Understanding Evolution

Kostas Kampourakis is the author and editor of books about evolution, genetics, philosophy, and history of science, and the editor of the Cambridge book series Understanding Life. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the journal Science and Education, and two other science education book series. He is currently a researcher at the University of Geneva, where he also teaches at the Section of Biology and the University Institute for Teacher Education (http://kampourakis.com).

• Preface: There is more to resistance to evolution than religion; 1. The public acceptance of evolution; 2. Religious resistance to accepting evolution; 3. Conceptual obstacles to understanding evolution; 4. Charles Darwin's conceptual change; 5. Common ancestry; 6. Evolutionary processes; 7. Evolution and the nature of science; Concluding remarks: the implications of evolution for human life; Index.

'While other books explain what is wrong with the popular attacks on evolution - e.g. creationism, or Intelligent Design - this concise book addresses the fundamental question: why do people fail to accept evolution? This is like going deep to the causes of the illness, while others just try to lower the fever. Kampourakis argues convincingly that teleology, rather than theology, is the most important obstacle to understanding evolution. It is not just matter of science vs. religion. This welcome book is a long argument about the cultural and psychological roots of the widespread misunderstandings of evolution. It opposes scientism - the claim that evolution, or science in general, can bring an end to our questions, worries, and concerns; and, at the same time, it argues that evolutionary theory does not deprive our life of meaning.' Alessandro Minelli, University of Padova, Italy, and author of Plant Evolutionary Developmental Biology