Author: Geerat J. Vermeij File Type: pdf One of the master naturalists of our time (American Scientist) revealshow evolutionary theory explainsand affects not just the natural world butour society---and its future.Evolution has outgrown its original home in biology and geology. The Evolutionary World showshow evolution---descent with modification---is a concept that organizes, explains, and predicts a multitude of unconnected facts and phenomena. Adaptation plays a role not only in the development of new species but the development of human civilization. By understanding how evolutionary theory has played out inareas such as our economic system, our preparation for catastrophes, and even the development of communities, we can learn not just how these systems work but also what challengeslie ahead.Blind since the age of three, Dr. Geerat J. Vermeij has become renowned for his unique abilities to recognize details in the natural world that other scientists would never have noticed.In this book, he presents a new argument for evolutions broaderimportance. He explores similarities between genomes and languages, the contrasting natural economies of islands and continents, the emergence and importance of human values, the long-range consequences of global warming, and the perils of monopoly.He also shows thatthe lessons of evolution haveimplications for education, our system of laws, and economic growth.The Evolutionary Worldmakes a fascinating argument about the broad-reaching impact and importance of evolution. It offers a way for us to understand and work with evolutions principles so that we can devise better solutions for our own lives, society, and the environment around us.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Combining superb writing with first rate science, Vermeij, a UC-Davis geologist and MacArthur fellow, explores the intricacies of evolution in a way that show how understanding its mechanisms and consequences yields an emotionally satisfying, esthetically pleasing, and deeply meaningful worldview in which the human condition is bathed in a new light. He focuses on the importance of adaptation, how organisms interact with their environment, and examines the ways that both are altered. Making liberal use of his expertise in natural history, he supports his arguments with thoroughly engaging examples from ecosystems around the globe. Vermeij also redefines the longstanding question of nature vs. nurture so as to make it more accessible to future investigation by asking In which circumstances does genetic determination become so rigid that environmental influences on variation wane?Had Vermeij stopped here, he would have written a wonderful book. He goes on, though, using the concept of adaptation in natural systems to discuss how these principles influence all aspects of human society, from religion to morality. This fabulous book deserves widespread attention by specialists and lay readers alike. (Dec.) (c) PWxyz, LLC. From BooklistVermeijs first scientific love was for seashells. That led him marine biology to paleontology and, eventually, to the profession of geology, the discipline that, through Lyells influence on Darwin, midwifed evolution and remains critical to demonstrating that evolution is the correct mode of thinking about the development of life. In each of 13 chapters, Vermeij takes an aspect of the theory of evolution through adaptation and discusses how the physical evidence ascertained by science verifies the theory. Of course, this involves a lot of particulars about different creatures in different circumstances, all of which his congenial instructive tone and clear exposition make an absorbing joy to read. In each chapter, he also states how the aspect of adaptation at hand can be seen in human development, from the phenotype to civilization. He says his aim is to convince us that no supernatural agency is necessary to the development of life. But hes no philosopher and misses that mark completely. As an explicator of evolution, however, hes first class. --Ray Olson