Why Evolution Is True (42 page)

Gibbons, A. 2006.
The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors.
Doubleday, New York. A fine account of recent discoveries in paleoanthropology, dealing not only with the science but also with the strong, competitive personalities involved in the search for our origins.

Gould, S. J. 2007.
The Richness of Life:
The
Essential Stephen Jay Gould
(S. Rose, ed.). W. W. Norton, New York. This one book must stand for many, as all of Gould’s books and essays are worth reading. This posthumous collection includes forty-four essays by the most eloquent exponent and defender of evolution.

Johanson, D., and B. Edgar. 2006.
From Lucy to Language
(rev. ed.). Simon & Schuster, New York. Perhaps the best general account of human evolution in nearly all its aspects, written by one of the finders of the “Lucy” specimen
of Australopithecus afarensis.

Kitcher, P. 1987.
Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature.
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. A clear and strongly argued critique of sociobiology.

Mayr, E. 2002.
What Evolution Is.
Basic Books, New York. A popular summary of modern evolutionary theory by one of the greatest evolutionary biologists of our time.

Mindell, David. 2007.
The Evolving World: Evolution in Everyday Life.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. A discussion of the practical value of evolutionary biology, including its applications in agriculture and medicine.

Pinker, S. 2002.
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature.
Viking, New York. A readable and forceful argument for the “nurture” side of the nature-versus-nurture debate.

Prothero, D. R. 2007.
Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters.
Columbia University Press, New York. The best popular treatment of the fossil record, this includes extensive discussion of fossil evidence for evolution, including transitional forms, and a critique of how creationists distort that evidence.

Quammen, D. 1997.
The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction.
Scribner’s, New York. An absorbing discussion of many aspects of island biogeography, including its history, modern theory, and implications for conservation.

Shubin, N. 2008.
Your Inner Fish.
Pantheon, New York. A highly readable description of how our ancestry has affected the human body. Written by one of the discoverers of the transitional “fishapod” Tiktaalik roseae.

Zimmer, C. 1999.
At the Water’s Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea.
Free Press, New York. One of our premier science journalists describes two major transitions in vertebrate evolution: the evolution of terrestrial animals from fish, and the evolution of whales from hoofed mammals.

———. 2001.
Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea.
Harper Perennial, New York. A general treatment of evolutionary biology written to accompany the Public Broadcasting System’s televised series on evolution. It is introductory but comprehensive, covering not just the theory and evidence for evolution, but also its philosophical and theological implications.

———. 2005.
Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins.
HarperCollins, New York. A well-illustrated account of human evolution, including both the fossil record and recent discoveries from molecular genetics.

With the exception of some articles in Pennock (2001), I omit references to the writings of creationists and advocates of intelligent design (ID), for their arguments are based on religion rather than science. Eugenie Scott’s
Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction
describes the various incarnations of creationism, including ID. Those wishing to hear the antievolution side should consult the books of Michael Behe, William Dembski, Phillip Johnson, and Jonathan Wells.

Coyne, J. A. 2005. The faith that dares not speak its name: The case against intelligent design.
New Republic,
August 22, 2005, pp. 21-33. A short summary of ID and a review of its public school textbook, Of Pandas
and
People.

Forrest, B., and P. R. Gross. 2007.
Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design.
Oxford University Press, New York. A comprehensive analysis and critique of intelligent design.

Futuyma, D. J. 1995.
Science on Trial: The Case for Evolution,
Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. A brief summary of the evidence for evolution, as well as a summary of evolutionary theory and answers to some common creationist arguments.

Humes, E. 2007.
Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul.
Ecco (HarperCollins), New York. An account of the attempt of intelligent design advocates to insert their ideas into a public school curriculum in Dover, Pennsylvania, and of the subsequent trial that branded intelligent design “not science.”

Isaak, M. 2007.
The Counter- Creationism Handbook.
University of California Press, Berkeley. In this useful guide, Isaak briefly presents and refutes hundreds of creationist and intelligent design arguments.

Kitcher, P. J. 2006.
Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith.
Oxford University Press, New York. A spirited defense of Darwinism and suggestions about how it might be reconciled with people’s spiritual needs.

Larson, E. J. 1998.
Summer for the Gods.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. This highly readable account of the Scopes Trial, the first incursion of Darwinism into American courts, corrects many popular misconceptions about the “Monkey Trial.” The book won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in history.

Miller, K. R. 2000.
Finding Darwin’s God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution.
Harper Perennial, New York. An eminent biologist, textbook author, and observant Catholic, Miller decisively refutes arguments for intelligent design and then discusses how he reconciles the fact of evolution with his religious belief.

———. 2008.
Only a Theory: Evolution and
the
Battle for America’s Soul.
Viking, New York. An updated critique of intelligent design that not only addresses the “irreducible complexity” argument, but also shows why ID poses a serious threat to science education in America.

National Academy of Sciences. 2008.
Science, Evolution, and Creationism.
National Academies Press, Washington, DC. A position paper by America’s most prestigious group of scientists, criticizing creationism and laying out the evidence for evolution. It can be downloaded for free at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog
. php?record_id=11876.

Pennock, R. T. 1999.
Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism.
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Perhaps the most thorough analysis and debunking of creationism, particularly its new incarnation as intelligent design.

———(ed.). 2001.
Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Iheological, and
Scientific Perspectives. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Essays by proponents as well as opponents of evolution, with some provocative back-and-forth arguments.

