Evolution: A Scientific American ReaderScientific American University of Chicago Press, 2008 M09 15 - 312 páginas From the Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1925 to the court ruling against the Dover Area School Board’s proposed intelligent design curriculum in 2005, few scientific topics have engendered as much controversy—or grabbed as many headlines—as evolution. And since the debate shows no signs of abating, there is perhaps no better time to step back and ask: What is evolution? Defined as the gradual process by which something changes into a different and usually more complex and efficient form, evolution explains the formation of the universe, the nature of viruses, and the emergence of humans. A first-rate summary of the actual science of evolution, this Scientific American reader is a timely collection that gives readers an opportunity to consider evolution’s impact in various settings. |
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... molecules. The most abundant carbon-based compounds available on the ancient earth were gases with only one atom of carbon per molecule, namely, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. But the essential building blocks of living ...
... molecules, while mineral surfaces can provide the scaffolding on which those molecules assemble and grow. Beyond these sheltering and support- ive functions, crystal faces of certain minerals can actively select particu- lar molecules ...
... molecular self-organization. Given enough time and enough chambers, serendipity might have produced a combination of molecules that would eventually deserve to be called “living.” Underlying much of this speculation was the sense that ...
... molecules would still be suspended in water. These stray molecules needed a support structure—some kind of scaffolding—where they could cling and react with one another. One easy way to assemble molecules from a dilute solution is to ...
... molecule in living organisms that translates genetic instruc- tions into proteins. Once organic molecules had attached themselves to a mineral scaffold, various types of complex molecules could have been forged. But only a chosen few ...
Contenido
Cellular Evolution | 85 |
Dinosaurs and Other Monsters | 169 |
Human Evolution | 249 |
Contents | 362 |
Illustration Credits | 364 |
The Evolution of the Universe | 1 |
Cellular Evolution | 85 |
Dinosaurs and Other Monsters | 169 |
Human Evolution | 249 |