Collection Development "Evoluntionary Biology": An Evolving Collection
By Walter Cressler -- Library Journal, 9/1/2006
Evolution changes everything. The concepts of evolutionary biology underlie our scientific understanding of the origin of life's diversity. And, especially in the United States, they also continue to form the grist of a cultural debate about the meaning of life. The reaction over the last 150 years to the ever accumulating evidence for “descent with modification” as Charles Darwin called it, has ranged from its denial for religious reasons (the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial is a famous example) to its embrace by those opposed to religion. Between these extremes, other people have been able to reconcile the evidence for evolution and the explanatory power of evolutionary theory with complementary worldviews that provide life's purpose. Meanwhile, evolutionary biologists today continue successfully to test, refine, and resynthesize Darwin's basic ideas in the process of investigating the material nature of life.
To help your patrons sort out the cultural history of evolution as an idea, the nature of the dissent against it, and new scientific discoveries that bolster its explanatory veracity and significance, the following bibliography lists outstanding resources (books, DVDs, and web sites) that address these aspects of evolution. Some materials are aimed expressly at a general audience. Others are more technical, designed for the purpose of stimulating further research, but of these are listed only titles that are also accessible to the dedicated layperson.
The survival of the fittest
As with any books on a scientific subject, works on evolution get outdated with new discoveries and research developments. Weeding should be undertaken with a great deal of discretion, however, since many older volumes were seminal in the development of evolutionary theory and should remain in library collections.
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Of course, the core 19th-century books by Darwin himself are also essential for any library collection. On the other hand, old general texts and reference books on evolution should be replaced by newer editions.
Even anti-evolution evolves
The particulars of the cultural conflict engendered by evolutionary ideas also shift with time, even though the basic aspects of that conflict are perennial. For example, the set of objections to evolutionary theory that came under the heading of “creation science” in previous decades has in the last 15 years emerged as the “intelligent design” movement, and this in turn draws inspiration from “natural theology” of the 19th century.
Libraries with larger budgets may want to purchase books that represent viewpoints at the extremes of this struggle, including such intelligent design tracts as Philip E. Johnson's Darwin on Trial, William A. Dembski's The Design Revolution, Jonathan Wells's Icons of Evolution, and Michael J. Behe's Darwin's Black Box. At the other extreme are the more polemical works of atheistic evolutionism, such as Richard Dawkins's The Blind Watchmaker and Daniel Dennett's Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Those with smaller budgets may choose titles that describe the nature of the debate, such as many books by the prolific Michael Ruse and an excellent study called Species of Origins by Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa.
The purchase of materials that represent the uncompromising fringes of any conflict in society requires a clear collection policy. For example, we may be obligated to our patrons to make available works that embody ideas fundamental to significant cultural undercurrents such as “intelligent design” but not to burden budgets and minds with every other form of pseudoscience.
Origins of sources
The main publishers of books on developments in evolutionary biology and the history of evolution as an idea are the big university presses, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, and Chicago. A variety of commercial publishers offer some of the more popular works, and the more generally readable technical volumes are issued by scientific publishers such as Sinauer, Blackwell, and Wiley. Books whose authors object to “Darwinism” tend to be published by conservative and/or Christian publishers such as the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Regnery Press, InterVarsity Press, and BakerBooks.
It is hoped that this article will be particularly useful for both public libraries and small academic libraries, and perhaps librarians of large academic institutions will find something that they have overlooked. Starred (
) items are considered core titles for any collection.
REFERENCE
Encyclopedia of Evolution. 2 vols. Oxford Univ. 2002. 1205p. ed. by Mark Pagel. illus. index. ISBN 0-19-512200-3 [ISBN 978-0-19-512200-8]. $325.
With contributions from 330 noted evolutionary biologists, science historians, and philosophers of science, this two-volume set is an encyclopedic masterwork. Particular strengths are its treatment of the fundamental concepts of evolution; its molecular, genetic, cellular, developmental, and behavioral aspects; human evolution; and the evolution of disease. (LJ 8/02)
The Facts On File Dictionary of Evolutionary Biology. Facts On File. (Science Library). 2003. 248p. ed. by Elizabeth Owen & Eve Daintith. illus. ISBN 0-8160-4924-6 [ISBN 978-0-8160-4924-0]. $49.50.
Useful as a reliable quick reference for basic evolutionary concepts and biological terms, this volume also includes many brief biographies. A good choice for school, smaller college, and public libraries.
