Darwin's Apple

Darwin's Apple
Author: Mitchell Diamond
Publisher:
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2015-12-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780986338724

After tens of thousands of years, religion continues to be pervasive. A comprehensive cognitive theory of religion remains lacking as academics cannot agree if religion is an accidental byproduct or an evolved adaptation. Darwin's Apple proposes a new hypothesis for the origin and purpose of religion that finally explains how religion is adaptive and why it endures, even in our rational, modern society.

Darwin's Doubt

Darwin's Doubt
Author: Stephen C. Meyer
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 605
Release: 2013-06-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0062071491

When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the “Cambrian explosion,” many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been found, but because scientists have learned more about what it takes to construct an animal. During the last half century, biologists have come to appreciate the central importance of biological information—stored in DNA and elsewhere in cells—to building animal forms. Expanding on the compelling case he presented in his last book, Signature in the Cell, Meyer argues that the origin of this information, as well as other mysterious features of the Cambrian event, are best explained by intelligent design, rather than purely undirected evolutionary processes.

Darwin's Reach

Darwin's Reach
Author: Norman A. Johnson
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2021-12-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0429995474

The application of evolutionary biology addresses a wide range of practical problems in medicine, agriculture, the environment, and society. Such cutting-edge applications are emerging due to recent advances in DNA sequencing, new gene editing tools, and computational methods. This book is about applied evolution – the application of the principles of and information about evolutionary biology to diverse practical matters. Although applied evolution has existed, unrecognized, for a very long time, today’s version has a much wider scope. Evolutionary medicine has formed into its own discipline. Evolutionary approaches have long been employed in agriculture and in conservation biology. But Darwin’s reach now extends beyond just these three fields. It now also includes forensic biology and the law. Ideas from evolutionary biology can be used to inform policy regarding foreign affairs and national security. Applied evolution is not only interdisciplinary, but also multidisciplinary. Consequently, this book is for experts in one field who are interested in expanding their evolutionary horizons. It is also for students, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. One of the public relations challenges faced by evolutionary biology is that most people do not see it being all that relevant to their daily lives. Even many who accept evolution do not grasp how far Darwin’s reach extends. This book will change that perception. Key Features Emphasizes the expanding role evolutionary biology has in today’s world. Includes examples from medicine, law, agriculture, conservation, and even national security Summarizes new technologies and computational methods that originated as innovations based in part or whole on evolutionary theory. Current. Has extensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent topics. Documents the important role evolution plays in everyday life. Illustrates the broadly interdisciplinary nature of evolutionary theory. Resources The applications of evolutionary biology are far too numerous to include in just one book. Plus, new scientific findings emerge almost every day underscoring the central role evolution plays in our lives. The author has established a blog site to highlight these fascinating discoveries. Please visit https://darwinsreach.blog to be inspired by “... endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful [that] have been, and are being evolved.” (the last line of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species).

A Most Interesting Problem

A Most Interesting Problem
Author: Jeremy DeSilva
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2022-11-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0691242062

Leading scholars take stock of Darwin's ideas about human evolution in the light of modern science In 1871, Charles Darwin published The Descent of Man, a companion to Origin of Species in which he attempted to explain human evolution, a topic he called "the highest and most interesting problem for the naturalist." A Most Interesting Problem brings together twelve world-class scholars and science communicators to investigate what Darwin got right—and what he got wrong—about the origin, history, and biological variation of humans. Edited by Jeremy DeSilva and with an introduction by acclaimed Darwin biographer Janet Browne, A Most Interesting Problem draws on the latest discoveries in fields such as genetics, paleontology, bioarchaeology, anthropology, and primatology. This compelling and accessible book tackles the very subjects Darwin explores in Descent, including the evidence for human evolution, our place in the family tree, the origins of civilization, human races, and sex differences. A Most Interesting Problem is a testament to how scientific ideas are tested and how evidence helps to structure our narratives about human origins, showing how some of Darwin's ideas have withstood more than a century of scrutiny while others have not. A Most Interesting Problem features contributions by Janet Browne, Jeremy DeSilva, Holly Dunsworth, Agustín Fuentes, Ann Gibbons, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Brian Hare, John Hawks, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Kristina Killgrove, Alice Roberts, and Michael J. Ryan.

