Description
How did modern humans emerge just 35,000 years ago, after their ancestor Homo erectus had survived for more than a million years without significant evolutionary change? Why do many species spring up during brief intervals of geologic time and then remain virtually unchanged for millions of years?
The heated debates now taking place in evolutionary circles revolve around the question of the tempo of evolutionary change. If the new evolutionary theory advanced in this book is correct, and species evolve very quickly, radically, and in small populations, then we shall have to rethink our traditional views of the ascent of man and the balance of nature.
Steven M. Stanley, who is at the forefront of this exciting debate, writes with force and eloquence about the history of evolutionary theory and its most dramatic new developments. Using examples taken from the fossil record and observations of living species that have formed almost before our eyes, Stanley provides an intriguing scientific and historical story. But while the arguments among scientists rage, one thing is certain: Darwin was right about evolution. And those who seek to put forth the "creationist" view will find no comfort in the theories of rapid evolutionary change discussed in this book. ISBN:9780465050130
