How did life evolve on Earth? The answer can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. This collection documents the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, stresses the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem management, and evaluates the alternative perspectives offered by various kinds of creationism. These reports also focus on how science and religion can be viewed as different ways of understanding the world, rather than as frameworks that are in conflict with each other. For educators, students, teachers, community leaders, legislators, policy makers, and parents who seek to better understand all aspects of evolutionary science, this collection is an essential resource.
128 pagesUnderstanding Climate's Influence on Human Evolution (2010)
The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; ...[more]
88 pagesScience, Evolution, and Creationism (2008)
How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other ...[more]
466 pagesIn the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation and Conflict (2012)
Biodiversity--the genetic variety of life--is an exuberant product of the evolutionary past, a vast human-supportive resource (aesthetic, intellectual, and material) of the present, and a rich legacy to cherish and preserve for the future. Two urgent challenges, and opportunities, for ...[more]
90 pagesTwenty-First Century Ecosystems: Managing the Living World Two Centuries After Darwin (2011)
The two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, February 12, 2009, occurred at a critical time for the United States and the world. In honor of Darwin's birthday, the National Research Council appointed a committee under the auspices ...[more]
428 pagesIn the Light of Evolution IV:The Human Condition (2010)
The Human Condition is a collection of papers by leading evolutionary biologists and philosophers of science that reflect on the Darwinian Revolution as it relates to the human condition at levels ranging from the molecular to the theological. The book ...[more]
432 pagesIn the Light of Evolution III:Two Centuries of Darwin (2009)
Two Centuries of Darwin is the outgrowth of an Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium, sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on January 16-17, 2009. In the chapters of this book, leading evolutionary biologists and science historians reflect on and commemorate ...[more]
432 pagesIn the Light of Evolution, Volume II:Biodiversity and Extinction (2008)
The current extinction crisis is of human making, and any favorable resolution of that biodiversity crisis--among the most dire in the 4-billion-year history of Earth--will have to be initiated by mankind. Little time remains for the public, corporations, and governments ...[more]
380 pagesIn the Light of Evolution: Volume 1. Adaptation and Complex Design (2007)
In December 2006, the National Academy of Sciences sponsored a colloquium (featured as part of the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia series) on "Adaptation and Complex Design" to synthesize recent empirical findings and conceptual approaches toward understanding the evolutionary origins and ...[more]
150 pagesTeaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science (1998)
Today many school students are shielded from one of the most important concepts in modern science: evolution. In engaging and conversational style, Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science provides a well-structured framework for understanding and teaching evolution. Written ...[more]
56 pagesEvolution in Hawaii: A Supplement to Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science (2004)
As both individuals and societies, we are making decisions today that will have profound consequences for future generations. From preserving Earth's plants and animals to altering our use of fossil fuels, none of these decisions can be made wisely ...[more]
256 pagesDarwin's Gift: To Science and Religion (2007)
With the publication in 1859 of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Charles Darwin established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific explanation for nature's diversity. This was to be his gift to science and ...[more]
96 pagesThinking Evolutionarily: Evolution Education Across the Life Sciences: Summary of a Convocation (2012)
Evolution is the central unifying theme of biology. Yet today, more than a century and a half after Charles Darwin proposed the idea of evolution through natural selection, the topic is often relegated to a handful of chapters in textbooks ...[more]