e-branch
Login
My List - 0
Help
Home
My Account/Renew Loans
Community Info
KidSearch
New Catalogue!
Search
Advanced
By Format
By Number
My Searches
Can't Find it?
Find Magazine Articles & more
Problems?
Search:
Call Number
Item Barcode
Bib Number
ISBN/ISSN
Refine Search
> You're searching:
Halifax Public Libraries
Item Information
Copy / Holding Information
Booklist Review
Publisher Weekly Review
Table of Contents
More Content
More by this author
Losos, Jonathan B.
Subjects
Evolution (Biology)
Natural selection.
Mutation (Biology)
Browse Catalog
by author:
Losos, Jonathan B.
by title:
Improbable destinies...
by call number:
576.8 L881i
Search the Web
Losos, Jonathan B.
Evolution (Biology)
Natural selection.
Mutation (Biology)
MARC Display
Improbable destinies : fate, chance, and the future of evolution / Jonathan B. Losos ; illustrated by Marlin Peterson.
by
Losos, Jonathan B.
Riverhead Books, 2017.
Call #:
576
.8
L881i
Subjects
Evolution (Biology)
Natural selection.
Mutation (Biology)
ISBN:
9780399184925 (hc.)
Description:
xv, 368 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-353) and index.
Contents:
Introduction: The good dinosaur -- Part one: Nature's doppelgängers. Evolutionary déjà vu ; Replicated reptiles ; Evolutionary idiosyncrasy -- Part two: Experiments in the wild. The not-so-glacial pace of evolutionary change ; Colorful Trinidad ; Lizard castaways ; From manure to modern science ; Evolution in swimming pools and sandboxes -- Part three: Evolution under the microscope. Replaying the tape ; Breakthrough in a bottle ; Jots, tittles, and drunken fruit flies ; The human environment ; Conclusion: Fate, chance, and the inevitability of humans.
Summary:
A Harvard museum curator draws on the latest breakthroughs in evolutionary biology to examine how tiny, random convergences, from mutations to butterfly sneezes, have triggered remarkable evolutionary changes.
"Earth's natural history is full of fascinating instances of convergence: phenomena like eyes and wings and tree-climbing lizards that have evolved independently, multiple times. But evolutionary biologists also point out many examples of contingency, cases where the tiniest change--a random mutation or an ancient butterfly sneeze--caused evolution to take a completely different course. What role does each force really play in the constantly changing natural world? Are the plants and animals that exist today, and we humans ourselves, inevitabilities or evolutionary flukes? And what does that say about life on other planets? Jonathan Losos reveals what the latest breakthroughs in evolutionary biology can tell us about one of the greatest ongoing debates in science. He takes us around the globe to meet the researchers who are solving the deepest mysteries of life on Earth through their work in experimental evolutionary science. Losos himself is one of the leaders in this exciting new field, and he illustrates how experiments with guppies, fruit flies, bacteria, foxes, and field mice, along with his own work with anole lizards on Caribbean islands, are rewinding the tape of life to reveal just how rapid and predictable evolution can be. Improbable Destinies will change the way we think and talk about evolution. Losos's insights into natural selection and evolutionary change have far-reaching applications for protecting ecosystems, securing our food supply, and fighting off harmful viruses and bacteria. This compelling narrative offers a new understanding of ourselves and our role in the natural world and the cosmos."--Jacket.
Holds:
0
Copy/Holding information
Location
Collection
Call No.
Item type
Status
Due Date
Alderney Gate Public Library
Adult Nonfiction
576.8 L881i
Adult books
Checked in
Add Copy to MyList
Central Library
Adult Nonfiction
576.8 L881i
Adult books
Checked in
Add Copy to MyList
Cole Harbour Public Library
Adult Nonfiction
576.8 L881i
Adult books
Checked out
Jul 17, 2024
Add Copy to MyList
Horizon Information Portal 3.24_8902M
© 2001-2013
SirsiDynix
All rights reserved.