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Provides a revolutionary answer to the question, What determines the direction of evolutionary change? Wallace Arthur argues that biases in the ways that embryos can be altered are just as important as natural selection in determining the directions that evolution has taken, including the one that led to the origin of humans. In addition, the book summarizes other important issues relating to how embryonic (and post-embryonic) development evolves.
Preface; 1. The microscopic horse; 2. What 'drives' evolution?; 3. Darwin: pluralism with a single core; 4. How to build a body; 5. A brief history of the last billion years; 6. Preamble to the quiet revolution; 7. The return of the organism; 8. Possible creatures; 9. The beginnings of bias; 10. A deceptively simple question; 11. Development's twin arrows; 12. Action and reaction; 13. Evolvability: organisms in bits; 14. Back to the trees; 15. Stripes and spots; 16. Towards 'The Inclusive Synthesis'; 17. Social creatures; Glossary; References.
Professor Wallace Arthur is in the Integrative Biology Group at the University of Sunderland, UK. He is the author of six previous books.
'I thoroughly enjoyed this book ! it is short, clearly written and easy to understand !'. Trends in Ecology and Evolution '! written with exemplary clarity and charm, and is clearly intended for the general reader or undergraduate ! a gentle and engaging account !'. Nature '! an excellent account of how development influences evolution ! I highly recommend Arthur's book to all fellows of developmental and evolutionary biology.' Ralf J. Sommer, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
