Book Description
How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable. In the book, Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a group of experts assembled by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine explain the fundamental methods of science, document the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluate the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including "intelligent design." The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations. The book also presents the scientific and legal reasons for not teaching creationist ideas in public school science classes. Mindful of school board battles and recent court decisions, Science, Evolution, and Creationism shows that science and religion should be viewed as different ways of understanding the world rather than as frameworks that are in conflict with each other and that the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. For educators, students, teachers, community leaders, legislators, policy makers, and parents who seek to understand the basis of evolutionary science, this publication will be an essential resource. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Lucid
Authoritative and clearly written. The National Academy of Sciences writes succinctly of the process of evolution and the univocal evidences which support it. The academy notes its corroboration in modern anthropology, astrophysics, chemistry, geology, physics, mathematics, and other scientific disciplines, including the behavioral and social sciences.

If we don't know where we came from we don't know who we are. Anyone interested in the origins of mankind and all the beauty and diversity of the biological world should read this book.

Science, Evolution and Creationism.
The National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine have done an amazing job of clearly explaining the evidence for evolution in our world,and showing the absolute fallacy of the Creationist myth.I learned over 60 years ago that evolution is a fact,and it never interfered with my Christian beliefs,and my role as a minister.Creationism is based on false premises and the book shows that there is no sense to their arguments.The book is so well written that a non-scientist like myself can understand what they are saying and respond to the failure of Creationism which they depict.

The eye of science
Excellent statements on the position by science regarding creation-evolution and Intelligent design although religious persons are likely never convinced of these facts and prefer to adhere to hearsay and outmoded unsubstantiated texts to the contrary

Scientific support for Darwinism not so universal
"... biological evolution by natural selection... scientific explanation... overwhelmingly substantiated." Page 12.

Is there any appeal against this statement being agreed upon and published by a committee of eminent scientists as fit to be taught in school? In "Biological Emergences" Robert G. B. Reid, Emeritus Professor at the University of Victoria, follows in the footsteps of the renowned science writer Gordon Rattray Taylor in "The Great Evolution Mystery" to raise disquieting evidence against natural selection. In his day Alfred Wallace raised potent objections to his own theory that have still not been rebutted--why had the talents elicited in us by civilization not been lost through disuse in the preceding 100,000 years?

Science requires the use of reason for choosing between opposing hypotheses. For this to be possible, reason must be free of physical determinism. If that is true of reason, it may be true of other mental faculties. If that is true, it is reasonable to doubt they could be generated by such a process as natural selection. Such a profound influence on sense of self is not so settled an issue that it should be taught in schools. Children should be taught about evolution, yes, but not about any kind of mechanism. The issue remains open.

science on science and faith
In this third edition of a booklet first published in 1984 for a general audience, a fifteen-person committee of science's most prestigious organization argues that "the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future."

In its three main chapters the booklet explores evolution and the nature of science, the evidence for biological evolution, and then creationist perspectives (including intelligent design), which are roundly rejected as science. Creationist perspectives might be taught in a comparative religions class, the authors argue, as long as differing creation stories from the major religions all receive equal and neutral treatment, but not as science and not as a way to "teach the controversy." The only controversy in science about evolution is not whether it happened but how. A section on nine FAQs and then a bibliography for further reading conclude the book.

A booklet this short raises all sorts of questions that can't be considered. Identifying creationists as young-earthers is problematic, although later the authors admit that the word is "a very broad term" that embraces "a wide variety of views" (pp. 37, 52). Praise is heaped upon science for its many advances and achievements, but there's nothing about the limits of science or its more inhumane accomplishments like nuclear weapons. In the understatement of the book it's admitted that the question of how life itself began is "a challenging scientific problem" that has garnered little consensus among scientists.

Still, it's refreshing for the NAS and the IM to admit that "science is not the only way of knowing or understanding" (p. 12). Although the brief bibliography includes Daniel Dennett's extremely polemical book Darwin's Dangerous Idea, it was nice to see readers also directed to The Language of God by Francis Collins (head of the Genome Project) and Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller (a Christian biologist at Brown University). I wish they had also included the Christian contributions of Stanford biologist Joan Roughgarden, the Harvard astronomer Owen Gingerich, and the Cambridge physicist-turned-Anglican-priest John Polkinghorne. "Science can neither prove nor disprove religion," the authors admit on the last page. Since "many religious beliefs involve entities or ideas that currently are not within the domain of science, it would be false to assume that all religious beliefs can be challenged by scientific findings." ... Read more

Book Description
What is the biological reason for gossip?
For laughter? For the creation of art?
Why do dogs have curly tails?
What can microbes tell us about morality?

These and many other questions are tackled by renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson in this witty and groundbreaking new book. With stories that entertain as much as they inform, Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion. Now everyone can move beyond the sterile debates about creationism and intelligent design to share Darwin’s panoramic view of animal and human life, seamlessly connected to each other.

Evolution, as Wilson explains, is not just about dinosaurs and human origins, but about why all species behave as they do—from beetles that devour their own young, to bees that function as a collective brain, to dogs that are smarter in some respects than our closest ape relatives. And basic evolutionary principles are also the foundation for humanity’s capacity for symbolic thought, culture, and morality.

In example after example, Wilson sheds new light on Darwin’s grand theory and how it can be applied to daily life. By turns thoughtful, provocative, and daringly funny, Evolution for Everyone addresses some of the deepest philosophical and social issues of this or any age. In helping us come to a deeper understanding of human beings and our place in the world, it might also help us to improve that world.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

From Darwin to Wilson: an Epic Journey
Darwin himself would be proud of David Sloan Wilson and his understanding of the biological principles of evolution and their ever expanding application to all things human.

Darwin was, and Wilson is, able to fully appreciate with awe the miracles of what we see around us everyday that have arisen from natural selection and chance and not creationism or intelligent design.

By his tone, I surmised that Wilson admired Darwin's quiet demeanor, fully understanding the world around him, and using the principles of evolution to integrate a great diversity of academic subjects. He wants to pattern his goals after those of Darwin, to gently share his inspiration with the rest of the world, being cautious not to upset too much any one political or religious group.

Wilson studied religions for three years and sampled 24 of them to create viable hypotheses regarding their purpose and nature from an evolutionary perspective. In the process, he became of a scientist and a religious scholar at the same time.

Now, in "Evolution for Everyone" he is suggesting with confidence that what he discovered about the evolutionary workings of religion can be applied to economics and politics as well, in addition to any thing else that has to do with life.

Wilson shows how Calvinism in Geneva was instrumental in solving the problem of factionalism, and helping the city survive as a social entity, and had evolved a sophisticated internalized system of government that prevented corruption and adapted to current needs.

He also points out that religious belief systems are more user friendly.

"They reduce the complexity of the real world to motivate a suite of behaviors that are adaptive in the real world.Ironically, the reason that trade-offs are absent from religious beliefs systems is because of a trade-off between maximizing factual and practical realism at the same time."

"Religions that build strong communities survive while other versions fall apart. The elements of a religion required for survival depend upon the surrounding social environment, so religions necessarily diversify as they evolve."

"Religions are good at providing practical benefits so that their members become wealthy, whereupon they lose the incentive to cooperate and try to loosen the very structure that lifted them out of poverty."

Wilson make a strong case to show that "religions not only adapt to their social environments but also change their social environments, leading to an endless cycle of corruption and renewal that has been documented by scholars for all religious traditions, around the world, and throughout history."

"Finally, there is the question of whether a belief system can combine the best of religion and science, enabling people to flourish in sustainable communities while remaining fully committed to factual realism. It is important to realize that this would be a new cultural adaptation, never before seen on the face of the earth."

E.O. Wilson's book hit me over the head back in the 1970's with the power of biology to explain behavior, and I have been hooked ever since.

David Sloan Wilson excellent book is yet another fix, another burst of realization of the powers of evolutionary theory.

Scott Richard Campbell
Author of RUSH: Fighting the Poker Al-Qaeda

Mr. Nice-Guy of genetic determinism
The author is very pleasant in person. His manner, like his writings, is warm and gentle. In this book he assures us that we too can apply the same principles that have helped him become the sensitive understanding person he obviously is. But my prejudice makes me see his writings as velvet gloves for the same iron fists of physical determinism that more-hard-nosed professional atheists openly brandish. Richard Dawkins for example plays bad-guy, openly rallying atheists and fellow-travellers for battle against the church, David Sloan-Wilson instead portrays the church as the logical, almost welcome, outcome of evolutionary group selection, actually a much more insidious attack on the validity of faith than frontal assault.