TEXTBOOKS
Futuyma, Douglas S. Evolution. Sinauer. 2005. 603p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-87893-187-2 [ISBN 978-0-87893-187-3]. $92.95.
This attractive undergraduate textbook is the work of a respected evolutionary biologist known for his work on interactions between leaf beetles and plants. A prime example of the fine quality and attention to stimulating detail and visual interest characteristic of this publisher.
Ridley, Mark. Evolution. 3d ed. Blackwell. 2003. 750p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 1-4051-0345-0 [ISBN 978-1-4051-0345-9]. pap. $99.95.
Ridley (zoology, Oxford Univ.) has updated his extremely well-organized textbook to include recent developments in genomics and evolutionary developmental biology. Each section heading in this advanced text is very informative in itself and explicit about what follows.
GENERAL BOOKS
Dawkins, Richard. The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution. Houghton. 2004. 673p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-618-00583-8 [ISBN 978-0-618-00583-3]. $28; pap. Mariner. 2005. ISBN 0-618-61916-X [ISBN 978-0-618-61916-0]. $16.
As the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, Dawkins has been extremely influential on the public's understanding of evolution. His artful premise here follows Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the pilgrims are the diverse representatives of the vast common tree of life heading back in time toward the common ancestor. During the journey, many evolutionary themes are explored. (LJ 9/15/04)
Lewontin, Richard. The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism, and Environment. Harvard Univ. 2000. 136p. illlus. index. ISBN 0-674-00159-1 [ISBN 978-0-674-00159-6]. $25; pap. 2002. ISBN 0-674-00677-1 [ISBN 978-0-674-00677-5]. $15.95.
The four essays penned by Harvard biologist Lewontin brilliantly clarify many of the misunderstood relationships of cause and effect among genes, organisms, and their environments and the relationships between the whole and the parts of each of these components. (LJ 4/1/00)
Mayr, Ernst. What Evolution Is. BasicBks. 2002. 318p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-465-04426-3 [ISBN 978-0-465-04426-9]. pap. $16.
When Mayr died in 2005 at the age of 100, he was the last of the great participants in the mid-20th-century evolutionary synthesis of Darwin's theory of natural selection with genetics and other lines of evidence. His primer clearly explains basic concepts. (LJ 12/01)
Smith, John Maynard & Eörs Szathmáry. The Major Transitions in Evolution. Oxford Univ. 1998. 346p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-19-850294-X [ISBN 978-0-19-850294-4]. $54.50.
Smith is another significant evolutionary biologist whose death in 2004 ended a long and influential career. Coauthored with Hungarian researcher Szathmáry, this volume addresses the major transitions in evolution: the origin of chromosomes, origin of eukaryotes, origin of sex, origin of multicellular organisms, and origin of social groups.
Weiner, Jonathan. The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. Vintage. 1995. 332p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-679-73337-X [ISBN 978-0-679-73337-9]. pap. $14.
Journalist Weiner's now classic account reports on how Princeton researchers Peter and Rosemary Grant's investigations of Galápagos finches recorded evolutionary changes in beak size and other properties. (LJ 5/15/94)
Zimmer, Carl. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. HarperCollins. 2001. 364p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-06-019906-7 $40; pap. Perennial. 2006. ISBN 0-06-113840-1. $15.95.
This attractively illustrated accompaniment to a PBS television series offers an excellent introduction to evolutionary ideas and their implications. Zimmer, a fine writer, has authored a number of books with evolutionary themes.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Carroll, Sean B. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo. Norton. 2005. 288p. illus. index. ISBN 0-393-06016-0. $25.95; pap. 2006. ISBN 0-393-32779-5. $15.95.
Carroll (genetics, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison) is one of the most eloquent explainers of the exciting new field of evolutionary developmental biology, or “evo devo,” which sheds light on the origin of evolutionary novelties through a new understanding of molecular biology and embryological development. (LJ 3/1/05)
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Belknap: Harvard Univ. 2002. 1433p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-674-00613-5 [ISBN 978-0-674-00613-3]. $49.95.
No list of recent important works of evolutionary biology would be complete without mentioning Gould's magnum opus, in which the late scientist gives his fullest explanation of such ideas as multiple levels of selection, developmental constraint, and contingency in evolution. (LJ 2/15/02)
Jablonka, Eva & Marion J. Lamb. Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. MIT. 2005. 462p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-262-10107-6. [ISBN 978-0-262-10107-3]. $34.95.