The Book That Changed America

The Book That Changed America
Author: Randall Fuller
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2018-01-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0143130099

A compelling portrait of a unique moment in American history when the ideas of Charles Darwin reshaped American notions about nature, religion, science and race “A lively and informative history.” – The New York Times Book Review Throughout its history America has been torn in two by debates over ideals and beliefs. Randall Fuller takes us back to one of those turning points, in 1860, with the story of the influence of Charles Darwin’s just-published On the Origin of Species on five American intellectuals, including Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, the child welfare reformer Charles Loring Brace, and the abolitionist Franklin Sanborn. Each of these figures seized on the book’s assertion of a common ancestry for all creatures as a powerful argument against slavery, one that helped provide scientific credibility to the cause of abolition. Darwin’s depiction of constant struggle and endless competition described America on the brink of civil war. But some had difficulty aligning the new theory to their religious convictions and their faith in a higher power. Thoreau, perhaps the most profoundly affected all, absorbed Darwin’s views into his mysterious final work on species migration and the interconnectedness of all living things. Creating a rich tableau of nineteenth-century American intellectual culture, as well as providing a fascinating biography of perhaps the single most important idea of that time, The Book That Changed America is also an account of issues and concerns still with us today, including racism and the enduring conflict between science and religion.

Mac OS X for Unix Geeks

Mac OS X for Unix Geeks
Author: Brian Jepson
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2002-09-30
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1449315348

If you're one of the many Unix developers drawn to Mac OS X for its BSD core, you'll find yourself in surprisingly unfamiliar territory. Even if you're an experienced Mac user, Mac OS X is unlike earlier Macs, and it's radically different from the Unix you've used before, too.Enter "Mac OS X for Unix Geeks" by Brian Jepson and Ernest E. Rothman, two Unix geeks who found themselves in the same place you are. Their new book is your guide to figuring out the BSD Unix system and Mac-specific components that are making your life difficult and to help ease you into the Unix inside Mac OS X. This concise book includes such topics as: A quick overview of the Terminal application Understanding Open Directory (LDAP) and NetInfo Issues related to using the GNU C Compiler 9GCC Library linking and porting Unix software An overview of Mac OS X?s filesystem and startup processes Creating and installing packages using Fink Building the Darwin kernel Running X Windows on top of Mac OS X The book wraps up with a quick manpage-style reference to the "Missing Manual Pages"--commands that come with Mac OS X although there are no manpages.If you find yourself disoriented by the new Mac environment, Mac OS X for Unix Geeks can help you acclimate yourself quickly to the familiar, yet foreign, Unix landscape.

Mac OS X

Mac OS X
Author: Joe Zobkiw
Publisher: Sams Publishing
Total Pages: 458
Release: 2003
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780672325267

Apple's Mac OS X operating system marries the power of Unix with the elegance of the Macintosh user interface. By harnessing the advanced features of Unix at its core, Mac OS X arguably becomes the most powerful consumer operating system available today. With its Aqua user interface implementation, Mac OS X also provides a unique and approachable experience for the user. Mac OS X also includes a complete suite of free development tools from Apple and third parties that allow programmers to create applications in Objective-C, C++, Java, Perl, PHP, and other languages. Mac OS X Advanced Development Techniques provides intermediate to advanced software developers with a collection of useful programming projects and techniques. Each project chapter contains complete source code and detailed explanations to help give developers an edge. Examples include applications, Coca and Carbon plug-ins, frameworks, system services, preference panes, status items, threads, XML-RPC, SOAP and more. No matter what type of software a developer may be tasked to create, Mac OS X Advanced Development Techniques helps get it done. Book jacket.

The Magic of Reality

The Magic of Reality
Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2012-09-11
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1451675046

The author addresses key scientific questions previously explained by rich mythologies, from the evolution of the first humans and the life cycle of stars to the principles of a rainbow and the origins of the universe.

Charles Darwin's Letters

Charles Darwin's Letters
Author: Charles Darwin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 1998-09-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780521566773

Charles Darwin stands as an icon in the history of science; a man who completely changed the direction of modern thought by establishing the basis of evolutionary biology. These letters offer a fascinating window onto the scientific observations, personal concerns and friendships of a great thinker, affording a unique glimpse of Darwin as both naturalist and family man. From his early years at Edinburgh University up to the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859, the letters in this volume chart the most exciting years of Darwin's life.