I agree further enlightenment lies not in the church but in greater understanding of the processes of evolution. But I don't think it lies in the directions being pursued by David Sloan Wilson, even though his heart's in the right place. I hope his students in Evos are being introduced to a wider range of opinion and the possibility that human selves are not the outcome of physical determinism and natural selection alone. The procedures of science itself presume that hypotheses can be considered true or false, something impossible in a determined universe. What's true of reason cannot logically be ruled out for our other mental faculties. What kind of processes might be involved in the evolution of such faculties? As an early devotee to Positivism, Darwin couldn't ask himself this question. We can.

A "Do-It-Yourself" manual for evolutionary research.
I really wanted to love this book, but I can only say that I really liked it. First, what I liked about it:
1) It is very well written. The style is casual and accessible.
2) He had a worthy (if lofty) goal: Giving the average person the desire and the tools to think like an evolutionist and to allow them to apply these principles in new ways to their own lives. Stresses the far-reaching applicability and near-universality of evolutionary concepts.
3) He also brings the whole career of scientist out of the realm of the mysterious and elusive, making it at least sound like something anyone can do (given the desire and the tools). This is actually one of the book's best features. He characterizes himself as having been a mediocre student. Like many of us, math didn't come easy. Yet he is a prominent and well-published research scientist. This message would be especially helpful to high-school and college students who think that one has to be a born genius with an Ivy League education to be a real scientist.
4) Some of the studies are really fascinating (for example, infanticide, the psychotic monkeys, curly tails, the killer chickens, etc). Sounds like a battle of the bands line-up.
5) Good analogies (rooms of a mansion, dancing with ghosts, etc) really help to explain evolutionary concepts.
6) Just enough personal stuff to keep it interesting (such as how he met his wife, growing up with a famous author as his father, etc)

Now for what I didn't like much:
1) Some of it seems very speculative to me. While I'm no research biologist, I do have an undergraduate degree in biology as well some graduate work under my belt so I do have at least a basic understanding of the scientific process, etc. Also, in my current job, I do occasionally read the scientific literature.While that doesn't make me an expert by any means, I think it does give me the ability get a sense of how rigorous a piece of science is. Frankly, some of the science in the book just didn't seem that tight (e.g. pregnancy sickness, murder city, early birthing)
2) Sometimes the book seems like a pitch for his pet theories regarding group selection.
3) I'm probably wrong, but I wonder if he goes easy on religion because one of the sources of his funding is the Templeton Foundation (or whatever it's called). Nah, probably just my own biases creeping up (I hope).

Overall, this is a book I would recommend but with the caveat that not all of it represents scientific consensus (which it does not claim to do anyways, he actually admits as much when appropriate). Its positive aspects outweigh the negatives, IMO.It certainly does make you think, even if you already have a solid background in evolutionary theory.

A great introduction to evolutionary theory and the process of science
As a student of David Sloan Wilson's I am clearly positively biased before opening the cover. DSW has taught a course which he bases this book on for many years. The course is excellent and the book is an excellent portrayal of the course.

Evolutionary theorists tend to either be very narrow in the scope of what they perceive is important and explainable by evolution, or to go well beyond evidence into silly story telling. DSW is refreshing in that he resolutely sticks to the science, but does not allow this to make himself narrow minded. There are many forces shaping organisms including historical contingency, pleiotropy, genetics, development, cultural evolution and multilevel selection. Many evolutionists take the untenable position that one such force is more important than another. DSW instead sees all of these forces as important depending upon the context and history and ultimately just alternative theories to be empirically tested.

This book's view of the evolution of religion is also refreshing. In a time when many evolutionists have taken off their evolutionist hats to become political hacks in the promotion of some lame brand of atheism, DSW instead tries to explain what religions are, the good and the bad, how they develop and are like other groups of organisms arranged functionally.

Some have critiqued DSW for being pompous. I can see why they would say this, because he talks about some of his work and accomplishments (which are considerable). However, they are somewhat missing the point. These anecdotes are mainly as examples, to give the book a human element and because they are some of the examples he knows best. The careful reader will see that he uses similar language to describe the work of others.

Recommended for all. The general public will see a solid presentation of evolution and an invitation to actively engage in science or whatever their passion might be. Evolutionary biologists will see a more open view of their field and hopefully some of the child-like intrigue that originally brought them to the field. Social scientists might see a broader and more empirically based paradigm to build upon. Those already familiar with DSW work will get a more carefree and autobiographical view than his past books.

It's not only the bugs that are buried
One has to give David Sloan Wilson full marks for perserverence.He has spent a good part of his career in a struggle to bolster an untenable idea.Evolution, he says, works on "groups".Not on "species" as once was thought, or down a lineage of individuals as Charles Darwin long ago contended, but on something in between.Having failed to convince the scientific community, in this most recent of his books he turns to a new ally, the general public.In this work, he wants people, in particular his fellow countrymen, to understand that anything to do with life has evolutionary roots.While that's an admirable quest, and offered in a style more scientists should emulate, his reason for that ambition remains fixed on his long-standing crusade.

Wilson starts humbly with a study of a simple creature - the burying beetle.He uses the beetle's reproductive habits to demonstrate the vagaries of nature's selection process.The beetle is a form of scavenger - hunting small mammal corpses which it returns to its burrow.Instead of laying eggs on the remains, however, the female - who remains in residence, unlike most insects - deposits them on the burrow walls.As they hatch, the parents assess the amount of food available and do a head count of the hatchlings.If there are more young than food to sustain them, the parents simply pare down the population.Wilson's purpose in relating this bizarre behaviour is to demonstrate that anyone can find how Darwin's idea works in their own back yard.It's not necessary to be a specialist nor even have a university degree to study the evolutionary process.Just be prepared to be observant and perhaps get your knees soiled.

As a scientist of wide interests, Wilson bemoans the lack of knowledge of evolution in the US population.Not only do more than half its number dismiss the idea, nearly all of them fail to integrate its tenets in their everyday lives.Even the "educated" fail to meet his standard.A prime example is the medical profession whose members treat "morning sickness" in ways that wholly ignore the evolutionary roots and processes of the human immune system.The result, he argues, leads to enigmatic problems among newborns, including undersized or easily infected babies.The immune system in the embryo was impaired by anti-nausea drugs.While unpleasant for the gravid mother, pregnancy sickness is a sign of the foetus' developing fully functioning immunity mechanisms.

Jumping from beetles to humans is the author's method for bringing in his theme of group selection.Although he rather blithely arranges many facets of life, from gene assemblages through "superorganisms" like ants and bees, his real goal becomes clear when he gets to humans.Cultures, he argues, are clear symbols of how group selection works.The binding force of cultures, he contends, is religion.Any religion.To reinforce this concept, he relates the research leading to his earlier work, "Darwin's Cathedral" [posted on by this reviewer 2 December 2002].Fostered by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, which supports research in "religion and science", Wilson and a colleague engaged in a project studying"forgiveness" among students and reports on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes.Later, he took up "altruism" with a similar aim.For Wilson, evolution works on "in-group" selection rather than "between-group" selection.The latter, of course, smacks of the criticism laid on Darwin's thesis which was portrayed as "nature red in tooth and claw"."Group selection" on such a basis is hardly biology, and wholly ignores the commitment usually made by members of the "in group".Part of their cohesion rests on who remains outside.

Wilson wants to elevate humans, with their supportive capacity, above such brutal appellations.Humans, using their reasoning power, can learn how evolution works.From that understanding, he argues that we can guide our own future in a more secure manner.He denies the charge that humans are fated by our genes to engage in violent conflict [although after years of searching, i've yet to learn who made that accusation], and contends that natural senses of empathy, cooperation and generosity can be harnessed to outpace competition and narrow views of human society.The aim is well-stated and entirely within the bounds of reason.It's unfortunate that much of his target audience is unlikely to comprehend his message or will simply dismiss it as based on a "false idea" - that of natural selection.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] ... Read more

Book Description
Finally, the war between science and religion is over. The winner? All of us. With supporters from an incredibly wide spectrum of backgrounds and beliefs, including five Nobel laureates, Thank God for Evolution! builds bridges, provides guidance, and restores realistic hope for humanity and the body of life as a whole.

A movement has been growing over the past few decades that takes our common creation story -- the epic of cosmic, biological, and human evolution revealed by science -- as the basis for a meaningful view of our place in the universe. Reverend Michael Dowd, America's evolutionary evangelist, is at the forefront of this movement. This well informed, thoroughly researched, and inspired book proclaims a gospel billions of years old.

