Reddit reviews Evolutionary Analysis (5th Edition)
We found 6 Reddit comments about Evolutionary Analysis (5th Edition). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
> what is a good source of reference to understand what we know today?
Not that The Origin of Species isn't insightful in any way by itself, but it isn't what you want here. If you actually want to be educated in these subjects you should do what other people do to get educated in these topics, namely read textbooks and/or watch lectures on the subjects.
If you want to learn about evolution, pick up some textbooks on evolutionary biology and/or human evolution. Here are two textbooks that I happen to know are very good:
Here's a textbook on astronomy that I know is good:
You could probably find online versions of these textbooks and other textbooks like them and there are online lectures from actual universities out there on these topics too.
> I really would like to have an educated response to the religious apologist argument about evolution and big bang only being "theory".
If someone describes evolution and the big bang as "just a theory" it's because (among other reasons) they do not understand evolution and the big bang. If you want to have an "educated response" to them you will need to understand (and not just accept) evolution and the big bang yourself.
If you just want to tell them why they're wrong then you can get away with having a very basic understanding of these topics, but by no means would this constitute an "educated response" to them. It would just be your way of "winning" the argument. An "educated response" would be one where you actually teach these people something that they had no idea they didn't know based on an understanding of where they've gone wrong.
Freeman and Herron's "Evolutionary Analysis" is a good textbook, with a section on measuring selection in this way. It is much heftier than we need for this course. You should be able to find a copy at the library.
John Gillespie's "Population genetics : a concise guide" is good, too. I found a pdf online for it here. He talks about the model of selection we are using starting on page 52. This is a much more technical treatment of selection, and Gillespie's writing is dense. There is much much more detail here than you need for our purposes. But feel free to take a look.
I think that is "more than the high school version that gets a little more in depth" :)
http://www.amazon.com/Evolutionary-Analysis-5th-Edition-Herron/dp/0321616677
you can find previous editions' pdf file easily when you google.
Same-sex behavior is frequent in many animal species but an evolutionary benefit may not be immediately obvious. For example, you share about the same amount of genes with each parent, your siblings and your children. Therefore, if the cost of raising your own children was too high you'd have a higher chance of spreading at least some of your alleles by investing your resources in supporting your family instead (the theory behind this is called kin selection). What I'm trying to say is, sexual reproduction isn't the only possible way for you to spread your alleles in a population.
Also, sexual orientation (among many other traits, like general intelligence) is thought to be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors so saying that children can be rewired willy-nilly is just plain wrong.
source: molecular biology and psychology double major, parents are medical doctors.
edit: in case you're interested in evolutionary biology check out Evolutionary Analysis (or Human Evolutionary Genetics for humans in particular).
edit 2: How Children Develop is a nice book on Developmental Psychology and might be worth a look, too. However, I only read a translated version so your experience may differ.
I'd recommend you put Evolutionary Analysis and The Counter Creationism Handbook on your reading lists. You really should do that before you start trying to get into these debates at all.
Hey man, I'm just summarizing my textbook.
You'll have to take it up with them.