Book reviews
evolgen | November 20, 2006Massimo Pigliucci and Jonathan Kaplan have written a book on evolutionary theory. Check out Massimo's description on his blog. But it's not all masturbatory philosophy -- these guys understand the science. Here's Massimo describing their treatment of adaptive landscapes:
To make the story short (for the longer version you'll have to read the book), Jonathan and I claim that the idea was fraught with problems and inconsistencies from the beginning, and that it has now been radically modified by the work of a mathematical biologist named Sergey Gavrilets. Sergey actually showed that the…
scientificactivist | September 14, 2006Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future
by Jeff Goodell
Houghton Mifflin: 2006. 352 pages.Buy now! (Amazon)
Coal tends to inspire a few common images in our collective minds. Grizzled and hardened miners, working in deep, dark underground tunnels, piece by piece haul out the black feed needed to power the oversized, dirty, rumbling machines spewing out their noxious waste through tall smokestacks. In the process, these beasts power the rise of the world's up and coming superpower, the US.
Dirty. Dangerous. Imprecise. Big.... Old school.
In the Twenty-First Century…
evolgen | August 29, 2006The Panda's Thumb is compiling a chapter by chapter rebuttal of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design. This book is part of a series of shoddy academic endeavors that includes The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History; they could remove the word "politically" from the cover and capture a more accurate representation of the contents within. PZ Myers has posted his reply to the chapter on embryology here, and he points out:
"It really is a ghastly, badly done book, and unfortunately, while it only takes one dishonest fool to spin a lie, it takes a whole…
retrospectacle | August 21, 2006
It is truly a challenge to write both scientifically, informatively, and accessibly. However, Christiane Nusslein-Volhard is able to strike a remarkable balance in her new book on developmental biology, Coming to Life. She succinctly summarizes crucial discoveries and experiments in the field, spanning from Darwin and Mendel to very recent work in cloning and gene therapy. But, the book does not read like a laundry list of names, dates, and reagents. Rather, the book feels more like a journey through time and science, with Nusslein-Volhard as the guide, pointing out sights and sounds along…
evolgen | August 21, 2006During the early part of the twentieth century, biological research was somewhat disjointed. Naturalists studied organisms and populations in the wild; geneticists were working out the mechanisms of heredity; and other researchers were figuring out how animals develop from a fertilized egg to an adult. One important union occurred when the naturalists and geneticists came together to study the genetics of natural populations. This led to the field of population genetics, which is still providing us with insights into the mechanisms of evolution today. Another major advance occurred when…
scientificactivist | August 21, 2006Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development
by Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
Kales Press: 2006. 176 pages.Buy now! (Amazon)
If you examine yourself in the mirror, take a closer look at your favorite pet, or even contemplate that pesky fly that just won't leave you alone, it's difficult to not come away with a starry-eyed appreciation for life. With their overwhelming complexity and astonishing consistency, but seemingly endless diversity, these everyday animals are almost enough to make you believe in God. And, I don't just mean some vague modern spiritual presence. No, I'm talking about…