Thank God for Evolution! presents in a lively and accessible manner the reasons why it is now possible to view evolution as a divine process; how current science shows that evolution is not meaningless blind chance; practical methods for using evolutionary insights to achieve greater personal fulfillment and thriving relationships; and how aligning with evolutionary trends can guide activists and others hoping to make our world a better place. As a Christian minister, Dowd especially addresses the concerns that Christians have about evolution, but this book contains insights that will appeal to people of all faiths and of no faith. Fun and uplifting, Thank God for Evolution! goes beyond the current debate to offer up a whole new way of thinking about science, religion, and the meaning and purpose of our lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

A desperate voice
In a nation where nearly half the adult population denies or rejects the reality of Darwinian natural selection, Michael Dowd is a fresh voice.He's disturbed about that lack of acceptance of reality, so he applies the term in many forms to make his pitch.His cause is to incorporate various realities: deep time, the continuity of life, and the genetic underpinnings of our behaviour.All the while, however, keeping his "Christian" deity plugged into the equation.He wants, he says, a "marriage of Science and Religion".While he does this with enthusiasm, using prose skills honed in his travelling road show, the project ultimately fails.If nothing else, his desperation to convince his fellow unrealists shows through on every page.The result is rather like your Mum giving you bitter medicine in your orange juice.Looks good at first, but one swallow betrays the underlying reality of the dose.

Each chapter is preceded by an epigram, and the first - by John Haught: "Evolution is Darwin's gift to theology" - is sadly symptomatic.Haught, like Dowd, completely overlooks what led Darwin to abandon the need for the supernatural - 13 finch species on a scattering of East Pacific islands.What would prompt a deity to such "wasteful" divergence?Diversity, Darwin reasoned, rested on the notion of an ancient Earth.The time was required to allow the slow, incremental changes natural selection needs to produce the great variety of life-forms we see today.Dowd not only accepts this foundation, he insists on it.The book's opening deals with the vast story of the cosmos, while showing clearly that individual retains a role in such complex emptiness.The author wants his readers to accept the idea of "deep time" with all the variation it can produce as something to embrace.That puts the reader in the picture Dowd is introducing and pulls them through the remainder of the book.He justifies this by declaring the "universe is in a trajectory" carrying us along with it.Such a statement flirts with teleological concepts, which Dowd indirectly champions.

Dowd sets up a number of dividing lines which he feels will help the reader comprehend his message.Two are related to historical times - the Black Death's devastation of Western Europe challenged the notion of a "just" deity, leading to the beginnings of scientific investigation.The other, more amorphous, he calls the change from "Flat-Earth Faith" to "Evolutionary Faith"."Flat-Earth Faith" reflects a time when knowledge of the world was limited to experiences and beliefs of a given locality and time."Evolutionary Faith" relies on awareness of all humans being interconnected through time within the vastness of the 14-billion-year-old cosmos.It's a significant leap for many, even today, but Dowd provides a one-man cheering section to encourage his readers to take that "leap of faith". The encouragement comes in the form of explanations of why things change, why change should be recognised and embraced, and why evolution is real.How Dowd can endorse natural selection without once mentioning the Galapagos finches that prompted it eludes this reviewer, but he manages the feat.

He manages it simply by ignoring it.For all his reading in cosmology, geophysics and the rest, the logic of natural selection has eluded him.He endorses deep time, but only as a wedge to insert his deity into the mechanism.Dowd pounds that wedge mercilessly with a constant reiteration of how his god is ultimately responsible for EVERYTHING.By the time we reach Section Four, Dowd's evangelical passion is at fever pitch.He's anxious to re-establish his credentials and lure his readership to his newfound cause.He even cites his wife's "conversion" and his own "gift of tongues" as obiter dicta in pleading his case.In a spoken form, this technique might work to a receptive audience.In print, it's wearying beyond measure.In the final analysis, this book is nothing more than another entry in the "Old Earth Creationist" collection.It offers little but enthusiasm and a deity that may - or may not, we remain blithely unclear on this - tinker with the universe and its living inhabitants.To what end, we remain unclear.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Science and Religion Shake Hands

Dowd has made a breakthrough in closing the divisons between science and religion. These insights will lead mankind to a new paradigm. I really think it can lead to a new understanding of who we are.

Reconciling Science and Religion
The authors live in a van, as itinerant storytellers of what they call The Great Story.Michael Dowd has got to be one of the most energetic people I know.I asked him to write this book in 1989, no, I begged, pleaded, kowtowed, and did everything else I could think of to convince him to write it.Is it perfect?No.What book is?I was raised by people who saw no conflict between science and religion, and were equally fascinated by both.The naysayer reviews remind me of the scientific sniping at popularizations of Quantum Mechanics.I read every one of those popularizations I can find, they are fascinating.If you don't like the popularizations, then do a better job yourself.I helped edit this book, at no charge [they didn't accept all of my recommendations, though], and I don't think any of the editors were paid, the authors don't make a lot.They do what they do out of their hearts.It is time to discharge the polarized conflict between religion and science, and to recognize that from a larger perspective, one presented in this book, there never was a conflict at all.Native American elders note that humans survive through cooperation, not via competition.Any book that promotes cooperation, understanding, and communication is also a book that promotes healing.I donated a copy of this book to the University I graduated from, I liked it that much.The authors have turned crowds of angry fundamentalists, both religious and scientific, with their concordances or scientific references at half cock, into crowds that found the larger perspective very interesting.This book is also about restoring meaning to life, and thus about healing and peacemaking.Modern society is so fragmented, and has so many problems as a result.Healing that fragmentation is right livelihood.These guys do so, in a fascinating way.I'm sure there are errors in the book.So what?The half life of a medical school education is about 4 years, that is, half of what doctors learn in school is obsolete in 4 years. Those who criticize it seem to either have an agenda, and or taking items out of context.A bridge has supports on both sides, which means this book has to straddle both science and religion.Conflict, like light, in Quantum Mechanics, exists because people choose to see it.Newtonian physics was a great advance, in its day.Newer discoveries simply expand the envelope.This book is a similar expansion, which embraces both science and religion.My parents raised me to think this way, and I'm glad to see these ideas in print.

A Landmark Scientific and Spiritual Telling of the Evolutionary Story
I think "Thank God for Evolution!" is a landmark book.I found it an easy-to-read and inspiring telling of the great story of evolution that is both scientifically accurate and spiritually satisfying. Dowd bridges the divide between science and religion by making a sound case that there is room for both -- and, in fact, that we are best served when the gifts of both are embraced. I found such ideas as "day language" and "night language" and public and private revelation to give me practical frames for how to think about what each offers.

And the more I think about it, the more I think Dowd's contribution goes beyond providing an ideological way through this long-standing science/religion conflict.I think he provides many of us with means to connect with people who hold different beliefs from us. Who knows? This book could help reunite the many families who are separated by the stark options that talking about evolution usually presents. Next time you visit a relative who sees this issue differently, you might bring them a copy of this book as a way to reach out.

As someone who was raised Jewish, I wasn't initially drawn to the section of the book in which Dowd re-interprets Christian doctrine through an evolutionary lens. However, once I started reading it, I was intrigued by the potential of recasting any generally accepted doctrine - religious, political, or otherwise -with an evolutionary eye. As David Sloan Wilson's "Evolution for Everyone" makes clear, there is a lifetime of creative work in this terrain!

Since being exposed to Michael Dowd's work several years ago, I have personally traveled from having no spiritual leaning towards evolution at all to a growing sense of my own center in evolutionary spirituality. In the last year I've gotten involved with a research project to understand evolutionary dynamics that can serve to change social systems. We're exploring Dowd's framing of the directionality of evolution as moving towards increasing diversity, complexity, awareness, speed of change, and intimacy with itself.

But that's all my journey.Still, I can say with confidence that no matter what your current view of evolution is, "Thank God for Evolution!" will expand it.Not to mention that you'll find you are intimately involved in how it all works out!

See your world in a new way
This is a life-changing book for believers and non-believers alike. If nothing else, it illuminates the generally held modern view of evolution
as an understandable progression controlled, or at least influenced by its participants. A major aim of the book is the revelation that religion and evolution are telling the same great story, and many Christians--as well as members of other faiths--will add breadth and richness to their beliefs. However, this book can be enjoyed for the clarity it brings to the world as we experience it: you will see your world in a new way. "Now it all makes better sense!" And you will understand what an important part you play in the interconnected web of existence. ... Read more

Book Description

Over the past twenty years, paleontologists have made tremendous fossil discoveries, including fossils that mark the growth of whales, manatees, and seals from land mammals and the origins of elephants, horses, and rhinos. Today there exists an amazing diversity of fossil humans, suggesting we walked upright long before we acquired large brains, and new evidence from molecules that enable scientists to decipher the tree of life as never before.

