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| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Evolution Challenges Karl S. Rosengren, Sarah K. Brem, E. Margaret Evans, Gale M. Sinatra, 2012-04-23 A recent poll revealed that one in four Americans believe in both creationism and evolution, while another 41% believe that creationism is true and evolution is false. A minority (only 13%) believe only in evolution. Given the widespread resistance to the idea that humans and other animals have evolved and given the attention to the ongoing debate of what should be taught in public schools, issues related to the teaching and learning of evolution are quite timely. Evolution Challenges: Integrating Research and Practice in Teaching and Learning about Evolution goes beyond the science versus religion dispute to ask why evolution is so often rejected as a legitimate scientific fact, focusing on a wide range of cognitive, socio-cultural, and motivational factors that make concepts such as evolution difficult to grasp. The volume brings together researchers with diverse backgrounds in cognitive development and education to examine children's and adults' thinking, learning, and motivation, and how aspects of representational and symbolic knowledge influence learning about evolution. The book is organized around three main challenges inherent in teaching and learning evolutionary concepts: folk theories and conceptual biases, motivational and epistemological biases, and educational aspects in both formal and informal settings. Commentaries across the three main themes tie the book together thematically, and contributors provide ideas for future research and methods for improving the manner in which evolutionary concepts are conveyed in the classroom and in informal learning experiences. Evolution Challenges is a unique text that extends far beyond the traditional evolution debate and is an invaluable resource to researchers in cognitive development, science education and the philosophy of science, science teachers, and exhibit and curriculum developers. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Human Heredity: Principles and Issues Michael Cummings, 2015-01-01 HUMAN HEREDITY presents the concepts of human genetics in clear, concise language and provides relevant examples that you can apply to yourself, your family, and your work environment. Author Michael Cummings explains the origin, nature, and amount of genetic diversity present in the human population and how that diversity has been shaped by natural selection. The artwork and accompanying media visually support the material by teaching rather than merely illustrating the ideas under discussion. Examining the social, cultural, and ethical implications associated with the use of genetic technology, Cummings prepares you to become a well-informed consumer of genetic-based health care services or provider of health care services. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Biological Evolution , |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Darwin's Conjecture Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2010-12 A theoretical study dealing chiefly with matters of definition and clarification of terms and concepts involved in using Darwinian notions to model social phenomena. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Voyage Of The Beagle Darwin Charles, 2023-01-11 The Voyage of the Beagle is a seminal work by means of the famend British naturalist Charles Darwin, recounting his 5-12 months’ journey aboard the HMS Beagle, from 1831 to 1836. The book presents a charming and insightful account of the voyage, which took him round the sector and played a pivotal position within the development of his idea of evolution by herbal choice. The narrative takes readers on a systematic expedition, exploring the vegetation, fauna, geology, and various cultures encountered in South America, the Galápagos Islands, Australia, and other areas. Darwin's meticulous observations and the wealth of records accrued during the voyage laid the muse for his groundbreaking work, On the Origin of Species. In The Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin demonstrates his keen powers of statement and his capacity to synthesize geological and organic information. He offers a detailed report of the animals and plants he encountered, in conjunction with the geological formations and the insights gained from interactions with indigenous peoples. The book serves as a travelogue, herbal records account, and scientific exploration blended into one, presenting readers a glimpse into the thoughts of a younger scientist at the cusp of one of the most transformative medical discoveries in history. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Intelligence Emerging Keith L. Downing, 2015-06-26 An investigation of intelligence as an emergent phenomenon, integrating the perspectives of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. Emergence—the formation of global patterns from solely local interactions—is a frequent and fascinating theme in the scientific literature both popular and academic. In this book, Keith Downing undertakes a systematic investigation of the widespread (if often vague) claim that intelligence is an emergent phenomenon. Downing focuses on neural networks, both natural and artificial, and how their adaptability in three time frames—phylogenetic (evolutionary), ontogenetic (developmental), and epigenetic (lifetime learning)—underlie the emergence of cognition. Integrating the perspectives of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, Downing provides a series of concrete examples of neurocognitive emergence. Doing so, he offers a new motivation for the expanded use of bio-inspired concepts in artificial intelligence (AI), in the subfield known as Bio-AI. One of Downing's central claims is that two key concepts from traditional AI, search and representation, are key to understanding emergent intelligence as well. He first offers introductory chapters on five core concepts: emergent phenomena, formal search processes, representational issues in Bio-AI, artificial neural networks (ANNs), and evolutionary algorithms (EAs). Intermediate chapters delve deeper into search, representation, and emergence in ANNs, EAs, and evolving brains. Finally, advanced chapters on evolving artificial neural networks and information-theoretic approaches to assessing emergence in neural systems synthesize earlier topics to provide some perspective, predictions, and pointers for the future of Bio-AI. