Download or read book Measuring Evolution written by David Loye and published by David Loye. This book was released on 2006-12 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second in a series of six new books for a Darwin Anniversary Book Cycle, Measuring Evolution: A User's Guide to the Health and Wealth of Nations tells the inspiring story of the development, and provides a guide to the use, of the Global Sounding. This is a new instrument for measuring our local, national, and planetary health and well-being on 15 basic indicators of evolution. Of widespread prospective interest is the fact that, for the first time, this new measure bridges what both progressive scientists and progressive religious leaders increasingly view as a socially, economically, politically, and morally disastrous gap between science and spirituality. With hundreds of studies of evolution by natural, social and systems scientists behind it, the Global Sounding has been designed to provide a relatively simple new way of measuring the impact of our human actions, or inactions, on the range from cosmic, chemical, and biological evolution, through the evolution of the brain, into the spread of cultural evolution through personal, social, economic, political, educational, and technological into moral and spiritual evolution, capped by the evolution of consciousness and personal and social action to change our world for the better. The name for the new measure comes from Darwin's famous voyage of the Beagle-the ship originally commissioned to circle the world to obtain soundings indicating peaceful harbors and safe channels for navigation. The book is animated by colorful, engaging, and often humorous stories to illustrate how the new measure can be put to use by progressives during the customary behind-scenes battles with advocates for the status quo or regressives in key decision-making situations that determine whether we move ahead, are checked in place, or shoved backward in evolution. Along with illustrative test matrixes for each of the following situations, the Global Sounding has been designed to advance the successful advocation of and motivation for globally-responsible programs, practices, and policies by decision-makers in business, government, politics, science, education, foundations, religions, and the media. The author, David Loye, is an internationally known evolutionary systems scientist and author of the award-winning The Healing of a Nation. Titles for further books in the new series are Darwin's Lost Theory, Darwin on Love, The Derailing of Evolution, and Telling the New Story, first for a series of books by leading world educators on how to globally shift from the old to the new Darwinian model in schools and the media. In addition to more information on the Darwin Anniversary Book Cycle, the website for the publisher, www.benjaminfranklinpress.com, provides a marketing analysis of prospective appeal to readers in editions for other languages in Europe, Asia, and South as well as North America. The publisher has also launched an online Darwin Anniversary Report (www.darwinanniversary.com) to provide a central news source for scores of events now underway around the world during the current global buildup for the 200th Anniversary of Darwin's birth.
Download or read book Measuring the Evolution Controversy written by Avelina Espinosa and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2016-05-11 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reality of evolution is indisputable and, based on current scientific evidence, all people in the world should accept it as fact. Yet, only 41% of adults worldwide embrace evolution, and they do it under the premise that a deity created humans. One in every three people is a strict creationist who believes in religious scriptures concerning the origin of our universe and of humans, and explicitly rejects that Homo sapiens is an ape when, in fact, science informs us that humans’ closest relatives are chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. Indeed, we are all apes. Why do people not accept evolution? In Measuring the Evolution Controversy, Guillermo Paz-y-Miño-C and Avelina Espinosa postulate that the debate over evolution-and-science versus creationism is inherent in the incompatibility between scientific rationalism/empiricism and the belief in supernatural causation (religion and faith). Belief disrupts, distorts, delays or stops the comprehension and acceptance of scientific evidence. The authors refer to this proposal as the incompatibility hypothesis (IH), the conceptual foundation of this book. Paz-y-Miño-C and Espinosa explain that the evolution controversy is not only measurable descriptively, but also testable as in an ordinary field of science. To accomplish this, they examine three predictions of IH. First, chronological-conflict-and-accommodation (i.e. the historical re-emergence of antagonism between evolution and religion when advances in science continue to threaten the belief in supernatural causation; in such situations, creationists’ rejection of and subsequent partial acceptance of the new scientific discoveries are expected). Second, change in evolution’s acceptance as function of educational attainment (i.e. the positive association between acceptance of evolution and level of education). Third, change in evolution’s acceptance as function of religiosity (i.e. the negative association between acceptance of evolution and level of religious beliefs). By relying on an ample assessment of the attitudes towards evolution by highly educated audiences (i.e. research faculty, educators of prospective teachers, and college students in the United States) the authors characterise their understanding of science and evolution, personal religious convictions, and political ideology. The authors make recommendations for improving science and evolution literacy, as well as evolution’s acceptance, and conclude by forecasting a probable global socio-cultural landscape in which acceptance of science and evolution will take place.