Challenging a purely gene-centered viewpoint of natural selection, this provocative book describes the evidence for the role in evolution of other inheritance systems, such as non-DNA processes in the cell (epigenetic), behavioral, and symbolic influences, such as language. The illustrations and presentation style are quirky, and not all the ideas are likely to withstand the test of time, but this book represents some expansive new thinking.
Kirschner, Marc & John Gerhart. The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma. Yale Univ. 2005. 314p. illus. index. ISBN 0-300-10865-6 [ISBN 978-0-300-10865-1]. $30.
Kirschner (systems biology, Harvard Medical Sch.) and Gerhart (molecular biology, Univ. of California–Berkeley) describe their theory of “facilitated variation” and how the roles of physiological adaptability of individual organisms and the linkages to regulatory genes can explain the origin of complex evolutionary innovations from small genetic changes. (LJ 9/15/05)
Raff, Rudolf. The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form. Univ. of Chicago. 1996. 520p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-226-70266-9 [ISBN 978-0-226-70266-7]. pap. $36.
A pioneer of the new synthesis of evolutionary biology with developmental genetics (“evo devo”), Raff combines these research strands with further paleontological evidence, all leading toward a greater understanding of macroevolution and the origin of animal phyla.
HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY
Bowler, Peter J. Evolution: The History of an Idea. 3d ed. Univ. of California. 2003. 464p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-520-23693-9 [ISBN 978-0-520-23693-6]. pap. $27.50.
Well researched and lucidly written, this is the essential history of evolution as an idea. The new edition incorporates the latest research of scientists and historians since the book's original 1983 publication.
Browne, E. Janet. Charles Darwin: Voyaging. 1995. 605p. ISBN 0-691-02606-8 [ISBN 978-0-691-02606-0]. pap. $24.95. (LJ 2/15/95)
Browne, E. Janet. Charles Darwin: The Power of Place. 2003. 590p. ISBN 0-691-11439-0 [ISBN 978-0-691-11439-2]. pap. $22.95. (LJ 10/1/02) ea. vol: Princeton Univ. illus. bibliog. index.
No other biography has matched Browne's ability to capture so richly the details of Darwin's time and to convey them with such direct and engaging prose. One that comes close is Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist by Adrian Desmond and James Moore.
Eldredge, Niles. Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life. Norton. 2005. 256p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-393-05966-9 [ISBN 978-0-393-05966-3]. $35.
This handsome illustrated volume that accompanied the recent outstanding Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History is valuable as an analysis of the evolution of Darwin's thinking by an accomplished evolutionary biologist. (LJ 11/15/05)
Quammen, David. The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution. Atlas Bks., dist. by Norton. (Great Discoveries). 2006. 192p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-393-05981-2 [ISBN 978-0-393-05981-6]. $22.95.
Writing in a jaunty and engaging prose style, science writer Quammen focuses on the 21 years between Darwin's conception of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution in 1838 to the groundbreaking 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species. (LJ 7/06)
EVOLUTION VS. CREATIONISM
Forrest, Barbara & Paul R. Gross. Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design. Oxford Univ. 2004. 401p. index. ISBN 0-19-515742-7 [ISBN 978-0-19-515742-0]. $39.50.
Using documentary evidence to detail exhaustively the political and social agenda of the Discovery Institute and the “intelligent design” movement, the authors reveal how such strategies as promoting the “teaching of the controversy” aim to increase the power and influence of the Religious Right. An invaluable resource for understanding this movement.
Giberson, Karl W. & Donald A. Yerxa. Species of Origins: America's Search for a Creation Story. Rowman & Littlefield. 277p. bibliog. index. 2002. ISBN 0-7425-0765-3 [ISBN 978-0-7425-0765-4]. pap. $24.95.
A science and a history professor at Eastern Nazarene College, Boston, offer some of the clearest descriptions of the biblical and scientific influences on the surprising range of creation stories accepted by Americans. The authors do a good job of explaining why such diversity of thought exists in this country.
Miller, Kenneth. Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution. Perennial: HarperCollins. 2000. 338p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-06-093049-7 [ISBN 978-0-06-093049-3]. pap. $14.
