Re: [asa] textbook question- evolution 101

Bernie,

A nice popular level book that is 90% Evolution 101 is "Darwin's Gift:
to Science and Religion" by Francisco Ayala.

http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Gift-Religion-Francisco-Ayala/dp/0309102316

There's a bit of faith-science stuff in the early chapters that I
don't particularly agree with, although some on the list might. He
uses evolution as a secondary cause as a solution to theodicy. There's
"nature red in tooth and claw" but we can't attribute it directly to
God. Ayala finds that to be "a gift" to religion, but it doesn't fit
well with my own theological system.

However, the bulk of the book is simply a standard textbook
presentation of the theory of biological evolution and the evidences
for it. On those topics it is very well-done by one of the long-time
practicioners. It's more or less the kind of material you'd find in a
first or second year university biology or introduction to evolution
text.

TG

On Apr 30, 2008, at 5:28 PM, Dehler, Bernie wrote:

> A question for all you academics- is there a defacto standard
> textbook for the basics of evolution- a sort of “Evolution 101”
> science textbook? College level would be best, but I’d also be
> interested if there was a defacto standard for highschool also.
>
> Just curious what’s out there.
>
> …Bernie
> “It’s turtles all the way down!”
>
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.

________________
Terry M. Gray, Ph.D.
Computer Support Scientist
Chemistry Department
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
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Received on Thu May 1 11:22:36 2008