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Endless Forms Most Beautiful Sean B. Carroll, 2005 As described in this fascinating book, Evo Devo is evolutionary development biology, the third revolution in the science, which shows how the endless forms of animals--butterflies and zebras, trilobites and dinosaurs, apes and humans--were made and evolved. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Principles of Geology Sir Charles Lyell, 1872 |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Sciences of the Artificial, third edition Herbert A. Simon, 1996-09-26 Continuing his exploration of the organization of complexity and the science of design, this new edition of Herbert Simon's classic work on artificial intelligence adds a chapter that sorts out the current themes and tools—chaos, adaptive systems, genetic algorithms—for analyzing complexity and complex systems. There are updates throughout the book as well. These take into account important advances in cognitive psychology and the science of design while confirming and extending the book's basic thesis: that a physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for intelligent action. The chapter Economic Reality has also been revised to reflect a change in emphasis in Simon's thinking about the respective roles of organizations and markets in economic systems. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Evolution Education Re-considered Ute Harms, Michael J. Reiss, 2019-07-16 This collection presents research-based interventions using existing knowledge to produce new pedagogies to teach evolution to learners more successfully, whether in schools or elsewhere. ‘Success’ here is measured as cognitive gains, as acceptance of evolution or an increased desire to continue to learn about it. Aside from introductory and concluding chapters by the editors, each chapter consists of a research-based intervention intended to enable evolution to be taught successfully; all these interventions have been researched and evaluated by the chapters’ authors and the findings are presented along with discussions of the implications. The result is an important compendium of studies from around the word conducted both inside and outside of school. The volume is unique and provides an essential reference point and platform for future work for the foreseeable future. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Origins of Order Stuart A. Kauffman, 1993-06-10 Stuart Kauffman here presents a brilliant new paradigm for evolutionary biology, one that extends the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution to accommodate recent findings and perspectives from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. The book drives to the heart of the exciting debate on the origins of life and maintenance of order in complex biological systems. It focuses on the concept of self-organization: the spontaneous emergence of order that is widely observed throughout nature Kauffman argues that self-organization plays an important role in the Darwinian process of natural selection. Yet until now no systematic effort has been made to incorporate the concept of self-organization into evolutionary theory. The construction requirements which permit complex systems to adapt are poorly understood, as is the extent to which selection itself can yield systems able to adapt more successfully. This book explores these themes. It shows how complex systems, contrary to expectations, can spontaneously exhibit stunning degrees of order, and how this order, in turn, is essential for understanding the emergence and development of life on Earth. Topics include the new biotechnology of applied molecular evolution, with its important implications for developing new drugs and vaccines; the balance between order and chaos observed in many naturally occurring systems; new insights concerning the predictive power of statistical mechanics in biology; and other major issues. Indeed, the approaches investigated here may prove to be the new center around which biological science itself will evolve. The work is written for all those interested in the cutting edge of research in the life sciences. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Darwinism Alfred Russel Wallace, 1889 |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Darwin's Dogs Emma Townshend, 2014-03-03 If you have ever looked at a dog waiting to go for a walk and thought there was something age-old and almost human about his sad expression, you’re not alone; Charles Darwin did exactly the same. But Darwin didn’t just stop at feeling that there was some connection between humans and dogs. English gentleman naturalist, great pioneer of the theory of evolution and incurable dog-lover, Darwin used his much-loved dogs as evidence in his continuing argument that all animals including human beings, descended from one common ancestor. From his fondly written letters home enquiring after the health of family pets to his profound scientific consideration of the ancestry of the domesticated dog, Emma Townshend looks at Darwin’s life and work from a uniquely canine perspective. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Radical Evolution Joel Garreau, 2006-05-09 Taking us behind the scenes with today’s foremost researchers and pioneers, bestselling author Joel Garreau shows that we are at a turning point in history. At this moment we are engineering the next stage of human evolution. Through advances in genetic, robotic, information, and nanotechnologies, we are altering our minds, our memories, our metabolisms, our personalities, our progeny–and perhaps our very souls. Radical Evolution reveals that the powers of our comic-book superheroes already exist, or are in development in hospitals, labs, and research facilities around the country–from the revved-up reflexes and speed of Spider-Man and Superman, to the enhanced mental acuity and memory capabilities of an advanced species. Over the next fifteen years, Garreau makes clear in this New York Times Book Club premiere selection, these enhancements will become part of our everyday lives. Where will they lead us? To heaven–where technology’s promise to make us smarter, vanquish illness, and extend our lives is the answer to our prayers? Or, as some argue, to hell–where unrestrained technology brings about the ultimate destruction of our species? |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Science as a Way of Knowing John Alexander Moore, 1999 |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Philosophy of Social Evolution Jonathan Birch, 2017-10-13 From mitochondria to meerkats, the natural world is full of spectacular examples of social behaviour. In the early 1960s Bill Hamilton changed the way we think about how such behaviour evolves. He introduced three key innovations - now known as Hamilton's rule, kin selection, and inclusive fitness - which have been enormously influential, but which remain the subject of fierce controversy. Hamilton's pioneering work kick-started a research program now known as social evolution theory. This is a book about the philosophical foundations and future prospects of that program. Part I, Foundations, is a careful exposition and defence of Hamilton's ideas, with a few modifications along the way. In Part II, Extensions, Jonathan Birch shows how these ideas can be applied to phenomena including cooperation in micro-organisms, cooperation among the cells of a multicellular organism, and culturally evolved cooperation in the earliest human societies. Birch argues that real progress can be made in understanding microbial evolution, evolutionary transitions, and human evolution by viewing them through the lens of social evolution theory, provided the theory is interpreted with care and adapted where necessary. The Philosophy of Social Evolution places social evolution theory on a firm philosophical footing and sets out exciting new directions for further work. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Open Sources 2.0 Chris DiBona, Mark Stone, Danese Cooper, 2005-10-21 Open Sources 2.0 is a collection of insightful and thought-provoking essays from today's technology leaders that continues painting the evolutionary picture that developed in the 1999 book Open Sources: Voices from the Revolution . These essays explore open source's impact on the software industry and reveal how open source concepts are infiltrating other areas of commerce and society. The essays appeal to a broad audience: the software developer will find thoughtful reflections on practices and methodology from leading open source developers like Jeremy Allison and Ben Laurie, while the business executive will find analyses of business strategies from the likes of Sleepycat co-founder and CEO Michael Olson and Open Source Business Conference founder Matt Asay. From China, Europe, India, and Brazil we get essays that describe the developing world's efforts to join the technology forefront and use open source to take control of its high tech destiny. For anyone with a strong interest in technology trends, these essays are a must-read. The enduring significance of open source goes well beyond high technology, however. At the heart of the new paradigm is network-enabled distributed collaboration: the growing impact of this model on all forms of online collaboration is fundamentally challenging our modern notion of community. What does the future hold? Veteran open source commentators Tim O'Reilly and Doc Searls offer their perspectives, as do leading open source scholars Steven Weber and Sonali Shah. Andrew Hessel traces the migration of open source ideas from computer technology to biotechnology, and Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger and Slashdot co-founder Jeff Bates provide frontline views of functioning, flourishing online collaborative communities. The power of collaboration, enabled by the internet and open source software, is changing the world in ways we can only begin to imagine.Open Sources 2.0 further develops the evolutionary picture that emerged in the original Open Sources and expounds on the transformative open source philosophy. This is a wonderful collection of thoughts and examples bygreat minds from the free software movement, and is a must have foranyone who follows free software development and project histories. --Robin Monks, Free Software Magazine The list of contributors include Alolita Sharma Andrew Hessel Ben Laurie Boon-Lock Yeo Bruno Souza Chris DiBona Danese Cooper Doc Searls Eugene Kim Gregorio Robles Ian Murdock Jeff Bates Jeremy Allison Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Kim Polese Larry Sanger Louisa Liu Mark Stone Mark Stone Matthew N. Asay Michael Olson Mitchell Baker Pamela Jones Robert Adkins Russ Nelson Sonali K. Shah Stephen R. Walli Steven Weber Sunil Saxena Tim O'Reilly Wendy Seltzer |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Social Science Research Anol Bhattacherjee, 2012-03-16 This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Lectures on Evolution Thomas Henry Huxley, 2015-11-18 We live in and form part of a system of things of immense diversity and perplexity, which we call Nature; and it is a matter of the deepest interest to all of us that we should form just conceptions of the constitution of that system and of its past history. With relation to this universe, man is, in extent, little more than a mathematical point; in duration but a fleeting shadow; he is a mere reed shaken in the winds of force. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Unfeathered Bird Katrina van Grouw, 2013 There is more to a bird than simply feathers. And just because birds evolved from a single flying ancestor doesn't mean they are structurally the same. With 385 stunning drawings depicting 200 species, The Unfeathered bird is a richly illustrated book on bird anatomy that offers refreshingly original insights into what goes on beneath the feathered surface. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: A Series of Fortunate Events Sean B. Carroll, 2020-10-06 Fascinating and exhilarating—Sean B. Carroll at his very best.—Bill Bryson, author of The Body: A Guide for Occupants From acclaimed writer and biologist Sean B. Carroll, a rollicking, awe-inspiring story of the surprising power of chance in our lives and the world Why is the world the way it is? How did we get here? Does everything happen for a reason or are some things left to chance? Philosophers and theologians have pondered these questions for millennia, but startling scientific discoveries over the past half century are revealing that we live in a world driven by chance. A Series of Fortunate Events tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world. Like every other species, we humans are here by accident. But it is shocking just how many things—any of which might never have occurred—had to happen in certain ways for any of us to exist. From an extremely improbable asteroid impact, to the wild gyrations of the Ice Age, to invisible accidents in our parents' gonads, we are all here through an astonishing series of fortunate events. And chance continues to reign every day over the razor-thin line between our life and death. This is a relatively small book about a really big idea. It is also a spirited tale. Drawing inspiration from Monty Python, Kurt Vonnegut, and other great thinkers, and crafted by one of today's most accomplished science storytellers, A Series of Fortunate Events is an irresistibly entertaining and thought-provoking account of one of the most important but least appreciated facts of life. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Understanding Evolution Kostas Kampourakis, 2014-04-03 Bringing together conceptual obstacles and core concepts of evolutionary theory, this book presents evolution as straightforward and intuitive. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Feedback Systems Karl Johan Åström, Richard Murray, 2021-02-02 The essential introduction to the principles and applications of feedback systems—now fully revised and expanded This textbook covers the mathematics needed to model, analyze, and design feedback systems. Now more user-friendly than ever, this revised and expanded edition of Feedback Systems is a one-volume resource for students and researchers in mathematics and engineering. It has applications across a range of disciplines that utilize feedback in physical, biological, information, and economic systems. Karl Åström and Richard Murray use techniques from physics, computer science, and operations research to introduce control-oriented modeling. They begin with state space tools for analysis and design, including stability of solutions, Lyapunov functions, reachability, state feedback observability, and estimators. The matrix exponential plays a central role in the analysis of linear control systems, allowing a concise development of many of the key concepts for this class of models. Åström and Murray then develop and explain tools in the frequency domain, including transfer functions, Nyquist analysis, PID control, frequency domain design, and robustness. Features a new chapter on design principles and tools, illustrating the types of problems that can be solved using feedback Includes a new chapter on fundamental limits and new material on the Routh-Hurwitz criterion and root locus plots Provides exercises at the end of every chapter Comes with an electronic solutions manual An ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students Indispensable for researchers seeking a self-contained resource on control theory |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Cultural Connections Morris J. Vogel, 1991 Illustrates the history, civilization, and social conditions of the United States via artifacts, paintings, and other objects from the collections of cultural institutions in Philadelphia and environs. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Governing the Commons Elinor Ostrom, 2015-09-23 The governance of natural resources used by many individuals in common is an issue of increasing concern to policy analysts. Both state control and privatization of resources have been advocated, but neither the state nor the market have been uniformly successful in solving common pool resource problems. After critiquing the foundations of policy analysis as applied to natural resources, Elinor Ostrom here provides a unique body of empirical data to explore conditions under which common pool resource problems have been satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily solved. Dr Ostrom uses institutional analysis to explore different ways - both successful and unsuccessful - of governing the commons. In contrast to the proposition of the 'tragedy of the commons' argument, common pool problems sometimes are solved by voluntary organizations rather than by a coercive state. Among the cases considered are communal tenure in meadows and forests, irrigation communities and other water rights, and fisheries. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Dissertation Abstracts International , 1992-12 Abstracts of dissertations available on microfilm or as xerographic reproductions. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Darwin-Inspired Learning Carolyn J. Boulter, Michael J. Reiss, Dawn L. Sanders, 2015-01-19 Charles Darwin has been extensively analysed and written about as a scientist, Victorian, father and husband. However, this is the first book to present a carefully thought out pedagogical approach to learning that is centered on Darwin’s life and scientific practice. The ways in which Darwin developed his scientific ideas, and their far reaching effects, continue to challenge and provoke contemporary teachers and learners, inspiring them to consider both how scientists work and how individual humans ‘read nature’. Darwin-inspired learning, as proposed in this international collection of essays, is an enquiry-based pedagogy, that takes the professional practice of Charles Darwin as its source. Without seeking to idealise the man, Darwin-inspired learning places importance on: • active learning • hands-on enquiry • critical thinking • creativity • argumentation • interdisciplinarity. In an increasingly urbanised world, first-hand observations of living plants and animals are becoming rarer. Indeed, some commentators suggest that such encounters are under threat and children are living in a time of ‘nature-deficit’. Darwin-inspired learning, with its focus on close observation and hands-on enquiry, seeks to re-engage children and young people with the living world through critical and creative thinking modeled on Darwin’s life and science. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Darwin's Dangerous Idea Daniel C. Dennett, 2014-07-01 In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet, focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Behave Robert M. Sapolsky, 2018-05-01 New York Times bestseller • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • One of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year “It’s no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read.” —David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal It has my vote for science book of the year.” —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times Immensely readable, often hilarious...Hands-down one of the best books I’ve read in years. I loved it. —Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post From the bestselling author of A Primate's Memoir and the forthcoming Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will comes a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Behave is one of the most dazzling tours d’horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted. Moving across a range of disciplines, Sapolsky—a neuroscientist and primatologist—uncovers the hidden story of our actions. Undertaking some of our thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, and war and peace, Behave is a towering achievement—a majestic synthesis of cutting-edge research and a heroic exploration of why we ultimately do the things we do . . . for good and for ill. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Artificial Life IV Rodney Allen Brooks, Pattie Maes, 1994 This book brings together contributions to the Fourth Artificial Life Workshop, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the summer of 1994. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Malay Archipelago Alfred Russel Wallace, 1898 |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog) Lee Alan Dugatkin, Lyudmila Trut, 2019-04-14 Tucked away in Siberia, there are furry, four-legged creatures with wagging tails and floppy ears that are as docile and friendly as any lapdog. But, despite appearances, these are not dogs—they are foxes. They are the result of the most astonishing experiment in breeding ever undertaken—imagine speeding up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to do just that, by starting with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. This is the extraordinary, untold story of this remarkable undertaking. Most accounts of the natural evolution of wolves place it over a span of about 15,000 years, but within a decade, Belyaev and Trut’s fox breeding experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, as well. The foxes were bred using selection criteria for tameness, and with each generation, they became increasingly interested in human companionship. Trut has been there the whole time, and has been the lead scientist on this work since Belyaev’s death in 1985, and with Lee Dugatkin, biologist and science writer, she tells the story of the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all. In How to Tame a Fox, Dugatkin and Trut take us inside this path-breaking experiment in the midst of the brutal winters of Siberia to reveal how scientific history is made and continues to be made today. To date, fifty-six generations of foxes have been domesticated, and we continue to learn significant lessons from them about the genetic and behavioral evolution of domesticated animals. How to Tame a Fox offers an incredible tale of scientists at work, while also celebrating the deep attachments that have brought humans and animals together throughout time. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Design of Future Educational Interfaces Sharon Oviatt, 2013-08-21 The Design of Future Educational Interfaces provides a new multidisciplinary synthesis of educational interface research. It explains how computer interfaces can be redesigned to better support our ability to produce ideas, think, and solve problems successfully in national priority areas such as science and mathematics. Based on first-hand research experience, the author offers a candid analysis of emerging technologies and their impact, highlighting communication interfaces that stimulate thought. The research results will surprise readers and challenge their assumptions about existing technology and its ability to support our performance. In spite of a rapid explosion of interest in educational technologies, there remains a poor understanding of what constitutes an effective educational interface for student cognition and learning. This book provides valuable insights into why recent large-scale evaluations of existing educational technologies have frequently not shown demonstrable improvements in student performance. The research presented here is grounded in cognitive science and experimental psychology, linguistic science and communications, cross-cultural cognition and language, computer science and human interface design, and the learning sciences and educational technology. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Microbial genomics challenge Darwin Didier Raoult, Eugene V. Koonin, The 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birthday was celebrated in 2009, making the concept of Darwinism even more popular than at the time it was originally proposed, to the extent that it has acquired quasi-religious status. His theory revolves around a Tree of Life in which all living organisms are considered to have descended from a single ancestor, and each node represents a common ancestor. It comprises hierarchy and dichotomy, which are typical characteristics of the post-biblical 19th century vision. Indeed, according to post-modern philosophy (also called the French theory) the majority of theories, including scientific ones, are based only on meta-narratives expressing the influence of a culture at a given time. Buddhism or Hinduism may have generated a very different story of evolution. Our way of thinking about life, and the way we describe evolution, have changed radically in the 21st century due to the genomic revolution. Comparative genome analyses have demonstrated that gene repertoires are characterized by plasticity, and there is strong evidence that nearly all genes have been exchanged at some point. Genomic data show that the genetic information of living organisms is inherited not only vertically but also laterally. Lateral gene transfers were at first observed only in bacteria, which contain genes originating from eukaryotes, Archaea and viruses. Such transfers were subsequently identified in all living organisms; giant viruses have chimeric genomes and the human genome is a mosaic of genes with eukaryotic, bacterial, and viral origins. We cannot identify a single common ancestor for the gene repertoire of any organism. Furthermore, a very high proportion of genes have been newly created through gene fusion or degradation, and others show no homology to sequences found in other species. It is now clear that every living organism has a variety of ancestors, while exchanges between species are intense, and the creation of new genes is frequent and permanent in all living organisms. Our current genomic knowledge contradicts the tree of life theory, as established by Darwin. Recent analyses have produced bushes rather than resolved trees, with the structure of some parts remaining elusive. It becomes more and more obvious that phylogenetic relationships are better described by forests and networks and that species evolution looks more like a rhizome. The chimerism and mosaic structure of all living organisms through both non-vertical inheritance and de novo creation can only be assimilated and described by a post-Darwinist concept. In this Research Topic we wish to highlight the influence of microbiology and genomics on our understanding of the complexity of gene repertoires, and also demonstrate how current knowledge does not support Darwin’s theory. Microbiology has offered a great advance in the way we perceive life. Evidence obtained from studies on bacterial and viral evolution, lateral inheritance, phylogenetic trees and biodiversity continues to challenge what constituted, until recently, an unimpeded dogma in biology. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Reinforcement Learning, second edition Richard S. Sutton, Andrew G. Barto, 2018-11-13 The significantly expanded and updated new edition of a widely used text on reinforcement learning, one of the most active research areas in artificial intelligence. Reinforcement learning, one of the most active research areas in artificial intelligence, is a computational approach to learning whereby an agent tries to maximize the total amount of reward it receives while interacting with a complex, uncertain environment. In Reinforcement Learning, Richard Sutton and Andrew Barto provide a clear and simple account of the field's key ideas and algorithms. This second edition has been significantly expanded and updated, presenting new topics and updating coverage of other topics. Like the first edition, this second edition focuses on core online learning algorithms, with the more mathematical material set off in shaded boxes. Part I covers as much of reinforcement learning as possible without going beyond the tabular case for which exact solutions can be found. Many algorithms presented in this part are new to the second edition, including UCB, Expected Sarsa, and Double Learning. Part II extends these ideas to function approximation, with new sections on such topics as artificial neural networks and the Fourier basis, and offers expanded treatment of off-policy learning and policy-gradient methods. Part III has new chapters on reinforcement learning's relationships to psychology and neuroscience, as well as an updated case-studies chapter including AlphaGo and AlphaGo Zero, Atari game playing, and IBM Watson's wagering strategy. The final chapter discusses the future societal impacts of reinforcement learning. