Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - REFERENCE — Social & Behavioral Sciences — Law & Society

Noted evolutionary biologist Wagner (Univ. of Zurich, Switzerland; Santa Fe Institute) has recently focused his research on understanding how the endogenous properties of genomes can foster the rapid rate of evolutionary change.  Research in the late 1960s through the 1970s revealed an enormous, unexpected storehouse of genetic variation in just about every organism surveyed.  However, it has been only in the last 15 or so years that much more sophisticated tools permit answering the next pressing question:  how fast can organisms respond to natural selection?  Using these techniques, the author has become a front-runner in elucidating this most recent question.  The writing style is lively, informative, and accessible to all.  The metaphors are numerous and exceptional.  The text is rich with remarkable examples of adaptations, each of which supports and provides a convincing argument for the book's central thesis: genomes, by their very nature, contain a robustness to respond to natural selection heretofore unappreciated.  This is a must read for professionals and the public alike.  It will undoubtedly inspire refinement of this groundbreaking addition to evolutionary thinking.Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.

Those who know the topic that science historian Churchill (emer., Indiana Univ.) has been working on these past years have eagerly awaited this definitive biography of August Weismann (1834-1914), whose germ layer of heredity revolutionized the understanding of organismal evolution.  In a series of papers published between 1883 and 1889, Weismann proposed that heredity is passed from generation to generation only through germ plasm, which is the region of the embryo from which eggs and sperm arise.  Inheritance of acquired characteristics is therefore not possible, a conclusion that should have put an end to Lamarckian "use and disuse inheritance."  However, entrenched positions, the absence of a separate germ plasm in many phyla of animals and in all plants and fungi, and more recently discovered mechanisms of genetic assimilation and epigenetics have kept Lamarckism alive to this very day.  The present book places Weismann at the center of the fields of heredity, evolution, and embryonic development, fields that dominated both late-19th- and late-20th-century biology.  The scholarship is rock solid, the writing smooth as silk, and the importance of the book central to the flow of the intellectual history of natural science and society.  Unreservedly recommended.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

The mechanisms with which cells receive and process chemical signals are central to understanding disease etiology and developing effective pharmaceutical strategies. Cell Signaling, by Lim (Univ. of California, San Francisco), Mayer (Univ. of Connecticut Health Center), and Pawson (deceased; formerly, Univ. of Toronto), untangles the myriad pathways that provide the power and specificity of biochemical signal transduction pathways.  The authors pull off the difficult trick of providing both an effective introduction to the basics of cellular signal transduction and a comprehensible and remarkably comprehensive description of the details of specific signaling systems.  Cell Signaling focuses solidly on biochemical and biophysical principles of signal transduction, but the work is so accessible and complete that it will provide even upper-level undergraduate students a solid basis for further studies in systems biology.  The clarity of the graphic presentations combined with the clarity of the text means that this book will be a well-used tool by any owner, ranging from undergraduate to seasoned researcher.  The references are well chosen, but even a brief annotation of the bibliographic entries would have been welcomed.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners.

To deeply understand science, one needs a wide body of knowledge, including an understanding of how one came to know it.  In this book, paleontologist Eldredge (formerly, American Museum of Natural History) traces the many streams of thought on the nature of adaptation and the origin of species from the 19th century to the present.  He examines the question of the interplay between the origin of species and selection-driven adaptation and whether "new species [are] strictly a by-product of adaptive evolutionary change.  Of special interest is his treatment of Darwins time at the University of Edinburgh, which is usually glossed over in biographies.  Eldredge makes the case that Darwin's medical school mentors, Robert Jameson and Robert Grant, first introduced Darwin to the transmutationalist ideas of French naturalist Lamarck and the little-known Italian geologist Giambattista Brocchi.  Eldredge further explores the conflicts between the importance of geographic isolation and gradual adaptive change to speciation in forging the modern evolutionary synthesis and, of course, the contribution that his and Stephen Jay Gould's punctuated equilibrium theory has had on modern evolutionary thought.  A masterful work by one of the most influential paleontologists of the past half century, this is a must read for every serious student of evolutionary biology.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals.

Shilo (molecular genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) has a lifetime interest and an exceptional publication record in cell-cell communication: molecular signaling during early development.  Here, he provides a wonderfully crafted introduction to the field of embryo development.  He relies heavily on well-chosen, understandable analogies to explain to a wide audience what scientists know, in broad terms, about the subject.  His historical approach elucidates for general readers the newer technologies that have allowed such rapid progress in developmental biology in the last three decades.  The framework includes the major questions that have driven molecular-level developmental research.  His attention to the medical implications of what scientists can begin to apply now as well as far-distant expectations makes it clear why pure research must be well funded.  Exceptional photographs amplify the readers understanding.  Each technical photomicrograph is paired with a companion photo taken by the author that is a visual metaphor for the concept that he is conveying.  A very useful glossary of scientific terms, a glossary of key photomicrographs, and an excellent recommended reading list, including websites, support the text.  It is hard to imagine a more information-rich, delightfully readable beginner's source for the subject of this small volume.Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.