The fossil record is now one of the strongest lines of evidence for evolution. In this engaging and richly illustrated book, Donald R. Prothero weaves an entertaining though intellectually rigorous history out of the transitional forms and series that dot the fossil record. Beginning with a brief discussion of the nature of science and the "monkey business of creationism," Prothero tackles subjects ranging from flood geology and rock dating to neo-Darwinism and macroevolution. He covers the ingredients of the primordial soup, the effects of communal living, invertebrate transitions, the development of the backbone, the reign of the dinosaurs, the mammalian explosion, and the leap from chimpanzee to human. Prothero pays particular attention to the recent discovery of "missing links" that complete the fossil timeline and details the debate between biologists over the mechanisms driving the evolutionary process.

Evolution is an absorbing combination of firsthand observation, scientific discovery, and trenchant analysis. With the teaching of evolution still an issue, there couldn't be a better moment for a book clarifying the nature and value of fossil evidence. Widely recognized as a leading expert in his field, Prothero demonstrates that the transformation of life on this planet is far more awe inspiring than the narrow view of extremists.

Customer Reviews (17)

Beneficial to Science Teachers
If you teach biology or am interested in learning more about evolution, this is a very benficial book for several reasons. I was expecting a book focusing mainly on the fossil evidence, but instead found content that included the nature of science, the basics of evolutionary theory, and discussion of many of the creationists claims. This part of the book was reinforcing to how and what I teach when I teach evolution to my high school students. Prothero is not shy, although polite, about suggestioning creationist idealogues like Hovind are either totally uninformed or dishonest. (Probably both.) It gave me some additional insight into the nature of the so-called "controversy" and gave me food for thought on how to enhance my lessons.Another reason why this book is a great read for any biology teacher or person interested in evolution is that the fossil evidence is broken down into organism groups and is HUGE!, with more fossils being found all of the time. By the end of this concise and clear presentation of the fossil evidence, one can't help but be overwhelmed by the abundance of transitionsl fossils in many of the groups. Clearly, Hamm, Hovind and others have not done their homework in regards to disputing the lack of transitional fossils. Prothero's book is well written and an easy read (although editing out those errors could have been better!). It has wonderful drawings, including clear sketches of family trees, and many excellent photos. For many reasons I found this book beneficial to me as a science teacher and would recommend that it be added to a list of "need to read" books for all secondary biology teachers.

More Transitional Fossils than You Can Shake a Bible at!
I was in love with dinosaurs when I was a kid, and I still am. It was my love for dinosaurs and fossils and especially my time spent learning the minutea of the evolutionary history of horses that quickly brought me into direct conflict with the church that I was being inculcated into when I was very young and innocent. Subsequently, I had to learn about evolution in small niblets on the sly. But I wish I had been able to read paleontologist Don Prothero's beautifully written and lavishly illustrated book. More than just a lucid overview of the fossil record, this book magnificently accomplishes its two primary objectives by showing how the "hard data" of the incredibly rich fossil record supports evolution, while also pointing out how pervasive creationist lies, misquotations and various deceptions actually are.

This robust clothbound volume comprises 381 pages printed on heavy, glossy paper. Each of the 16 chapters and its subsections begins with a quotation from an evolutionary scientist, various thinkers or from the Bible, and each chapter ends with a fairly extensive list of books and original papers that the author recommends for further reading. The book also includes a 10-page bibliography and an 8-page user-friendly index.

Prothero's book is divided into two parts. The first section serves as an introduction to the basic concepts that underpin the themes explored in the remainder of the book. The author compares science to various belief systems; discussing what science is (and is not), pointing out the differences between the scientific and religious/mainstream use of the word "theory", identifying scientists' goals, and describing how to detect pseudoscientific claims ("baloney detection"). Prothero also devotes an entire chapter to a fascinating historical discussion of the evolution of religion itself where he presents his own knowledge of the Bible gleaned from his in-depth readings of ancient biblical texts in their original languages. Even though I had a strongly biblical childhood, I still found this chapter to be quite illuminating.

Prothero then introduces his reader to fossils by describing the "lucky accidents" that fossils actually are since fossilization is a very rare event. He also presents a wonderfully persuasive and lavishly illustrated discussion of the superpositional order of rock strata and the associated fossils documented from a number of deep canyons in North America, particularly the Grand Canyon.

In "The Evolution of Evolution", the author reviews how evolutionary thought has changed since the time of the ancient Greeks through Darwin, from the Neo-Darwinian synthesis (which combines population genetics with paleontology, biogeography, ecology and systematics), to punctuated equilibrium and he even ventures out of his field of expertise into a brief discussion of "evo/devo"; evolutionary development. In a particularly well-written chapter, Prothero describes how cladistics has revolutionized our understanding of systematics and taxonomy;

"Some aspects of cladistic theory have proven more difficult for many scientists to accept. For example, a cladogram is simply a branching diagram of relationships between three or more taxa. It does not specify whether one taxon is ancestral to another; it only shows the topology of their relationships as established by shared derived characters. In its simplicity and lack of additional assumptions, it is beautifully testable and falsifiable, so meets Popper's criterion for a valid scientific hypothesis. The nodes are simply branching points supported by shared derived characters, which presumably represent the most recent hypothetical common ancestor of the taxa that branch from that node. But strictly speaking, cladograms never put real taxa at any nodes, but only at the tips of branches." [Prothero, pp. 133-134].

The author shows that evolution is shaped like a bush, with many lineages branching off from one another and where "ancestors" live alongside their evolutionary descendants, instead of the more traditional view of an "evolutionary ladder", where ascending this ladder from "lower" species represents evolution into ever more perfect forms, with humans at the top and the gods above them. This "ladder" view also erroneously implies that evolution has directionality when in fact, it does not.

The second part of this book, entitled "Evolution? The fossils say YES!", is a direct response to creationist Duane Gish's fibdamentalist book, Evolution, the Fossils Say No! This section, which comprises more than half of the total book, provides a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the vast smorgasbord of transitional fossils that are known for nearly every major group of animals (plants are not even mentioned in this book). These chapters are jam-packed with information, each representing at least several lifetimes of dedicated research.

After establishing that amino acids and other complex organic compounds could have arisen de novo under the conditions present on a newly-formed Earth, Prothero then gallops quickly through the evolutionary histories of most major animal groups from microbes and other single-celled organisms, to simple multi-celled organisms, from a suite of invertebrate types to the vertebrates; the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs and birds, and mammals. He focuses on specific transition fossils by describing several meticulously documented examples in snakes, whales, horses, giraffes and elephants, just to name a few. He even includes Tiktaalik! Ironically, since humans are not the apex of evolution, Prothero nonetheless includes a separate chapter that specifically focuses on primates, particularly human evolution.

The last chapter of the book is probably the most important: it vigorously argues that creationism is not only dangerous to American education but also to the continued survival of this country. Prothero notes that the rise of creationism in the late 1950s has led to the steadily increasing scientific illiteracy rate among Americans, which threatens this country's economic future because we are trying to compete with better educated countries in a vast global economy dominated by science and technology. He also shows how denying evolution is harmful to our health, as demonstrated by the sadly unsuccessful baboon-to human heart transplant in 1984 by a surgeon who was a devout creationist.

The book features many diagrams and photographs that compliment its discussions. Many of the illustrations were done by my friend, superb paleo-wildlife artist Carl Buell. To give you an idea of the quality of the illustrations in this book, I want to draw your attention to several pictures are especially good examples of Buell's prodigious skills: the first is Color Plate 10 (in the middle of the book), which depicts the Eocene whale, Ambulosetus natans, discovered in Pakistan. This color painting is shown alongside a photograph of the fossils from which the drawing was made. But instead of portraying this animal as a static figure, Buell portrays the nascent whale leaping out of the water to grab another Eocene mammal in its large, toothy mouth (I guess that unfortunate mammal is an early horse). Another absolutely gorgeous example of Buell's artistic abilities is the truly remarkable black and white drawing of how life looked on earth for the first 3 billion years of its history [figure 7.1; p. 160]. I could go on and on praising Buell's artwork.