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Artificial Ape Timothy Taylor, 2010-07-20 A breakthrough theory that tools and technology are the real drivers of human evolution Although humans are one of the great apes, along with chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, we are remarkably different from them. Unlike our cousins who subsist on raw food, spend their days and nights outdoors, and wear a thick coat of hair, humans are entirely dependent on artificial things, such as clothing, shelter, and the use of tools, and would die in nature without them. Yet, despite our status as the weakest ape, we are the masters of this planet. Given these inherent deficits, how did humans come out on top? In this fascinating new account of our origins, leading archaeologist Timothy Taylor proposes a new way of thinking about human evolution through our relationship with objects. Drawing on the latest fossil evidence, Taylor argues that at each step of our species' development, humans made choices that caused us to assume greater control of our evolution. Our appropriation of objects allowed us to walk upright, lose our body hair, and grow significantly larger brains. As we push the frontiers of scientific technology, creating prosthetics, intelligent implants, and artificially modified genes, we continue a process that started in the prehistoric past, when we first began to extend our powers through objects. Weaving together lively discussions of major discoveries of human skeletons and artifacts with a reexamination of Darwin's theory of evolution, Taylor takes us on an exciting and challenging journey that begins to answer the fundamental question about our existence: what makes humans unique, and what does that mean for our future? |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Membrane Structural Biology Mary Luckey, 2008-03-17 Membrane Structural Biology brings together a physicochemical analysis of the membrane with the latest structural biology on membrane lipids and proteins to offer an exciting portrayal of biomembranes. Written with remarkable clarity, this text appears at a time when membranes have moved back into the scientific spotlight and will provide a unique foundation for advanced students and working scientists. The structure, function, and biogenesis of membrane lipids and proteins are examined, bioinformatics and computational approaches to membrane components are introduced, and the high-resolution structures that are giving new insights into the vital roles membranes play are discussed. The many correlations between membrane research and human health are discussed and key themes for future work in this area are identified. Membrane structural biology is poised to answer many basic and applied questions and this cutting-edge text will provide a solid grounding for all those working in this field. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Darwin on Trial Phillip E. Johnson, 1993 In the 2nd edition of this controversial critique of Darwinism the author responds to critics of the 1st edition and expands the material in chapter five. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: Out of Control Kevin Kelly, 1994 This is a book about how our manufactured world has become so complex that the only way to create yet more complex things is by using the principles of biology. This means decentralized, bottom up control, evolutionary advances and error-honoring institutions. I also get into the new laws of wealth in a network-based economy, what the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona has or has not to teach us, and whether large systems can predict or be predicted. And more: restoration biology, encryption, a-life, and the lessons of hypertext. Yes, it's a romp, in 520 pages. But the best part, my friends tell me, is the 28-page annotated bibliography. If you have suspected that technology could be better, more life-like, then this book is for you. -- Product Description. |
| student exploration evolution natural and artificial selection: The Beak of the Finch Jonathan Weiner, 2014-05-14 PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research of Darwin's discovery of evolution that spark[s] not just the intellect, but the imagination (Washington Post Book World) • With a new preface “Admirable and much-needed.... Weiner’s triumph is to reveal how evolution and science work, and to let them speak clearly for themselves.”—The New York Times Book Review On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings of the theory of evolution, two scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory. For among the finches of Daphne Major, natural selection is neither rare nor slow: it is taking place by the hour, and we can watch. In this remarkable story, Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself. The Beak of the Finch is an elegantly written and compelling masterpiece of theory and explication in the tradition of Stephen Jay Gould. |
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Definition of student noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. a person who is studying at a university or college. She's a student at Oxford. He's a third-year student at the …
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