Introduction to the Science of Evolution

Evolution is a central unifying principle of biology, yet many students of biology have a poor grasp of what we mean when we refer to evolution, Darwinian evolution, or evolutionary theory. In addition, biology students frequently do not understand evolution as science; they fail to recognize that the study of evolution involves application of the scientific method, just like any other biological discipline. This leads to misconceptions about the scientific basis of evolution. Introduction to the Science of Evolution aims to rectify these misconceptions. Evolution is presented as a collection of testable theories, along with data that demonstrate the support for evolutionary concepts. The work of evolutionary biologists is illustrated to highlight how they are using the scientific method to address evolutionary questions. We begin by outlining the scientific method, and subsequent Chapters lay out the scientific basis for various key evolutionary concepts. Finally, we provide a brief survey of the history of life to illustrate some of the important results of evolutionary biology. This book is designed for college students new to the biological sciences. It is suitable as the main text for a stand-alone course, or as a supplement to other texts in a traditional introductory biology sequence. It includes numerous activities and assessments designed to let the student apply concepts they learn to real data, to develop their quantitative skills and their ability to read and interpret graphs, and to assess their own learning.