Month: June 2014

Editors: Francisco J. Ayala, and John C. Avise Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press – 547 pages Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram This book is a collection, by two of the most distinguished evolutionary biologists, of 48 classic papers on evolution written by the world’s foremost researchers and scientists on the subject. The articles span in chronological order – from Charles Darwin’s 1859 renowned work on the origin of species to S.B. Carroll’s 2003 writings on genetics and the making of Homo Sapiens – about 150 years of scholarly thought. That period began with the “foggy” nineteenth century birth of evolutionary biology to an important event – the mapping of the human genome towards the end of the twentieth century. The range of subjects covered in these papers is large. Among them are: Adaptation Chromosome speciation Complex design Human genome Mutation Natural selection Pseudo genes In their Introduction, Ayala and Avise quote evolutionary geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky: “Evolution is God’s, or Nature’s method of creation.” This statement essentially throws away the long-standing conflict between creation and evolution that exists in many people’s minds. Evolution was then, God’s way of creation. Each of the 48 articles is reprinted in original form in this book the way it first appeared elsewhere. But the editors do the following to give each article a perspective: Explain why the article is important Place it in a...

Author: Leslie Day; Illustrated by: Mark A. Klinger; Foreword by NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram There are at least 12 parks within the borders of New York City that are natural habitats for birds and animals – areas that most New Yorkers may not be aware of. As Mayor Bloomberg observes in his Foreword to this valuable book, when people think of a natural environment within this vast metropolis of skyscrapers, what comes to mind is Central Park in Manhattan. But that is only one park in one borough. There are actually hundreds of parks in the city’s five boroughs, even as most of them are small and do not have fauna, just flora. But on page 12 of this book, you will find a nature map of New York City with a dozen parks where live a large variety of aquatic and land-based wildlife and birds, among them: many kinds of amphibians, bald eagles, bears, beavers, crustaceans, dolphins, fish, mink, mountain lions, muskrat, otter, reptiles, seals, dozens of species of waterfowl, wild turkeys, wolves, and even whales. These are among the known ones; what is unknown would enlarge this list. What are these parks? Besides the large 848-acre Central Park in Manhattan, they are: Inwood Hill Park and Riverside Park in the same borough; Pelham Bay Park and...