Book ID: CBB642342923

The Theory That Changed Everything: "On the Origin of Species" as a Work in Progress (2017)

unapi

Lieberman, Philip (Author)


Columbia University Press


Publication Date: 2017
Physical Details: 232 pp.
Language: English

Few people have done as much to change how we view the world as Charles Darwin. Yet On the Origin of Species is more cited than read, and parts of it are even considered outdated. In some ways, it has been consigned to the nineteenth century. In The Theory That Changed Everything, the renowned cognitive scientist Philip Lieberman demonstrates that there is no better guide to the world’s living―and still evolving―things than Darwin and that the phenomena he observed are still being explored at the frontiers of science.In an exploration that ranges from Darwin’s transformative trip aboard the Beagle to Lieberman’s own sojourns in the remotest regions of the Himalayas, this book relates fresh, contemporary findings to the major concepts of Darwinian theory, which transcends natural selection. Drawing on his own research into the evolution of human linguistic and cognitive abilities, Lieberman explains the paths that adapted human anatomy to language. He demystifies the role of recently identified transcriptional and epigenetic factors encoded in DNA, explaining how nineteenth-century Swedish famines alternating with years of plenty caused survivors’ grandchildren to die many years short of their life expectancy. Lieberman is equally at home decoding supermarket shelves and climbing with the Sherpas as he discusses how natural selection explains features from lactose tolerance to ease of breathing at Himalayan altitudes. With conversational clarity and memorable examples, Lieberman relates the insights that led to groundbreaking discoveries in both Darwin’s time and our own while asking provocative questions about what Darwin would have made of controversial issues today, such as GMOs, endangered species, and the God question.

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Reviewed By

Essay Review Jim Endersby (2018) Of Making Many Darwins. Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology (pp. 361-367). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB642342923/

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Authors & Contributors
England, Richard K.
Engels, Eve-Marie
Bovolo, Carlo
Mazzeo, Marco
Werth, Barry
Sloan, Phillip R.
Concepts
Science and religion
Darwinism
Evolution
Natural selection
Biology
Science and society
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
21st century
20th century
Early modern
Modern
Places
United States
Great Britain
Belfast, Ireland
Toronto (Ontario)
Edinburgh
Netherlands
Institutions
Presbyterian Church
Oxford University
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