This is a very important source of information both as to the history of the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis and the recent discoveries of regulatory hox genes and the light they throw on the riddles of speciation and large scale evolutionary change. The realization that major morphological changes do not in fact occur in the fashion of microevolution (as presented by traditional Darwinists), due to the effect of homeobox genes, is...
0Report
With his Sudden Origins, Jeffrey H. Schwartz can surely claim, in the current cliche, to be "reader-friendly". I am not qualified to judge his research from a professional point of view, but, as a mere interested layman, introduced to this book by a recent Sunday Times Magazine, I can vouch for its attractions to the untutored.The rights and wrongs of Professor Schwartz's thesis only his fellow scholars can assess, but...
0Report
One of the great strengths of this book - a fascinating addition to the literature on evolution - is that it offers a highly readable account of a complex scientific theory and its background, and thereby has appeal both for the expert and the layman (layperson?!) I am certainly no expert in evolution or genetics, but I do find the subject very interesting, and appreciated the clarity of the author's style, and the easy...
0Report
Among professionals and amateurs alike, a majority of modern evolutionists firmly embrace the notion that evolution is "a change in allele frequency in a given population." Even if we included in this "change" the possibility of new alleles (a.k.a. mutations), we are still steered toward a conclusion that all alleles are equally important and necessary in development. It also tends to focus attention to those heritable...
0Report
I'm not a scientist, but I could understand everything - the history of evolution, the debates, and the author's new theory, which explains why there have to be gaps in the fossil record. I even understood the genetics, that there are different kinds of genes, and that the regulatory genes are where's it's at - the origin of species. I've started giving this book as a present, even to my young nieces and nephews. Am...
0Report