Evolution__3rd_Edition

xxiv Preface
evolve resistance to drugs, pests evolve resistance to pesticides, and fish evolve back
against our fishing procedures. Palumbi’s estimate is approximate and preliminary,
and probably an underestimate. But whatever the exact number is, the economic consequences
of evolution must be huge. The economic benefits of understanding evolution
could be proportionally huge. In this edition I have added a number of special
boxes within chapters, on “Evolution and human affairs.” The examples I discuss are
only a sample, which happen to fit in with themes in the text. Bull & Wichman (2001)
discuss many further examples of “applied evolution,” from directed evolution of
enzymes to evolutionary computation.
The book is intended as an introductory text, and I have subordinated all other aims
to that end. I have aimed to explain concepts, wherever possible by example, and with
a minimum of professional clutter. The principal interest, I believe, of the theory of
evolution is as a set of ideas to think about, and I have therefore tried in every case to
move on to the ideas as soon as possible. The book is not a factual encyclopedia, nor
(primarily) a reference work for research biologists. I do not provide many references
in the main text, though in this edition I have referred to the sources for the examples in
formal “scientific” reference format. For readers who are unfamiliar with this format,
I should say that references are given in the way I wrote “Palumbi (2001a)” and “Bull
& Wichman (2001)” in the previous paragraph. The reference has the author’s (or
authors’) name and a date. In the reference list at the end you will find the full
bibliographic details, listing the authors alphabetically. There is also a convention for
papers with multiple authors. When a paper has more than two (or three, with some
publishers), it is referred to by the name of the first author with an “et al.” and the date:
Losos et al. (1998), for example. The “et al.” means “and others.” It is a space-saving
device, and is abbreviated to avoid problems with Latin declension. For instance, if the
reference is the subject of the sentence the full version would be “Losos et alii (1998)
studied lizards. . . .” But other phases require other full versions: “the work of Losos
et aliorum (1998) . . .” or “the work by Losos et aliis (1998).” In all, “al.” could stand
for 12–18 full versions. Anyhow, all the authors are usually listed in the main reference
list a I say “usually” because some authorial teams have grown so huge that they are
not all given. Blackwell house style is that for papers with more than seven authors, the
reference list has the first three and then an “et al.”
Although I have referred to the specific papers under discussion in the text, I do not
give general references there. The reason is that I do not want to spoil the most powerful
textual positions, such as the end of a paragraph or a section, with a list of further
reading. The way I have things, those textual positions can be occupied by summary
sentences and other more useful matter. The “further reading” section at the end of
each chapter is the main vehicle for general references, and for references to other
studies like those in the text. I have referred to recent reviews when they exist, and the
historic bibliography of each topic can be traced through them.
In summary, this new edition contains:
• two types of box a one featuring practical applications and the other related information,
which supply added depth without interrupting the flow of the text
• margin comments that paraphrase and highlight key concepts
• study and review questions to help students review their understanding at the end
of each chapter, while new challenge questions prompt students to synthesize the
chapter concepts to reinforce the learning at a deeper level
..