Brown University cell biologist Miller is the author of the high school biology textbook at the center of the recent “intelligent design” case in Dover, PA. Here he explains how his Christian faith is strengthened by the evidence for evolution revealed through the naturalistic methodology of science. One man's fine antidote to the cultural polarization over evolution.
Ruse, Michael. Darwinism and Its Discontents. Cambridge Univ. 2006. ISBN 0-521-82947-X [ISBN 978-0-521-82947-2]. $30.
Ruse (philosophy, Florida State Univ.) has written many books on the cultural and scientific significance of evolution. This one follows his excellent The Evolution-Creation Struggle (LJ 5/1/05) in which he gives a balanced historical account of the ongoing cultural debate taking place outside of the scientific community itself.
Scott, Eugenie. Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction. Greenwood. 2004. 272p. illus. index. ISBN 0-313-32122-1. $49.95; pap. Univ. of California. 2005. ISBN 0-520-24650-0. $19.95.
The executive director of the National Center for Science Education, which advocates the teaching of evolution in U.S. schools, has written a valuable manual to the debate. It includes a section on evolution as part of the scientific process, a history of creationism, primary source materials from both sides, and a list of further resources.
Shermer, Michael. Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design. Times Bks. 2006. 224p. bibliog. ISBN 0-8050-8121-6 [ISBN 978-0-8050-8121-3]. $22.
A former evangelical Christian and creationist turned professional skeptic, Shermer comes to the defense of science in general and evolutionary theory in particular, pointing out that the real agenda of the “intelligent design” movement is not to promote its scientific program but to advance a political cause. Their flawed “science,” theology, and politics should be alarming to people of faith as well as people with a more secular world view.
DVDS
Evolution . 4 vols. color. 480 min. WGBH-Boston. 2001. DVD ISBN 1-578078-56-3. $99.95.
This boxed DVD set of the superb eight-hour PBS series offers access to the Evolution web site and its many educational features (including interactive games and activities) and additional resources. The shows explore in a thematically and visually engaging manner evolution's many aspects: the origin of Darwin's theory; the major evolutionary transformations; extinctions; the role of sex, competition, and cooperation; the evolution of the human mind; and the evolution-creation debate. Commentators are many of the big names in evolutionary biology as well as lower-profile scientists doing interesting work. Dramatized vignettes capture Darwin's life and ideas in a compelling manner.
WEB SITES
National Center for Science Education
www.ncseweb.org
NCSE's stated purpose is to defend the teaching of evolution in public schools. Its web site includes resources concerning legal cases involving evolution and creationism and information about documents that present the intelligent design argument. The postings of the latest “Evolution/Creation News” is particularly valuable and can be viewed on the web site or received as an email newsletter or RSS feed.
Tree of Life Web Project
tolweb.org/tree
Like an actual tree, this web site is constantly growing. Biologists around the world collaborate in writing accounts of the diversity of life on web pages that are connected in the form of the phylogenetic, or genealogical, tree of life. The completed pages for each group of organisms include images, their evolutionary history, and the characteristics of those organisms.
Understanding Evolution
evolution.berkeley.edu
Maintained by the Paleontology Museum at the University of California–Berkeley, this excellent web site is visually pleasing and well organized, with sections that explain evolution, its impact on everyday life, the evidence for evolution, and the history of the theory. There are also lesson plans for teachers and a constantly updated feature on evolution in the news.
The Writings of Charles Darwin on the Web
pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin
John van Wyhe (Christ's Coll., Univ. of Cambridge) heads an ambitious program (darwin-online.org.uk) to digitize the complete published works of Darwin in every edition and variation, as well as his manuscripts, journal articles, and canonical secondary sources. This substantial pilot for that project includes almost the complete works of Darwin already and many related texts on evolution, including the entire contents of books by such contemporary luminaries as Alfred Russell Wallace and Joseph Hooker.
| Additional Resources |
GENERAL BOOKS
Cronin, Helena. The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today. Cambridge Univ. 1993. 490p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-521-45765-3 [ISBN 978-0-521-45765-1. $48.
Cronin (philosophy, London Sch. of Economics; zoology, Oxford Univ.) addresses two of the historically biggest scientific challenges to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. How can reproductive fitness of an individual be enhanced in the case of the apparent selflessness of a worker ant, and by the elaborate displays of a peacock, which impair concealment and flight from predators? The author traces in fascinating detail the resolution of these conceptual dilemmas from Darwin’s day to the present.