Since this is such an excellent book, I was surprised to find several mistakes in one paragraph about birds;

"[...] The common European house sparrow is found all over North America today, but it is an invader, brought from Europe in 1852. The initial populations escaped and quickly spread all over North America from the northern boreal forests of Canada down to Costa Rica. We know that the ancestral population was all very similar because they were introduced from a few escaped immigrants. [...] House sparrows from the north are darker in color than their southern cousins, perhaps because dark colors help absorb sunlight and light colors are better at reflecting it in warm climates. Many other changes in wing length, bill shape, and other features have been documented. These differences are so extreme that bird watchers in the south cannot tell that they are looking at the same species as bird watchers in the north." [Prothero, p. 115]

There are two errors in this paragraph. First, English house sparrows didn't escape, they were brought to North America specifically to be released here, and released they were -- twice -- in Central Park. Second, even though English house sparrows potentially represent a wonderful example of "backyard evolution" that is obvious to everyone, this is most certainly not the case. While I am not questioning that there are measurable morphological differences in this species based on their geographical location, these differences are so minor that this species basically looks the same everywhere they are found, especially to the casual observer.

Unfortunately, despite the book's high production quality, I did run across a fair number of typographical and semantic errors -- most of which could have been caught by a spell-checker alone, although a good editor should have done a better job of it. I expect these errors will be addressed in future print runs. However, these flaws should not distract the reader from the overall strength of this well-argued book.

This book is intended for interested readers without a specialized scientific background, students of science, and for those who wish to become better acquainted with the extensive fossil record for animals and how it refutes creationist lies. I highly recommend this book to school and public libraries and to anyone who is interested in gaining a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the fossil record and how it provides a powerful argument in support of evolution.

This review was originally published at http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/

Simply the best general introduction to the fossil record
This book is essential reading for anybody interested in not only evolution, but the evolution/creation debates.It is detailed, informative, hard-hitting, and FUN. Protero's goal is to show that the fossil record provides staggering amounts of evidence for evolution, and to use that evidence to dispel the moronic assertions of creationists that the fossil record shows neither gradual change nor transitional forms.But the tons of evidence he shows turn out to be not at all boring; rather, Prothero is an engaging writer who gives just the right amount of detail, but no more.The illustrations, many by Carl Buell, are also superb. I am a professional evolutionary biologist, and I learned a lot from this book.I recommend it most highly!

Evolution: The Fossils Say `Yes' To It And `No' To Creationism, Including Intelligent Design
"Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters" is the best book I have ever read emphasizing the importance of the fossil record as the indisputable "facts" of biological evolution, documenting the history of life on Planet Earth. Its publication is long overdue, and yet, remains quite timely, when major publishers like Simon and Schuster have mistakenly published sterling examples of mendacious intellectual pornography like Michael Behe's "The Edge of Evolution". Indeed, Prothero's book ought to be viewed as the one that demolishes forever, Behe's inane assertion (which he had expressed in a private e-mail reply to me that I've posted elsewhere here at Amazon.com) that the fossil record is irrelevant, claiming that the "truth" will be found only at the molecular level (More than anything else, that terse comment from Behe merely demonstrates his profound ignorance and understanding of the fossil record. Incidentally, Prothero refers to Behe as an "Intelligent Design creationist".). It also demonstrates the absurdity of creationist claims from the likes of Behe's Discovery Institute colleagues Paul Nelson, Jonathan Wells, and Geoffrey Simmons, among others, that the fossil record does not have "transitional forms". Indeed, as Prothero clearly shows his readers again and again, the history of life on our planet is replete with "transitional forms" documenting the evolutionary transitions from fish to tetrapods, from terrestrial carnivorous dinosaurs to flying birds, from primitive ungulate mammals to whales, and from apes to mankind. He also stresses the relevance of the fossil record to other aspects of evolutionary biology, noting its relevance with respect to molecular - as well as comparative anatomical - data. All of this is told in clear, concise, and persuasive, prose that often reaches the same literary heights attained by Prothero's mentor and friend, the late Stephen Jay Gould; without question this splendid book ought to be regarded as among the finest published last year.

Prothero's book is also a superb guide to the history and - regrettably - ever-present danger posed by Intelligent Design advocates and other creationists. The first three chapters emphasize the profound intellectual differences between valid mainstream science like contemporary evolutionary biology and pseudoscientific religious nonsense like "scientific" creationism in all of its flavors, especially Intelligent Design. Prothero offers a detailed look at the scientific method in the very first chapter, comparing and contrasting it with creationism (He also provides a superb introductory guide too to the writing of the Judeo-Christian Old Testament.). The second chapter is an in-depth exploration of creationism, tracing its roots in early 20th Century American Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity, and, of course, describing the emergence of Intelligent Design and its zealous promotion by the Discovery Institute, the Seattle, Washington-based "conservative" think tank(However, much to my amazement, he does not emphasize sufficiently, the important work done by philosopher of science Barbara Forrest and biologist Paul Gross in their book "Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design" in exposing the Discovery Institute's crypto-Fascist agenda for a future United States. Yet, to his credit, he does acknowledge that agenda by referring to its infamous "Wedge Document" while noting the Discovery Institute's deceitful promotion of Intelligent Design at the expense of valid mainstream science like contemporary evolutionary biology.). Finally, in Chapter Three, Prothero exposes both the intellectual inanity of "Flood Geology" and the popular creationist pastime of "quote mining"; the latter, a practice that's still popular with Discovery Institute Senior Fellows Michael Behe, William Dembski and Jonathan Wells.

The next two chapters comprise an excellent introduction to the history and science of evolutionary biology and the theory and practice of cladistic systematics. In Chapter Four, Prothero discusses the history of evolutionary biology, tracing its intellectual roots from the ancient Greeks to Lamarck, Darwin, and those biologists who became the "architects" of the Modern Synthesis Theory of Evolution (also known as the so-called "Neo-Darwinian Synthesis", since it merged population genetics with paleontology, biogeography, ecology and systematics).He also discusses some of the current controversies in contemporary evolutionary biology, beginning with evolutionary developmentaly biology, better known as "Evo - Devo", and, ending, of course, with punctuated equilibrium, noting how often it has been twisted and bent out of shape by creationists of all stripes, who have excelled only in "quote mining" from the published scientific and popular publications written by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge; the two American invertebrate paleobiologists responsible for "punk eke". In Chapter Five, Prothero offers an especially lucid account of the theory and history of cladistic systematics, emphasizing its importance as a tool for studying both Earth's current biodiversity and its history of life.

In "Part II Evolution? The Fossils Say YES!", Prothero gives us a whirlwind tour of the history of life on Planet Earth, emphasizing major episodes in the history oflife on Planet Earth, beginning with the origin of life, and culminating with the emergence of mankind. In Chapter Six, Prothero offers clear, persuasive evidence for the relative ease in creating life from inert organic compounds, brushing aside creationist arguments to the contrary. He debunks the outdated notion of a "Cambrian Explosion" - which remains popular with creationists, including Intelligent Design advocates - in Chapter 7, observing that the fossil record points to instead, a "Cambrian Slow Fuse", involving the gradual diversification of hard-part skeletonized fauna over the span of eighty million years, from the Late Precambrian through early Ordovician. He discusses the emergence of tetrapods from limbless fish in Chapter 10, the rise of early amniotes (which includes the reptiles, birds and mammals) in Chapter 11, and the evolution of flight in avian dinosaurs in Chapter 12, demonstrating the existence of countless "transitional forms".Further chapters are devoted to the origin of whales (Chapter 14) and humans (Chapter 15), and thus, offer a terse, but still thorough, glimpse, at the history of life on this planet. Prothero's coverage is so superb, that I am surprised by his all too brief references to mass extinctions, especially when their very existence ought to raise ample questions about an Intelligent Designer and his ability to "design" life that is extinction resistant.

In the final chapter of his book (Chapter 16), Prothero makes a truly compelling argument explaining why creationism is a clear and present danger, not only to American education, but indeed, the very survival of the United States too. He quotes from an extended excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, describing creationist Ken Ham's indoctrination of young school children against evolution, conjuring up - at least for me - an image of Adolf Hitler's infamous Nuremberg Nazi Party rallies. He blames the advent of creationism since the late 1950s for fostering scientific illiteracy among Americans, and noting that this threatens our future economic success as we compete with other, better educated, countries like those in Europe and East Asia in a global economy increasingly dominated by science and technology. He also argues persuasively that denial of evolution is harmful to our health and well being, graphically illustrating this point by reminding us of the unsuccessful 1984 baboon to human heart transplant by a creationist Loma Linda University surgeon.Prothero's dire warning is a message I have read before, especially from Niles Eldredge, but here, Prothero's remarks are most compelling, and ones that ought to be heeded by all (Not surprisingly, Prothero compares and contrasts current denial of evolution with that of global warming, and finds obvious parallels with both.).

