TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) The Future of Evolution DO - 10.17226/10499 PY - 2002 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10499/nas-colloquium-the-future-of-evolution PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences ER - TY - BOOK A2 - Walter M. Fitch A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - Tempo and Mode in Evolution: Genetics and Paleontology 50 Years After Simpson SN - DO - 10.17226/4910 PY - 1995 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/4910/tempo-and-mode-in-evolution-genetics-and-paleontology-50-years PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - Since George Gaylord Simpson published Tempo and Mode in Evolution in 1944, discoveries in paleontology and genetics have abounded. This volume brings together the findings and insights of today's leading experts in the study of evolution, including Ayala, W. Ford Doolittle, and Stephen Jay Gould. The volume examines early cellular evolution, explores changes in the tempo of evolution between the Precambrian and Phanerozoic periods, and reconstructs the Cambrian evolutionary burst. Long-neglected despite Darwin's interest in it, species extinction is discussed in detail. Although the absence of data kept Simpson from exploring human evolution in his book, the current volume covers morphological and genetic changes in human populations, contradicting the popular claim that all modern humans descend from a single woman. This book discusses the role of molecular clocks, the results of evolution in 12 populations of Escherichia coli propagated for 10,000 generations, a physical map of Drosophila chromosomes, and evidence for "hitchhiking" by mutations. ER - TY - BOOK A2 - Peter H. Raven A2 - Tania Williams TI - Nature and Human Society: The Quest for a Sustainable World SN - DO - 10.17226/6142 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/6142/nature-and-human-society-the-quest-for-a-sustainable-world PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - From earliest times, human beings have noticed patterns in nature: night and day, tides and lunar cycles, the changing seasons, plant succession, and animal migration. While recognizing patterns conferred great survival advantage, we are now in danger from our own success in multiplying our numbers and altering those patterns for our own purposes. It is imperative that we engage again with the patterns of nature, but this time, with awareness of our impact as a species. How will burgeoning human populations affect the health of ecosystems? Is loss of species simply a regrettable byproduct of human expansion? Or is the planet passing into a new epoch in just a few human generations? Nature and Human Society presents a wide-ranging exploration of these and other fundamental questions about our relationship with the environment. This book features findings, insights, and informed speculations from key figures in the field: E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy, Peter H. Raven, Gretchen Daily, David Suzuki, Norman Myers, Paul Erlich, Michael Bean, and many others. This volume explores the accelerated extinction of species and what we stand to lose—medicines, energy sources, crop pollination and pest control, the ability of water and soil to renew itself through biological processes, aesthetic and recreational benefits—and how these losses may be felt locally and acutely. What are the specific threats to biodiversity? The book explores human population growth, the homogenization of biota as a result in tourism and trade, and other factors, including the social influences of law, religious belief, and public education. Do we have the tools to protect biodiversity? The book looks at molecular genetics, satellite data, tools borrowed from medicine, and other scientific techniques to firm up our grasp of important processes in biology and earth science, including the "new" science of conservation biology. Nature and Human Society helps us renew our understanding and appreciation for natural patterns, with surprising details about microorganisms, nematodes, and other overlooked forms of life: their numbers, pervasiveness, and importance to the health of the soil, water, and air and to a host of human endeavors. This book will be of value to anyone who believes that the world's gross natural product is as important as the world's gross national product. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - John C. Avise A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - In the Light of Evolution: Volume III: Two Centuries of Darwin SN - DO - 10.17226/12692 PY - 2009 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12692/in-the-light-of-evolution-volume-iii-two-centuries-of PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences KW - Explore Science AB - Two Centuries of Darwin is the outgrowth of an Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium, sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on January 16-17, 2009. In the chapters of this book, leading evolutionary biologists and science historians reflect on and commemorate the Darwinian Revolution. They canvass modern research approaches and current scientific thought on each of the three main categories of selection (natural, artificial, and sexual) that Darwin addressed during his career. Although Darwin's legacy is associated primarily with the illumination of natural selection in The Origin, he also contemplated and wrote extensively about what we now term artificial selection and sexual selection. In a concluding section of this book, several science historians comment on Darwin's seminal contributions. Two Centuries of Darwin is the third book of the In the Light of Evolution series. Each installment in the series explores evolutionary perspectives on a particular biological topic that is scientifically intriguing but also has special relevance to contemporary societal issues or challenges. The ILE series aims to interpret phenomena in various areas of biology through the lens of evolution and address some of the most intellectually engaging, as well as pragmatically important societal