Life's Engines would be an excellent basis for a general education course in biology.  A pleasure to read, the book touches on virtually every topic covered in a college biology curriculum by seamlessly weaving concepts with personal anecdotes and analogies.  Presenting scientific facts and the fascinating history of their discovery, Falkowski (Rutgers Univ.) intersperses evolutionary theory with biochemistry, ecology, microbiology, molecular biology, anatomy, and even anthropology and economics.  He also presents a fact-based, nonpolitical vision for the future of biotechnology.  Students of biology frequently ask why they should care about basic science.  Falkowski might respond with a sentiment such as this, from the last chapter of his book: "Thanks be to microbes for making this speck of detritus in the stardust of the universe a great place to live for their overgrown relatives, the animals and plants that temporarily decorate and rent the small dot from their microbial ancestors, who maintain it for their future relatives.  This reviewer came away inspired to learn more.  Easily understood by anyone with a passing knowledge of science, this volume poses innumerable questions for further investigation.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

Most books with biodiversity or conservation in the title tend to be very general in their approach, offering bromides about their importance but little or no real guidance on how to achieve or maintain these goals.  Not so with this book.  Hiscock (Marine Biological Association, UK) set out to create a practical guide for scientists and research managers tasked with actually sampling or censusing populations or ecosystems and implementing measures for their protection, and has succeeded admirably.  The first half of the book concentrates on what is already known, addressing such issues as human impacts on marine habitats, understanding regime shifts and the natural variability that is characteristic of many populations, and stressing the importance of connectivity between marine protected areas (MPAs).  The second half delves into the many factors that need to be considered when establishing and maintaining MPAs for bottom-dwelling species.  A great deal of this information is succinctly presented as tables, checklists, and decision trees, with many real-life examples.  Hopefully, this work will serve as a template for years to come, informing the intelligent design and placement of MPAs as opposed to the all-too-often haphazard placement that has occurred to date.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

The usual line drawings and photos in invertebrate biology and plankton books rarely hint at how bizarre and colorful these tiny creatures can be.  The truly spectacular photographs in this beautiful book reveal the diversity of the free-floating organisms so critical to food webs throughout the worlds oceans, from microscopic plants and invertebrate larvae to huge jellyfish and salps.  Although it seems like (and would serve admirably as) a coffee table book, do not be deceived by its good looks: the introductions to the different groups and the extended captions that accompany the photographs contain a wealth of natural history information.  This book would be a valuable addition to any library that deals with marine topics and will hopefully inspire more students to take an interest in these often-overlooked but essential parts of marine ecosystems.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

This wonderful, well-written book is the product of a psychologist (Johnston) and a biologist (Olson) and the course on emotions they co-taught at Sarah Lawrence College.  The book is both a richly detailed history of the development of the study of emotions in neuroscience and psychology and a snapshot of contemporary research on emotions.  Beginning with William Jamess famous question What is an emotion? (addressed in an article of the same name published in 1884), the authors take readers on a delightful guided tour of the science of emotion.  They introduce the major thinkers in the field and the concepts and research paradigms that have given form to these scholars' studies of emotion, always with an eye toward determining what goes on in the nervous systems of humans and other animals when they are being emotional.  The book reads a bit like a combination of Keith OatleysEmotions: A Brief History (2004) and Elaine FoxsEmotion Science: Cognitive and Neuroscientific Approaches to Understanding Human Emotions (CH, Jun'09, 46-5903).  In addition to the depth and breadth of its coverage of the science of emotion, the book is distinguished by the strength of the authors narrative voice.  They do not simply describe the sciencethey tell a fascinating and compelling story.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

One might ask whether yet another book on evolution is needed.  In the case of the present book, the answer is yes.  Writing for those with an appreciation of interrelationships among biological, philosophical, and psychological approaches to understanding evolution, Kampourakis (Univ. of Geneva, Switzerland) provides one of the clearest, most well-reasoned sets of arguments for why evolution is and must be approached from the evidence and not from any prior religious or other position.  Especially helpful are the extensive outline of the approach the author took and a final chapter, "Concluding Remarks," that pulls the book together.  Detailed footnotes give the origin of important terms and concepts.  Chapter 5 provides an excellent treatment of the difficult issue of whether similarity records shared evolution or parallel adaptation to common environments.  How the study of embryos reveals mechanisms of evolution is equally well treated (check out the pizza example) in this chapter, which details the types of evidence for common ancestry.  The writing is superb, with apparently simple examples that explain essential aspects of evolution.  Paradoxically, some might think, the lack of emphasis on evolutionary theory is a major strength of the book.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.