Goldschmidt, Tijs. Darwin’s Dreampond: Drama on Lake Victoria. MIT. 1998. 274p. index. ISBN 0-262-57121-8 [ISBN 978-0-262-57121-0]. pap. $25.
Some of the most dramatic demonstrations of evolutionary species radiations can be found in cichlid fishes of the African Rift Valley lakes. Along with Jonathan Weiner’s The Beak of the Finch, this is one of most vividly written accounts of evolution in action.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Arthur, Wallace. Biased Embryos and Evolution. Cambridge Univ. 2004. 233p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-521-83382-5. [ISBN 0-521-83382-0]. $85. pap. ISBN 0-521-54161-1 [ISBN 0-521-54161-9]. $34.99.
One of the most exciting recent research directions taken by evolutionary biology is in re-incorporating the study of embryological development. Arthur (zoology, National Univ. of Ireland, Galway) has written a fine book for both researchers and general readers on the underrated role of biased development in determining the direction of evolutionary changes.
HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY
Morris, Richard. The Evolutionists: the Struggle for Darwin’s Soul.Owl Bks.: Holt. 2002. 262p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-8050-7137-7 [ISBN 978-0-8050-7137-5]. pap. $15.
Science thrives on controversy and advances through the skepticism that scientists have for each others’ work. Morris explains the often acrimonious debate among such leading evolutionary biologists as John Maynard Smith, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Niles Eldredge, Richard Lewontin. One thing they all agree upon, however, is the evidence that supports Darwin’s theory of evolution.
EVOLUTION-CREATIONISM STRUGGLE
Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement. Vintage: Random. 2006. 272p. ed. by John Brockman. ISBN 0-307-27722-4 [ISBN 0-307-27722-0]. pap.$14.
A new collection of sharp and incisive essays by passionate advocates of the scientific understanding of life. Contributors include evolutionary biologists Jerry Coyne, Neil Shubin, and Richard Dawkins; philosopher Daniel Dennett; paleoanthropologist Tim White; evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker; physicist Lee Smolin; and complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman.
VIDEOS
Biography—Charles Darwin: Evolution’s Voice. color. 50 min. A & E Home Video. 2004. DVD ISBN 0-7670-8360-1. $24.95;
This program outlines the basics of Darwin’s life through a montage of still photos and print images, accompanied by expert commentary and an actor reading from Darwin’s journal. Without going very much in depth about the context of Darwin’s times and the implications of his discoveries, the video does convey a good sense of what Darwin must have been like. A good brief biographical introduction for public libraries.
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution. 2 vols. color. 240 min. WGBH Boston. 2003. DVD $29.95.
Hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, this four-hour Nova series covers a lot of time and territory, dealing with nothing less than the origin of the universe, the solar system, planet Earth, and life itself. The computer animated renditions of such violent cosmic events such as the heavy meteor bombardment on the early Earth are exciting enhancements to the presentation of the science, but tend to get less exciting with repetition. Otherwise, this is a very fine educational production.
WEB SITES
Darwin Digital Library of Evolution
darwinlibrary.amnh.org
The American Museum of Natural History’s Darwin digitization project aims to “make the full literature of evolution available online”. As of the summer of 2006, documents relating to On the Origin of Species, including the first edition, the texts of Darwin’s 1842 sketch and his 1844 essay in which he first lays out his theory of natural selection, portfolios of notes, and a partial manuscript of the big book he never published on natural selection, have been made accessible on this site.
The Society for the Study of Evolution
www.evolutionsociety.org
Started in 1946 by participants in the neo-Darwinian synthesis, the SSE publishes the influential journal Evolution, which can be browsed here and accessed with a subscription. In addition to the usual material typical of a scientific society’s web site such as announcements of meetings and job postings, this site also has an excellent list of other evolution web links.
The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online
darwin-online.org.uk
This very ambitious work-in-progress is headed by Dr. John van Wyhe at the University of Cambridge, where most of the Darwin archives are held. As of summer 2006 the site consists of the complete catalogue listing Darwin’s works. Eventually, the site will provide the digitized complete published works of Darwin in every edition and variation, his manuscripts, his journal articles, and the canonical secondary sources on Darwin.
| Author Information |
| Walter Cressler is Science Librarian, West Chester University of Pennsylvania. A reviewer of science books for LJ, he is also a paleobotanist with an active research program studying the evolutionary and ecological transitions of the Late Devonian Period |
