Evolutionary biology has witnessed breathtaking advances over the years. This book describes the advances and explains why a cross-disciplinary and integrated approach to research questions is so essential. It discusses the origins of biological diversity, and mechanisms of evolutionary change at the molecular and developmental levels.
"In Search of the Causes of Evolution offers a bountiful sampler of what is going on in evolutionary research. Darwin's finches, which for three decades engaged Peter and Rosemary Grant's research, are there, and much, much more--all written by accomplished specialists. There is much to learn and much to enjoy in this wonderful, and at times riveting, book."--Francisco J. Ayala, author of Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion
"These accessible and informative essays span the range of evolution, from its historical and environmental context to the nature of adaptation itself and the generation of biological diversity. Peter and Rosemary Grant have assembled a stellar cast of authors who, through their own work, pay tribute to the Grants' decades of research on Darwin's finches. Anyone wishing a thoroughly modern and readable account of evolution should start here."--Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri, St. Louis
"The Grants' gift to evolutionary biology--the characterization of evolution in action in the Galápagos finches--was enough to define extraordinary careers. Here they extend their reach by depicting the study of evolution as a process of discovery that spans levels of organization ranging from individual genes to development, adaptation, speciation, and even the origin and deep history of life. The contributors span generations of investigators who are among our best and brightest."--David Reznick, University of California, Riverside
"Rosemary and Peter Grant have pursued a monumental search for the causes of evolution in the behavior, morphology, ecology, and genetics of Darwin's finches. Here they extend that search as editors of seventeen contributions, a set of major statements by leaders in the fields of biology touched by their own work. This is a connoisseurs' collection of selected readings in modern evolutionary biology, molded into a synthesis by the eloquent commentaries of the Grants themselves."--Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
"This is an important contributory book, which synthesizes the classical concepts of organic evolution with recent findings and developments in the field of Evolutionary Biology."
---K. K. Verma, Bionotes
