Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom

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W. W. Norton & Company, 2005 - Science - 350 pages
Evo Devo is evolutionary developmental biology, the third revolution in evolutionary biology. The first was marked by the publication of The Origin of Species. The second occurred in the early twentieth century, when Darwin's theories were merged with the study of genetics. Now the insights of Evo Devo are astonishing the biology world by showing how the endless forms of animals--butterflies and zebras, trilobites and dinosaurs, apes and humans, are made and evolved.

Perhaps the most surprising finding of Evo Devo is the discovery that a small number of primitive genes led to the formation of fundamental organs and appendages in all animal forms. The gene that causes humans to form arms and legs is the same gene that causes birds and insects to form wings, and fish to form fins; similarly, one ancient gene has led to the creation of eyes across the animal kingdom. Changes in the way this ancient tool kit of genes is used have created all the diversity that surrounds us.

Sean Carroll is the ideal author to lead the curious on this intellectual adventure--he is the acknowledged leader of the field, and his seminal discoveries have been featured in Time and The New York Times.

From inside the book

Contents

II
1
III
15
IV
17
VI
37
VIII
53
IX
81
X
109
XII
133
XIV
167
XV
197
XVI
221
XVII
249
XVIII
281
XX
307
XXI
329
XXII
333

XIII
137

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About the author (2005)

Sean B. Carroll is professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His first book, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, was a finalist for the 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Carroll’s seminal scientific work has been featured in Time and The New Yorker. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

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