focus of uncertainty and debate. In Evolution! noted experts sort facts from fallacies by answering questions most often asked of Darwin's grand theory. Interwoven throughout is the broad theme of how science is done and the answer to the most crucial question of all: How can we be sure that science will uncover the truth? Contributors are key experts on evolution and extraterrestrial life. Written at an easily understandable level, this book is accessible as well as entertaining to the general reader, high school, and college student.


* How does evolution work and how do we discover its rules?
* How can life's history be traced through millions and billions of years?
* Where are evolution's "missing links" and how do we hunt them down?
* Are we alone, or is the Cosmos teeming with life?

J. William Schopf is a member of the UCLA Department of Earth and Space Sciences, the Molecular Biology Institute, and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is a Professor and Director of the IGPP Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life. Schopf was an undergraduate geology major at Oberlin College, Ohio, and in 1968 he received his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University. He is a recipient of medals from the U.S. National Science Board, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life. He received national book prizes for two edited volumes, an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, and two Guggenheim Fellowships. Schopf is the discoverer of the oldest fossil organisms known and has carried out geological studies in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America.