Description
Book SynopsisIn his extraordinary book, Mayr fully explored, synthesized, and evaluated man’s knowledge about the nature of animal species and the part they play in the process of evolution. Now, in this long-awaited abridged edition, Mayr’s definitive work is made available to the interested nonspecialist, the college student, and the general reader.
Trade ReviewEvolution would not strike many nonscientific readers as a red-hot topic. The general impression is that Darwin settled all that in 1859… That isn’t so, as Mayr’s book testifies with a vengeance… This is a lovely, craggy book…something of a monument to an age of reason that now seems to be ending. * Book World *
A masterful exposition of what has come to be called the synthetic theory of biological evolution…strongly recommended as a text and a reference book, and for the general reader who wants to acquire a serious understanding of biological evolution. * American Scientist *
A magistral book…certainly the most important study of evolution that has appeared in many years—perhaps since the publication of
On the Origin of Species. -- Sir Julian Huxley (on
Animal Species and Evolution)
Table of Contents1. Evolutionary Biology 2. Species Concepts and Their Application 3. Morphological Species Characters and Sibling Species 4. Biological Properties of Species 5. Isolating Mechanisms 6. The Breakdown of Isolating Mechanisms (Hybridization) 7. The Population, Its Variation and Genetics 8. Factors Reducing the Genetic Variation of Populations 9. Storage and Protection of Genetic Variation 10. The Unity of the Genotype 11. Geographic Variation 12. The Polytypic Species of the Taxonomist 13. The Population Structure of Species 14. Kinds of Species 15. Multiplication of Species 16. Geographic Speciation 17. The Genetics of Speciation 18. The Ecology of Speciation 19. Species and Transpecific Evolution 20. Man as a Biological Species Glossary Bibliography Index