issues of our times. ER - TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change DO - 10.17226/6238 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/6238/nas-colloquium-carbon-dioxide-and-climate-change PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Earth Sciences ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Improving Atmospheric Temperature Monitoring Capabilities: Letter Report DO - 10.17226/9968 PY - 2000 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9968/improving-atmospheric-temperature-monitoring-capabilities-letter-report PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences ER - TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) Plants and Population: Is There Time? DO - 10.17226/9619 PY - 1999 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9619/nas-colloquium-plants-and-population-is-there-time PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Agriculture KW - Environment and Environmental Studies ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - John C. Avise A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - In the Light of Evolution: Volume IV: The Human Condition SN - DO - 10.17226/12931 PY - 2010 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12931/in-the-light-of-evolution-volume-iv-the-human-condition PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - The Human Condition is a collection of papers by leading evolutionary biologists and philosophers of science that reflect on the Darwinian Revolution as it relates to the human condition at levels ranging from the molecular to the theological. The book focuses on understanding the evolutionary origin of humans and their biological and cultural traits. The Human Condition is organized into three parts: Human Phylogenetic History and the Paleontological Record; Structure and Function of the Human Genome; and Cultural Evolution and the Uniqueness of Being Human. This fourth volume from the In the Light of Evolution (ILE) series, based on a series of Arthur M. Sackler colloquia, was designed to promote the evolutionary sciences. Each volume explores evolutionary perspectives on a particular biological topic that is scientifically intriguing but also has special relevance to contemporary societal issues or challenges. Individually and collectively, the ILE series interprets phenomena in various areas of biology through the lens of evolution, addresses some of the most intellectually engaging as well as pragmatically important societal issues of our times, and fosters a greater appreciation of evolutionary biology as a consolidating foundation for the life sciences. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Perspectives on Biodiversity: Valuing Its Role in an Everchanging World SN - DO - 10.17226/9589 PY - 1999 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9589/perspectives-on-biodiversity-valuing-its-role-in-an-everchanging-world PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Resource-management decisions, especially in the area of protecting and maintaining biodiversity, are usually incremental, limited in time by the ability to forecast conditions and human needs, and the result of tradeoffs between conservation and other management goals. The individual decisions may not have a major effect but can have a cumulative major effect. Perspectives on Biodiversity reviews current understanding of the value of biodiversity and the methods that are useful in assessing that value in particular circumstances. It recommends and details a list of components—including diversity of species, genetic variability within and among species, distribution of species across the ecosystem, the aesthetic satisfaction derived from diversity, and the duty to preserve and protect biodiversity. The book also recommends that more information about the role of biodiversity in sustaining natural resources be gathered and summarized in ways useful to managers. Acknowledging that decisions about biodiversity are necessarily qualitative and change over time because of the nonmarket nature of so many of the values, the committee recommends periodic reviews of management decisions. ER - TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) Genetics and the Origin of Species: From Darwin to Molecular Biology 60 Years After Dobzhansky DO - 10.17226/5923 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5923/nas-colloquium-genetics-and-the-origin-of-species-from-darwin PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences TI - The Frontiers of Machine Learning: 2017 Raymond and Beverly Sackler U.S.-U.K. Scientific Forum SN - DO - 10.17226/25021 PY - 2018 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25021/the-frontiers-of-machine-learning-2017-raymond-and-beverly-sackler PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Engineering and Technology AB - The field of machine learning continues to advance at a rapid pace owing to increased computing power, better algorithms and tools, and greater availability of data. Machine learning is now being used in a range of applications, including transportation and developing automated vehicles, healthcare and understanding the genetic basis of disease, and criminal justice and predicting recidivism. As the technology advances, it promises additional applications that can contribute to individual and societal well-being. The Raymond and Beverly Sackler U.S.-U.K. Scientific Forum “The Frontiers