Download or read book Measuring Selection in Natural Populations written by Freddy Christiansen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 575 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Studying Evolutionary Change written by Nancy Retzlaff and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Basics in Human Evolution written by Michael P Muehlenbein and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2015-07-24 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basics in Human Evolution offers a broad view of evolutionary biology and medicine. The book is written for a non-expert audience, providing accessible and convenient content that will appeal to numerous readers across the interdisciplinary field. From evolutionary theory, to cultural evolution, this book fills gaps in the readers’ knowledge from various backgrounds and introduces them to thought leaders in human evolution research. Offers comprehensive coverage of the wide ranging field of human evolution Written for a non-expert audience, providing accessible and convenient content that will appeal to numerous readers across the interdisciplinary field Provides expertise from leading minds in the field Allows the reader the ability to gain exposure to various topics in one publication
Download or read book Evolution of Translational Omics written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-09-13 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technologies collectively called omics enable simultaneous measurement of an enormous number of biomolecules; for example, genomics investigates thousands of DNA sequences, and proteomics examines large numbers of proteins. Scientists are using these technologies to develop innovative tests to detect disease and to predict a patient's likelihood of responding to specific drugs. Following a recent case involving premature use of omics-based tests in cancer clinical trials at Duke University, the NCI requested that the IOM establish a committee to recommend ways to strengthen omics-based test development and evaluation. This report identifies best practices to enhance development, evaluation, and translation of omics-based tests while simultaneously reinforcing steps to ensure that these tests are appropriately assessed for scientific validity before they are used to guide patient treatment in clinical trials.
Download or read book Bankrolling Evolution written by David Loye and published by David Loye. This book was released on 2007 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grounded in the new field of evolutionary action science, Bankrolling Evolution outlines specific steps for a new Rhealing of the nationsS through progressive political action, money, science and education, and progressive morality and spirituality.
Download or read book Measure Theory and Nonlinear Evolution Equations written by Flavia Smarrazzo and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text on measure theory with applications to partial differential equations covers general measure theory, Lebesgue spaces of real-valued and vector-valued functions, different notions of measurability for the latter, weak convergence of functions and measures, Radon and Young measures, capacity. A comprehensive discussion of applications to quasilinear parabolic and hyperbolic problems is provided.
Download or read book Measuring Biological Diversity written by Anne E. Magurran and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-04-18 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This accessible and timely book provides a comprehensive overview of how to measure biodiversity. The book highlights new developments, including innovative approaches to measuring taxonomic distinctness and estimating species richness, and evaluates these alongside traditional methods such as species abundance distributions, and diversity and evenness statistics. Helps the reader quantify and interpret patterns of ecological diversity, focusing on the measurement and estimation of species richness and abundance. Explores the concept of ecological diversity, bringing new perspectives to a field beset by contradictory views and advice. Discussion spans issues such as the meaning of community in the context of ecological diversity, scales of diversity and distribution of diversity among taxa Highlights advances in measurement paying particular attention to new techniques such as species richness estimation, application of measures of diversity to conservation and environmental management and addressing sampling issues Includes worked examples of key methods in helping people to understand the techniques and use available computer packages more effectively
Download or read book Beyond Evolution written by Anthony O'Hear and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 1997-10-09 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony O'Hear takes a stand against the fashion for explaining human behaviour in terms of evolution. He maintains, controversially, that while the theory of evolution is successful in explaining the development of the natural world in general, it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and our rationality we take on goals and ideals which cannot be justified in terms of survival-promotion or reproductive advantage. O'Hear examines the nature of human self-consciousness, and argues that evolutionary theory cannot give a satisfactory account of such distinctive facets of human life as the quest for knowledge, moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty; in these we transcend our biological origins. It is our rationality that allows each of us to go beyond not only our biological but also our cultural inheritance: as the author says in the Preface, 'we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal and individual way through life'.
Download or read book Foundations of Social Evolution written by Steven A. Frank and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-31 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a masterly theoretical treatment of one of the central problems in evolutionary biology, the evolution of social cooperation and conflict. Steven Frank tackles the problem with a highly original combination of approaches: game theory, classical models of natural selection, quantitative genetics, and kin selection. He unites these with the best of economic thought: a clear theory of model formation and comparative statics, the development of simple methods for analyzing complex problems, and notions of information and rationality. Using this unique, multidisciplinary approach, Frank makes major advances in understanding the foundations of social evolution. Frank begins by developing the three measures of value used in biology--marginal value, reproductive value, and kin selection. He then combines these measures into a coherent framework, providing the first unified analysis of social evolution in its full ecological and demographic context. Frank also extends the theory of kin selection by showing that relatedness has two distinct meanings. The first is a measure of information about social partners, with close affinity to theories of correlated equilibrium and Bayesian rationality in economic game theory. The second is a measure of the fidelity by which characters are transmitted to future generations--an extended notion of heritability. Throughout, Frank illustrates his methods with many examples, including a complete reformulation of the theory of sex allocation. The book also provides a unique "how-to" guide for constructing models of social behavior. It is essential reading for evolutionary biologists and for economists, mathematicians, and others interested in natural selection.