Great Science
Tells how the fossil record shows all living things evolved over time and how the transition from one fossil to another transformed one species into another. Also explains why the creationists are a threat to science and our well being and do more harm than good. ... Read more

Book Description
David Buss updates his classic study of the origin of human mating behavior with fascinating new research.

If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question, says noted psychologist David Buss, we must look into our evolutionary past. Based on the most massive study of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than ten thousand people of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first book to present a unified theory of human mating behavior.

Now in a revised and updated edition, Buss's classic presents the latest research in the field, including startling new discoveries about the evolutionary advantages of infidelity, orgasm, and physical attractiveness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Understand your desire!!!
Great proposal on Evolutionary Psychology of reproductive behavior. After a cross-cultural study, David M. Buss brings us a pleasant reading of this subject, with good, helpful examples! Find out how we "think" about a partner and what they "think" about us!

Very basic/introductory
If you already have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject of evolutionary psychology, this book won't open any new doors or tackle any new interesting questions. It was written about a decade ago, and lags a little bit behind the times. However, there are a couple of interesting facts and perspectives here that you won't find in other books, so it may be worth adding to your collection for a 'used' price.

Trash
Yet another piece of faulty popular science. Although the author conducted a survey of amazingly great scope, he at times seems to even deliberaty ignore or contradict his own results. His only interest seems to be to pseudo-scientifically back up gross stereotypes of men and women. Don't waste your time or money!

How the evolution of mating affects your dating
Why do women use makeup? Why do men like to buy big cars? Why do people feel jealous? Evolutionary psychologist David M. Buss digs deep into the ancient past of human relationships to answer such questions, and produces intriguing results, disconcerting insights and valuable explanations. Using observations from the animal world and from many studies conducted in various societies, he provides a theoretical framework based on Darwin's theory of natural selection. Give Buss credit for elaborately fitting in almost every conceivable puzzle inherent in human mating relationships - even though this, admittedly, at times requires quite a stretch of his evolutionary theory. We recommend this "drop-dead shocker" (The Washington Post Book World) to anyone who has ever searched for, attracted, kept or separated from a mate - that is, anyone who is strong enough to face the unromantic truth.

Evolution of desire.
The author does a superb job tracking down the evolution of desire via a plethora of studies, including some conducted by the author and his colleagues. Though it's true that evolution has granted us certain "sexual strategies", psychologically we are more complex mentally than hunters and gathers. The book reads exactly as the title suggest. The author never dabbles into behavioral psychology to explain anything left unexplained by evolutionary psychology. You may catch yourself arguing with the book, trying to explain human motives through behavioral psychology. A major pet peeve for me is I often find the author repeating statements, especially in the later chapters. ... Read more

Book Description
Updated for the first time, the classic book on why cooperation is not only natural but also the best survival strategy

The Evolution of Cooperation addresses a simple yet age-old question: If living things evolve through competition, how can cooperation ever emerge? Despite the abundant evidence of cooperation all around us, there existed no purely naturalistic answer to this question until 1979, when Robert Axelrod famously ran a computer tournament featuring a standard game-theory exercise called The Prisoner's Dilemma. To everyone's surprise, the program that won the tournament, named Tit for Tat, was not only the simplest but the most "cooperative" entrant. This unexpected victory proved that cooperation--one might even say altruism--is mathematically possible and therefore needs no hidden hand or divine agent to create and sustain it. A great roadblock to the understanding of all sorts of behavior was at last removed. The updated edition includes an extensive new chapter on cooperation in cancer cells and among terrorist organizations.

"This book, if read, grasped and applied, could have a profound effect." (Wall Street Journal)

"A fascinating, provocative, and important book." (Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of Godel, Escher, Bach)

... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

A Beautiful Book
An idea that is elegant, simple, and powerful is a beautiful idea. That is why I think this is a beautiful book. It is elegant in its ideas and the way these ideas are presented. It is easy to read and understand with very simple math. Yet, the insights and conclusions of the book are very powerful and very interesting.

The book studies how agents behave and interact in social systems. It studies what strategies those agents might adopt and what strategies are most beneficial to the agent and to the whole social system. The results are very interesting. Another major question the book tackles is whether or not the strategy of cooperation can evolve in a social system where the majority of agents don't cooperate. The results are very interesting.

I strongly recommend this book.

Extended edition IS NOT EXTENDED!!!!
"The updated edition includes an extensive new chapter on cooperation in cancer cells and among terrorist organizations."

WHAT??I bought this, with the new preface and cover, and it DID NOT CONTAIN NEW MATERIAL IN THE BOOK.I wrote the published, and THEY DID NOT REPLY.Crappers.

Reconciling Individual Interest with Collective Interest
The goal of a model is to explain complex reality with parsimony. This means that a model is a simplification of reality or approximation to some aspect of our world. Likewise, the goal of game-model is also to explain reality by abstracting the important features of reality for a particular problem.

Prisoners' Dilemma (PD) game has represented the reconstructed reality of international politics without overriding or overarching government authority, because it does not only explain persuasively why states have suffered from the problem of non-cooperation, but also show what states should do in international anarchy.

In PD game, the more self-interest each player pursues, the more collective interest both players lose. Nevertheless, they can not stop pursuing their self-interests. Otherwise, they will be faced to the worst case. As a result, all of players do not escape from social inefficiency and eternal conflict.

Hobbes, who described human existence in the state-of-nature as Bellum omnium contra omnes, suggested Leviathanas the solution to the dilemma. However, in that states exist in "international" anarchy, the argument is meaningless. If Hobbesian state-of-nature is the reality among nations, the world is in a constant state of war.

Axelrod finds the new puzzle in here: In situations where each individual has an incentive to be selfish, how can cooperation ever develop? His goal is to explain the cooperation under anarchy. To do so, he designs a variation of PD game with R > (T+S) / 2 value and introduces the concept of time. His explanation depends on the iterated PD game (IPD)where players do not know which is the final move.

Achieving socially efficient or Pareto-superiormutual cooperation in PD game is possible if the reciprocity works as times go by and the players consider the future consequences of their present actions with foresight (the reciprocity is emphasized much more than foresight). Especially, Tit-for-Tat (TFT) strategy and the Shadow of Future play a core role in explaining cooperation.

First of all, he sets five preconditions for IPD: (1) players cannot make any threat or prior commitment (2) there is no knowledge of the other players¡¦ upcoming move, as each game is simultaneous (3) the interaction among players can not be avoided (4) there is no way to change the other player's payoffs (5) the only communication allowed is through the player's own prior behavior.

Also, the concept of a discount parameter, w, which represents the degree to which the payoffs of each move are discounted relative to the previous move, is introduced. Thus, w is the weight of the next move in the future. As times go by, value tends to decrease in negative squares.

This can be represented as the sum of infinite series.The higher the value of w, the more likely the players will meet in the future. Contrarily, since 0
From this setting, Proposition (1) is derived: If the discount parameter, w is sufficiently high, there is no best strategy independent of the strategy used by the other player.

Also, Axelrod runs two computer tournaments by inviting the top game theorists, and reports that Rapoport¡¦s TFT was the best strategy. Although 15 programs in 1st tournament & 63 programs in 2nd tournament were submitted, TFT won all of them. TFT got the average score of 504.5 in 1st round & the score of 434.73 in 2nd round. Why?

He divides the reasons into 4: (1) TFT avoids unnecessary conflict by cooperating as long as the other player cooperates; this is being nice and never being the first to defect (2) TFT has no hesitation in retaliating in the face of the other's defection; that is, TFT does not wait to see if the defection was a mistake, as defection is to be punished immediately.

(3) TFT is open to forgiveness after responding to a provocation; in this way, a TFT player do not wait to reward cooperation (4) TFT has the clarity of behavior, so that the other player can adapt to TFT pattern more easily than others (TFT program length was the shortest). Thus, TFT could do well over a wide range of environments, against both nice and defection strategies.

Next, the stability of cooperation based upon TFT is discussed. He explores the relationship between a native population uniform strategy & a newcomer strategy. He assumes the existence of a native population employing strategy B & a newcomer using strategy A.