Petto, A. J., and L. R. Godfrey (eds.). 2007.
Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism.
W. W. Norton, New York. A series of essays by scientists on paleontology, geology, and other aspects of evolutionary theory that bear on the evolution-creation controversy, as well as discussions of the sociology of the controversy.

Scott, E. C. 2005.
Evolution
vs.
Creationism: An Introduction.
University of California Press, Berkeley. A dispassionate description of what evolution and creationism really are.

Scott, E. C., and G. Branch. 2006.
Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools.
Beacon Press, Boston. A series of essays on the scientific, educational, and political implications of teaching intelligent design and other forms of creationism in American public schools.

http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/evolution.htm
. A good (albeit slightly outdated) depiction and description of the various stages of human evolution.

http://www.darwin-online.org.uk/
. The complete work of Charles Darwin online. Includes not only all of his books (including all six editions of
The
Origin), but also his scientific papers. You can find many of Darwin’s personal letters at the Darwin Correspondence Project:
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/
.

http://www.gate.net/-rwms/EvoEvidence.html
. A large Web site collecting various lines of evidence for evolution.

http://www.gate.net/-rwms/crebuttals.html
. A Web site that examines and thoroughly debunks many creationist claims.

http://www.natcenscied.org/
. An online set of resources assembled by the National Center for Science Education, an organization devoted to defending the teaching of evolution in America’s public schools. It gives updates on ongoing battles with creationism, and includes links to many other sites.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/
. A large Web site inspired by the PBS series
Evolution,
this contains many resources for both students and teachers, including discussions of the history of evolutionary thought, the evidence for evolution, and theological and philosophical issues. The sections on human evolution are particularly good.

http://www.pandasthumb.org/
. The Panda’s Thumb Web site (named after a famous essay by Stephen Jay Gould) deals with recent discoveries in evolutionary biology as well as ongoing opposition to evolution in America.

http://www.talkorigins.org/.
A comprehensive online guide to all aspects of evolution. Included within it is the best online guide to the evidence for evolution, at
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/
.

Among many good blogs on evolutionary biology, two stand out. One is “Laelaps” (
http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/
), the blog of Britan Switek, a graduate student in paleontology at Rutgers, which covers not only paleontology but also broader issues in evolutionary biology and the philosophy of science. The other is “This Week in Evolution,” the blog of Cornell professor R. Ford Denison, at
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/denis036/thisweekinevolution/
. It presents new discoveries in evolutionary biology and is accessible to anyone who has had a college-level course in biology.

References

Davis, P., and D. H. Kenyon. 1993.
Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins
(2nd ed.). Foundation for Thought and Ethics, Richardson, TX.

BBC Poll on Evolution. Ipsos MORI. 2006.
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/content/bbc-survey-on-the-origins-of-life.ashx
.

Berkman, M. B., J. S. Pacheco, and E. Plutzer. 2008. Evolution and creationism in America’s schools: A national portrait.
Public Library of Science Biology
6:e124.

Harris Poll #52. July 6, 2005.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index
. asp?PID=581.

Miller, J. D., E. C. Scott, and S. Okamoto. 2006. Public acceptance of evolution.
Science
313:765-766.

Shermer, M. 2006.
Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design.
Times Books, New York.

Darwin, C. 1993.
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin
(N. Barlow, ed.). W. W. Norton, New York.

Hazen, R. M. 2005.
Gen*e*sis: The Scientific Quest for Life’s Origin.
Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC.

Paley, W. 1802.
Natural TheoLogy; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature.
Parker, Philadelphia.

Apesteguía, S., and H. Zaher. 2006. A Cretaceous terrestrial snake with robust hindlimbs and a sacrum.
Nature
440:1037-1040.

Chaline, J., B. Laurin, P. Brunet-Lecomte, and L. Viriot. 1993. Morphological trends and rates of evolution in arvicolids (Arvicolidae, Rodentia): Towards a punctuated equilibria/disequilibria model.
Quaternary International
19:27-39.

Chen, J. Y, D. Y. Huang, and C. W. Li. 1999. An early Cambrian craniate-like chordate.
Nature
402:518-522.

Daeschler, E. B., N. H. Shubin, and F. A. Jenkins. 2006. A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan. Nature 440:757-763.

Dial, K. P. 2003. Wing-assisted incline running and the evolution of flight.
Science
299:402-404.

Graur, D., and D. G. Higgins. 1994. Molecular evidence for the inclusion of cetaceans within the order Artiodactyla.
Molecular Biology and Evolution
11:357-364. Hedman, M. 2007.
The Age of Everything: How Science Explores the Past.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Hopson, J. A. 1987. The mammal like reptiles: A study of transitional fossils.
American Biology Teacher
49:16-26.

Ji, Q., M. A. Norell, K. Q. Gao, S. A. Ji, and D. Ren. 2001. The distribution of integumentary structures in a feathered dinosaur. Nature 410:1084-1088.

Kellogg, D. E., and J. D. Hays. 1975. Microevolutionary patterns in Late Cenozoic Radiolaria.
Paleobiology
1:150-160.

Lazarus, D. 1983. Speciation in pelagic protista and its study in the planktonic microfossil record: A review.
Paleobiology
9:327-340.

Li, Y., L.-Z. Chen et al. 1999. Lower Cambrian vertebrates from South China.
Nature
402:42-46.

Malmgren, B. A., and J. P. Kennett. 1981. Phyletic gradualism in a late Cenozoic planktonic foraminiferal lineage; Dsdp site 284, southwest Pacific.
Paleobiology
7:230-240.