 of Machine Learning” took place on January 31 and February 1, 2017, at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Participants included industry leaders, machine learning researchers, and experts in privacy and the law, and this report summarizes their high-level interdisciplinary discussions. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - John C. Avise A2 - Stephen P. Hubbell A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - In the Light of Evolution: Volume II: Biodiversity and Extinction SN - DO - 10.17226/12501 PY - 2008 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12501/in-the-light-of-evolution-volume-ii-biodiversity-and-extinction PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - The current extinction crisis is of human making, and any favorable resolution of that biodiversity crisis--among the most dire in the 4-billion-year history of Earth--will have to be initiated by mankind. Little time remains for the public, corporations, and governments to awaken to the magnitude of what is at stake. This book aims to assist that critical educational mission, synthesizing recent scientific information and ideas about threats to biodiversity in the past, present, and projected future. This is the second volume from the In the Light of Evolution series, based on a series of Arthur M. Sackler colloquia, and designed to promote the evolutionary sciences. Each installment explores evolutionary perspectives on a particular biological topic that is scientifically intriguing but also has special relevance to contemporary societal issues or challenges. Individually and collectively, the ILE series aims to interpret phenomena in various areas of biology through the lens of evolution, address some of the most intellectually engaging as well as pragmatically important societal issues of our times, and foster a greater appreciation of evolutionary biology as a consolidating foundation for the life sciences. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - Joan E. Strassmann A2 - David C. Queller A2 - John C. Avise A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - In the Light of Evolution: Volume V: Cooperation and Conflict SN - DO - 10.17226/13223 PY - 2011 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13223/in-the-light-of-evolution-volume-v-cooperation-and-conflict PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - Biodiversity--the genetic variety of life--is an exuberant product of the evolutionary past, a vast human-supportive resource (aesthetic, intellectual, and material) of the present, and a rich legacy to cherish and preserve for the future. Two urgent challenges, and opportunities, for 21st-century science are to gain deeper insights into the evolutionary processes that foster biotic diversity, and to translate that understanding into workable solutions for the regional and global crises that biodiversity currently faces. A grasp of evolutionary principles and processes is important in other societal arenas as well, such as education, medicine, sociology, and other applied fields including agriculture, pharmacology, and biotechnology. The ramifications of evolutionary thought also extend into learned realms traditionally reserved for philosophy and religion. The central goal of the In the Light of Evolution (ILE) series is to promote the evolutionary sciences through state-of-the-art colloquia--in the series of Arthur M. Sackler colloquia sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences--and their published proceedings. Each installment explores evolutionary perspectives on a particular biological topic that is scientifically intriguing but also has special relevance to contemporary societal issues or challenges. This book is the outgrowth of the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium "Cooperation and Conflict," which was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on January 7-8, 2011, at the Academy's Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California. It is the fifth in a series of colloquia under the general title "In the Light of Evolution." The current volume explores recent developments in the study of cooperation and conflict, ranging from the level of the gene to societies and symbioses. Humans can be vicious, but paradoxically we are also among nature's great cooperators. Even our great conflicts-wars-are extremely cooperative endeavors on each side. Some of this cooperation is best understood culturally, but we are also products of evolution, with bodies, brains, and behaviors molded by natural selection. How cooperation evolves has been one of the big questions in evolutionary biology, and how it pays or does not pay is a great intellectual puzzle. The puzzle of cooperation was the dominant theme of research in the early years of Darwin's research, whereas recent work has emphasized its importance and ubiquity. Far from being a rare trait shown by social insects and a few others, cooperation is both widespread taxonomically and essential to life. The depth of research on cooperation and conflict has increased greatly, most notably in the direction of small organisms. Although most of In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation and Conflict is about the new topics that are being treated as part of social evolution, such as genes, microbes, and medicine, the old fundamental subjects still matter and remain the object of vigorous research. The first four chapters revisit some of these standard arenas, including social insects, cooperatively breeding birds, mutualisms, and how to model social evolution. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - Francisco J. Ayala A2 - Walter M. Fitch A2 - Michael T. Clegg TI - Variation and Evolution in Plants and Microorganisms: Toward a New Synthesis 50 Years After Stebbins SN - DO - 10.17226/9766 PY - 2000 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9766/variation-and-evolution-in-plants-and-microorganisms-toward-a-new PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - "The present book is intended as a progress report on [the] synthetic approach to evolution as it applies to the plant kingdom." With this simple statement, G. Ledyard Stebbins formulated the objectives of Variation and Evolution in Plants, published in 1950, setting forth for plants what became known as the "synthetic theory of evolution" or "the modern synthesis." The pervading conceit of the book was the molding of Darwin's evolution by natural selection within the framework of rapidly advancing genetic knowledge. At the time, Variation and Evolution in Plants significantly extended the scope of the science of plants. Plants, with their unique genetic, physiological, and evolutionary features, had all but been left completely out of the synthesis until that point. Fifty years later, the National Academy of Sciences