If the players interact with each other one at a time, the expected utility of the newcomer with A might be higher than the expected utility of one of the native population. In that case, A is said to invade B.

Otherwise, B is said to be collectively stable. When p is the frequency of a newcomer interacting with other newcomers, the condition of invasion by newcomers is:

(p)*EU(newcomer|newcomer)+(1-p)*EU(newcomer|native)>EU(native|native)

If p is between 0 & 1, newcomers¡¦ strategies can invade the strategy of the native population and vice versa. So, can TFT invade All D? Can All D invade TFT? Assume w = 0.9.

(p)*EU(TFT|TFT)+(1-p)*EU(TFT|All D)>EU(All D| All D)
(p)*[R/(1-w)]+(1-p)*[S+(w*P)/(1-w)]>P/(1-w)
(p)*[3/(1-0.9)]+(1-p)*[0+0.9*1/(1-0.9)]>[1/(1-0.9)]
(p)*(30)+(1-p)*(9)>10
21p+9>10
21p>1
p>1/21

(p)*EU(All D|All D)+(1-p)*EU(All D|TFT)>EU(TFT|TFT)
(p)*[P/(1-w)]+(1-p)*[T+(w*P)/(1-w)]>R/(1-w)
(p)*[1/(1-0.9)]+(1-p)*[5+0.9*1/(1-0.9)]>[3/(1-0.9]
(p)*(10)+(1-p)*(14)>30
10p+14¡V14p>30
10p+14-14p>30
-4p+14>30
-4p>16
p<-4

Thus, when the shadow of future is very strong (w = 0.9), TFT can invade All D if there is more than 1 TFT invader for every 21 All D natives. It takes so few. Also, All D cannot invade TFT when w is sufficiently high (strictly speaking, the critical value of w for TFT to be collectively stable is 2/3).

From this, he derives additional 6 Propositions. The most interesting one among them is Proposition (6)The strategies which can invade All D in a cluster with the smallest value of p are those which are maximally discriminating, such as TFT. This means that cooperation is possible even in the world of All D, as long as small clusters of discriminating invaders with TFT have a small proportion of interactions in the Hobbes state-of-nature.

More interestingly, he shows that cooperation could emerge even without friendship. Let-and-Let-Live system (i.e., the static nature of trench warfare) might be considered as the prototype that small TFT interactions invaded the strategy of All D native population on war. However, Axelrod also mentions that the stability of cooperation based upon the reciprocity can be impaired by (1) the rotation of troops (2) the artillery less dependent on reciprocity for its life than infantry in trench (3) the raids.

However, pointing out that Chapter 4 is about interaction among human beings who can evaluate the reciprocity and respond to it rationally, he argues that such understanding by the participants is not really necessary for cooperation to emerge and prove stable.

Therefore, he argues that (1) cooperation is possible without morality or foresight as shown in the relationship between crocodiles and crocodile birds (2) the patterns of unconscious responsiveness of bacteria or organism might lead to the cooperation based upon the reciprocity (3) the evolutionary process depends upon individual advantage (not benefits to whole group), which unintentionally leads to the cooperation based upon the reciprocity.

In addition, he suggests four advices on how to choose effectively under a given strategic setting: (1) Do not be envious; TFT never wins head to head, so players must realize that an IPD is not a zero-sum game (2) Do not be the first to defect so long as the future remains important, based on Proposition 1 (3) Reciprocate cooperation and defection but begin with cooperation (4) Do not be too clever; be clear about your strategy so others can figure out what you are doing. Again, TFT is the strategy which satisfies all of the advices.

Especially, five ways on how to promote cooperation is discussed in aspect of changing the strategic setting: (1) Enlarge the Shadow of the Future by making the interactions more durable and more frequent (2) Change the payoffs; The change of payoffs determines the incentives of behavior (3) Teach people to care about each other (4) Teach reciprocity; Do not forget the negative effect of All C that might spoil the other players (5) Improve recognition abilities; Accumulate the credibility of reciprocity through good history of interactions.

Finally, the social structure of cooperation is discussed. The social structure influences on how the evolution of cooperation can begin. The influence might constrain or facilitate cooperation, or make the evolutionary process of cooperation dynamic. Namely, the relationship between the social structure and the cooperation in IPD can be understood as being equal to the relationship between the culture and the institution.

As the institutional performance depends largely upon culture, so the speed and the range of the evolution of cooperation is determined greatly by the social structure such as labels, reputation, regulation, and territoriality. Fist, labels (i.e., stereotype) might decrease the importance of the benefits due to mutual cooperation. This is related closely to the debates on the distributional effect of collective interest.

Second, the importance of reputation as a bully might delay the speed of cooperation. Third, relating to regulation, the government in here is not Leviathan, but a player interacting with the governed on compliance and flexibility. In this case, the efficiency of the exchange of flexibility with compliance determines the evolutionary process of cooperation among them.

Finally, in that the territorial system (i.e., positional picture) influences the way the players interact with each other which determines the course of the evolutionary process, territoriality as the social structure matters.

Axelrod concludes: (1) Cooperation has staying power but the biggest problem is getting cooperation started (2) Ratchet effect: Cooperation is successful incrementally, as clusters of cooperation build upon clusters cooperation (3) Cooperation is a rational possibility, even without a central authority, as long as the future is sufficiently important (4) Reconciling individual interest with collective interest is possible by TFT.

Recently, Fearon (1995), Morrow (1999) and Powell (2005) argue that one of the reasons why the Pareto-inferior outcomes such as ex post costly wars have recurred is due to the commitment problem. Morrow (1999: 92) maintains, Commitment is a problem when actors' incentives change over time.

Although Axelrod and they consider the concept of time seriously, their conclusions are totally different. While they focus on explaining the cause of war in PD (i.e., In PD, one player's commitment to C can not be believed by other player), his interest is placed on explaining the cause of cooperation in PD (i.e., what matters in PD, is not unilateral commitment, but mutual learning effect by TFT).

However, Axelrod seems to be superior to them, because he might explain both war and cooperation with the level of w. But, Fearon, Morrow, and Powell might suffer from selection bias, because the commitment problem explains only wars.



References

Axelrod, Robert (1984). The Evolution of Cooperation. Basic Books.

Fearon, James D (1995). Rationalist Explanations for War. International Organization 49 (3): 379-414.

Morrow, James D (1999). The Strategic Setting of Choices: Signaling, Commitment, and Negotiation in International Politics. In Strategic Choice and International Relations, ed. David A. Lake and Robert Powell. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 77-114.

Poundstone, William (1992). Prisoners' Dilemma. Anchor Book.

Powell, Robert (2005). War as a Commitment Problem. International Organization (forthcoming)

The evolution is just beginning
Amidst the glowing 5-star reviews I feel the need to interject some concerns and outright criticisms of this book, although I do recommend its reading.Certainly the book provides a relatively good starting point in a very complex area, but it should not be construed as the final word on a much more complex subject.I do think that R. Axelrod provides an excellent, if at times overbearing, presentation of how game theory, specifically in the realm of an Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma (IPD) scenrario, can explain a number of historical as well as daily situations.He goes on to expound on some good generalizations on how people might act to inspire more cooperation and these generalizations, if implemented by people (groups, governments, etc.), might result in a more cooperative world. For this, there are good things to say.But I would caution not to create from this any utopian potential for the real world.

The `winning strategy' of TIT FOR TAT (TFT) works because it starts out `nice' but it retaliates immediately if someone else does not `play nice', too.So this is not vision of world cooperation.It is a realistic vision of maximizing cooperation under specific conditions which he covers relatively well towards the later chapters.Ultimately, the natural take away is a hopeful view of a potentially more cooperative environment, with perhaps a bit of forgetting that unkind retaliation is an integral part of his winning `cooperative' strategy.