Download or read book Measuring and Understanding Public Opinion on Human Evolution written by Misook Gwon and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of evolution has long generated controversy in American society, but Americans' attitudes about human evolution are often neglected in studies of "culture wars" and the nature of mass belief systems more generally (Berkman and Plutzer 2010; Freeland and Houston 2009). Gallup and other survey organizations have polled about evolution, but offered limited response categories that mask complexity in public opinion (Bishop 2006; Moore 2008). The main problems concerning the leading survey questions about evolution are: first, questions measure only a single dimension, thus they ignore the potential for multidimensionality in people's attitudes. Second, depending on question wording and response options, the results of public opinion surveys vary by polling groups. This is an example of measurement error which misleads the interpretation and impression of American public opinion on the origin of humankind. A number of studies have analyzed Americans' beliefs about evolution and hypothesized about the influential effects of several factors (Deckman 2002; Mazur 2005; Mooney 2005; Miller et al. 2006; Newport 2006; Forrest 2007;Nisbet and Goidel 2007;Scott 2009). However, there remains a lack of complete understanding of what Americans know and believe about human evolution. Given the salience of this issue and the significant influence of public opinion on policy-making in America (Page and Shapiro 1992; Stimson 2004; Newport 2004), the measurement error and explanation of polling results on controversial issues related to this topic are in need of clarification. In this study, I address these deficiencies with analyses of data from a 2008 national survey by Harris Interactive (n= 4,626) that included numerous measures of factual knowledge and beliefs about evolution. The items offer more nuanced response options than the standard three-category question asked for decades by the Gallup poll. The Harris survey also had multiple measures of religiosity and the Right-Wing-Authoritarianism personality scale. Using this uniquely rich data set I develop a model of the nature and organization of these various attitude structures. Data analyses on explanation of public acceptance or rejection of evolution indicate that the Right-wing-authoritarianism and religious factors including beliefs in God's existence, views of the Bible, frequency of church attendance, and Evangelical Protestant affiliation are significant predictors across all measures. Scientific literacy, genetic science knowledge and familiarity, in general, are another contributor to prediction of public attitudes toward evolution. On measurement validity, consistency of measurement and responses are examined. The results from data analyses reveal the effect of question wording form and context is at play. In addition, public beliefs and knowledge about evolution are not consistent, rather contradictory, and are susceptible to framing effects. As scholars of public opinion warn, we should avoid the referendum view of polls on controversial issues (Schuman 2008; Moore 2008; Bishop 2005). Findings from this research lead to two key conclusions. First, great caution should be taken interpreting poll results on human evolution. Second, for better understanding of public opinion on this issue, a modified standard question should replace the current question.
Download or read book Phylogenetic Networks written by Daniel H. Huson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-02 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The evolutionary history of species is traditionally represented using a rooted phylogenetic tree. However, when reticulate events such as hybridization, horizontal gene transfer or recombination are believed to be involved, phylogenetic networks that can accommodate non-treelike evolution have an important role to play. This book provides the first interdisciplinary overview of phylogenetic networks. Beginning with a concise introduction to both phylogenetic trees and phylogenetic networks, the fundamental concepts and results are then presented for both rooted and unrooted phylogenetic networks. Current approaches and algorithms available for computing phylogenetic networks from different types of datasets are then discussed, accompanied by examples of their application to real biological datasets. The book also summarises the algorithms used for drawing phylogenetic networks, along with the existing software for their computation and evaluation. All datasets, examples and other additional information and links are available from the book's companion website at www.phylogenetic-networks.org.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 2138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology, Four Volume Set is the definitive go-to reference in the field of evolutionary biology. It provides a fully comprehensive review of the field in an easy to search structure. Under the collective leadership of fifteen distinguished section editors, it is comprised of articles written by leading experts in the field, providing a full review of the current status of each topic. The articles are up-to-date and fully illustrated with in-text references that allow readers to easily access primary literature. While all entries are authoritative and valuable to those with advanced understanding of evolutionary biology, they are also intended to be accessible to both advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Broad topics include the history of evolutionary biology, population genetics, quantitative genetics; speciation, life history evolution, evolution of sex and mating systems, evolutionary biogeography, evolutionary developmental biology, molecular and genome evolution, coevolution, phylogenetic methods, microbial evolution, diversification of plants and fungi, diversification of animals, and applied evolution. Presents fully comprehensive content, allowing easy access to fundamental information and links to primary research Contains concise articles by leading experts in the field that ensures current coverage of each topic Provides ancillary learning tools like tables, illustrations, and multimedia features to assist with the comprehension process
Download or read book Advances in UML and XML based Software Evolution written by Hongji Yang and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Reports on the recent advances in UML and XML based software evolution in terms of a wider range of techniques and applications"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book The Evolution of Cooperation written by Robert Axelrod and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2009-04-29 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A famed political scientist's classic argument for a more cooperative world We assume that, in a world ruled by natural selection, selfishness pays. So why cooperate? In The Evolution of Cooperation, political scientist Robert Axelrod seeks to answer this question. In 1980, he organized the famed Computer Prisoners Dilemma Tournament, which sought to find the optimal strategy for survival in a particular game. Over and over, the simplest strategy, a cooperative program called Tit for Tat, shut out the competition. In other words, cooperation, not unfettered competition, turns out to be our best chance for survival. A vital book for leaders and decision makers, The Evolution of Cooperation reveals how cooperative principles help us think better about everything from military strategy, to political elections, to family dynamics.
Download or read book The Bible and the Doctrine of Evolution written by William Woods Smyth and published by . This book was released on 1873 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