convened a colloquium to update the advances made by Stebbins. This collection of 17 papers marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stebbins' classic. Organized into five sections, the book covers: early evolution and the origin of cells, virus and bacterial models, protoctist models, population variation, and trends and patterns in plant evolution. ER - TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) Science, Technology and the Economy DO - 10.17226/5707 PY - 1996 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5707/nas-colloquium-science-technology-and-the-economy PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Industry and Labor ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council AU - National Research Council TI - Intellectual Property Rights and Research Tools in Molecular Biology: Summary of a Workshop Held at the National Academy of Sciences, February 15-16, 1996 SN - DO - 10.17226/5758 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5758/intellectual-property-rights-and-research-tools-in-molecular-biology-summary PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences KW - Industry and Labor KW - Policy for Science and Technology ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - Jody Hey A2 - Walter M. Fitch A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - Systematics and the Origin of Species: On Ernst Mayr's 100th Anniversary SN - DO - 10.17226/11310 PY - 2005 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11310/systematics-and-the-origin-of-species-on-ernst-mayrs-100th PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - In December 2004, the National Academy of Sciences sponsored a colloquium on “Systematics and the Origin of Species” to celebrate Ernst Mayr’s 100th anniversary and to explore current knowledge concerning the origin of species. In 1942, Ernst Mayr, one of the twentieth century’s greatest scientists, published Systematics and the Origin of Species, a seminal book of the modern theory of evolution, where he advanced the significance of population variation in the understanding of evolutionary process and the origin of new species. Mayr formulated the transition from Linnaeus’s static species concept to the dynamic species concept of the modern theory of evolution and emphasized the species as a community of populations, the role of reproductive isolation, and the ecological interactions between species. In addition to a preceding essay by Edward O. Wilson, this book includes the 16 papers presented by distinguished evolutionists at the colloquium. The papers are organized into sections covering the origins of species barriers, the processes of species divergence, the nature of species, the meaning of “species,” and genomic approaches for understanding diversity and speciation. ER - TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) Earthquake Prediction: The Scientific Challenge DO - 10.17226/5709 PY - 1996 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5709/nas-colloquium-earthquake-prediction-the-scientific-challenge PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Energy and Energy Conservation ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences TI - Biographical Memoirs: Volume 48 SN - DO - 10.17226/571 PY - 1976 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/571/biographical-memoirs-volume-48 PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biography and Autobiography AB - Biographic Memoirs: Volume 48 contains the biographies of deceased members of the National Academy of Sciences and bibliographies of their published works. Each biographical essay was written by a member of the Academy familiar with the professional career of the deceased. For historical and bibliographical purposes, these volumes are worth returning to time and again. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academy of Sciences A2 - Camilo J. Cela-Conde A2 - Raúl Gutiérrez Lombardo A2 - John C. Avise A2 - Francisco J. Ayala TI - In the Light of Evolution: Volume VII: The Human Mental Machinery SN - DO - 10.17226/18573 PY - 2014 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18573/in-the-light-of-evolution-volume-vii-the-human-mental PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - Humans possess certain unique mental traits. Self-reflection, as well as ethic and aesthetic values, is among them, constituting an essential part of what we call the human condition. The human mental machinery led our species to have a self-awareness but, at the same time, a sense of justice, willing to punish unfair actions even if the consequences of such outrages harm our own interests. Also, we appreciate searching for novelties, listening to music, viewing beautiful pictures, or living in well-designed houses. But why is this so? What is the meaning of our tendency, among other particularities, to defend and share values, to evaluate the rectitude of our actions and the beauty of our surroundings? What brain mechanisms correlate with the human capacity to maintain inner speech, or to carry out judgments of value? To what extent are they different from other primates' equivalent behaviors? In the Light of Evolution Volume VII aims to survey what has been learned about the human "mental machinery." This book is a collection of colloquium papers from the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium "The Human Mental Machinery," which was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on January 11-12, 2013. The colloquium brought together leading scientists who have worked on brain and mental traits. Their 16 contributions focus the objective of better understanding human brain processes, their evolution, and their eventual shared mechanisms with other animals. The articles are grouped into three primary sections: current study of the mind-brain relationships; the primate evolutionary continuity; and the human difference: from ethics to aesthetics. This book offers fresh perspectives coming from interdisciplinary approaches that open new research fields and constitute the state of the art in some important aspects of the mind-brain relationships. ER -