Here are some aspects which Mr. Axelrod alludes to but somewhat minimizes, in my opinion, in their impact on TFT's potential for success in real world interactions:

a) The IPD strategies, which were submitted by experts from around the world, were submitted to computerized testing to determine which strategies `win' the most.This is based on an established point system that awards different points for different actions by two players.(This is summarized in one review already, so I will not repeat it here.)While this makes the playing of the game easy and consistent, it does not reflect the real world conditions which often exist.For example, if, in one turn, one player `defects' and the other `cooperates', the point system says the defector `wins' 5 points and the cooperator gets nothing.Are all defections `equal' in the real world?Or are some interactions far more important than others, so therefore cooperating on small things but defecting on bigger things might result in different outcomes than would ever be accounted for in the point systems used in these studies?Intuitively, a major defection may have far more significance (i.e. point value) than a minor one, but to accomplish his analysis, Axelrod's point structure is always the same.
b) Related to the above, are all joint cooperative efforts or joint defections `equal' as implied by the point values?(When two strategies cooperate, each is awarded 3 points.When each defect, they each get 1.)At the time this book was being published, an interesting `real world' example was playing out which would question this very assumption.At that time, Reagan was building up the military and the Soviet Union was `matching' the build up.You can either view this as mutual defection or mutual cooperation, depending upon whether you view cooperation as always a `positive' thing.In any event, the results of these mutual actions were NOT equal.The US had far more resources to invest in the game so each time `points' were awarded, the US actually gained more than the Soviets who eventually had to stop playing. Consistent point values simply do not account for this, unless one wants to interject additional elements not presented in Axelrod's work.
c) Related to point b), the IPD study presents things from a vantage point that each actor starts out from an equal footing and therefore the only functional question is whether one strategy consistently wins in such a way as to keep near the top of the point standings.In reality, rarely does any person or group begin interaction on an equal footing.What I am trying to raise is not the same as his discussions in Chapters 8 and 9 on the strength and growth of various strategies in a world starting out with many different strategies.In those scenarios, some strategies die out because they stop having sources of points to take from others.But what if each strategy starts out from an unequal basis, some having significantly more `capital' to expend and coupling this to a more realistic scenario where each interaction is not free, but each has a cost to the participant (somewhat like putting your bet down before you play poker - you may win or lose, but if you lose your position is not the same as when you started, it is less than when you started).In such a scenario, which is more realistic in terms of how companies, governments and even people interact, the results would be materially different.So the starting premise of Axelrod's IPD scenario and point schemes may be so well constructed as to make for interesting descriptions of some specific and even common interactions, but it may be too well constructed to be able to be extrapolated to many more complex situations.
d) Another weakness is the assumption that all defections are of the same magnitude.If, in an otherwise nice political campaign (ever seen one of those?) a small, third party candidate launches an attack ad and the attacked major party retaliates, is the retaliation equal?Or, again, does their starting point allow them to annihilate the attacker?(Since I have never seen a positive political campaign, you can interject any other similar scenario which might actually come up in real life!)The `equal points for equal actions' premise is inherently flawed.Yet this is the basis of much of the book's conclusions.
e) What is the end result of a universe where everyone uses a TFT strategy?This is only marginally considered, at best.While the issue had been in my mind throughout much of the book, it was not until fairly late that Axelrod makes clear, albeit briefly, that in any set of two player interactions, TFT will at best result in the same total number of points as the other player and, for a number of reasons, probably slightly less.In other words, the person, company, group or government using a pure TFT strategy must be happy being close to the best in whatever the interaction.Personally, I am fine with that, thank you!But to assume that everyone is and that nobody will come up with a disruptive strategy that, perhaps only for a time, garners more points but winds up putting them on top of the heap in whatever competition may be in play.If the end game is the Superbowl, being second is not gratifying.Ask Philadelphia.
f) Finally, I found some of the descriptors attached to the strategies interesting, especially in light of Axelrod's ending recommendations on cooperation.Some strategies which attempted to use planned defection as part of their strategy were labeled as `meanies' while other strategies that started their initial moves with cooperation were labeled as `nice'.I find it interesting that a `scientist' would use such descriptors to classify things given that they bring with them connotations.Even TFT could be construed as a `meanie' since one of its logical outcomes is that it cooperates once, and once only, only to defect from then on based on the other parties action.Are all non-cooperative interactions except one inherently more `nice'?This is not important in the scope of my real concerns, but I always sense a red flag rising when an otherwise objective presentation resorts to affect-linked labels to make part of its case.

All of the above is NOT to imply that I think Axelrod's work is wrong and should be thrown out.I simply felt that, unlike the rest of the glowing reviews, Axelrod's work does not go far enough and leaves some gaping holes yet to be explored.Read this book, but keep your eyes and mind open for the flaws which seem to be thinly covered with papier-mâché.

How mutual hostility can evolve into cooperation.
Without question, the case studies in this book have applications in biology, sociology, international relations, economics and business. The basic question put forward is, "How is it possible, that in an environment of mutual hostility where acting selfishly will lead to gain against your opponent(s), cooperative behavior between the antagonists will emerge and become the dominant long-term behavior?" It turns out that it is easy to see how such behavior can emerge, even in hostile battlefield conditions. In fact, cooperative behavior has distinct evolutionary advantages.
The solution is found within game theory, in particular the situation known as the Prisoner's Dilemma. Two people, (one and two), who jointly committed a crime are arrested for the crime and placed in separate rooms where they cannot communicate. The police interrogate him or her separately and offer each individual a deal. If they defect and testify against their comrade, they will be given a reduced sentence. In this situation, there are four possible outcomes:

1) Neither defects - both go free, each is considered to have earned a positive reward.
2) One defects and two does not - one is set free and two serves a long sentence.
3) Two defects and one does not - two is set free and one serves a long sentence.
4) One and two both defect - each serve a reduced sentence.

In the problem, reward values are assigned to the results, and typical values are

1) Both one and two are both assigned a value of +3.
2) One is assigned a value of +3 and two the value of -5.
3) Two is assigned a value of +3 and one the value of -5.
4) One and two are both assigned a value of -1.

It is clear that each prisoner wants to avoid the situation where they are the only one who serves time in jail. Therefore, if this event will only occur once, then option four will be the result and cooperation will not take place.
However, if both prisoners have the potential for a future relationship, where that relationship has the real potential for rewards for cooperation and punishments for defecting, then option one can emerge. The best demonstration of this is what took place in some sectors of the western front in the First World War. When the same units faced each other for extended periods of time, a live and let live policy emerged on both sides. Each side adopted a strategy of not engaging in lethal force, unless the other side did. When required to expend artillery ammunition to demonstrate aggressiveness to superiors, they would shoot the same target at the same time of the day. Since their firing was predictable, soldiers on the other side would know to avoid that area and in fact would often climb out of their trench to observe the explosions.
There were instances where German snipers would demonstrate their prowess by continuing to hit the same position on a wall until they made a hole. Therefore, even though superiors admonished the soldiers to continue to kill the enemy and both sides had the capability, the fact that they had a lengthy relationship allowed the cooperation to occur. These phenomena did not take place in regions where units did not face each other for extended periods.
The first chapter describes tournaments, where computer programs competed against each other by defecting or cooperating and the scoring is similar to that of the Prisoner's Dilemma already mentioned. What emerged as the most successful tactic, even when the results of the first round were incorporated into the second round, is the TIT FOR TAT. This strategy is very simple, cooperate in the first round and for each successive round, do what the opponent did in the previous one.
I was fascinated by these results and it was easy to see the obvious implications for relationships of all types. For cooperation to occur, all that is necessary is that there be the expectation of a continued relationship and the potential for future rewards/penalties. What makes it especially interesting is that no appeal to morality, ethics or any other abstract concept need be made. The behavior occurs as a consequence of an increase in the long-term gain for all parties.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (96)

JUNK SCIENCE ALL OVER AGAIN!!!
Do not waste your time with any of Michael Behe's
books ,it's not real science ,all he's is trying to
do is to push is "Intelligent Design" agenda.
Mr. Behe:
How about showing us proof of the intelligent being
who created what you claim he did,
Sendmy regards to your partner Kent Hovind
"Dr Dyno" I'm sure he'll have a swell time in jail.
"JUST SAY NO TO PSEUDOSCIENCE"

The Data Decides
This book is the clearest, best-researched, most enjoyable science book I've ever read.I much prefer actual research to story-telling and I'll believe a Terabyte of DATA over a Theory any day.

Brilliant and Groundbreaking
The problem with most arguments supporting macroevolution is that they usually conclude with speculation and hand-waving. Dawkins, Gould, etc, etc . . . the coup de gras cited to prove their point is always a plausible explanation without supporting hard evidence. This is accepted because everyone knows the modern evolutionary theory cannot be subjected to rigorous analysis under the scientific method: how can a theory based on one, random mutation be reproduced, tested, or falsified?

Behe's approach is groundbreaking because he stands back and asks: "What do the data show . . . and what is a reasonable extrapolation of the data." His analysis isn't perfect, but his mathematics is sound, and he has obviously hit a home run, based on the sound and fury of those who oppose him with long-winded tomes criticizing minor points but missing the big picture.

If there were a criticism of the book,