To see accurate pricing, please choose your delivery country.
 
 
United States
£ GBP
All Shops

British Wildlife

8 issues per year 84 pages per issue Subscription only

British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

Subscriptions from £33 per year

Conservation Land Management

4 issues per year 44 pages per issue Subscription only

Conservation Land Management (CLM) is a quarterly magazine that is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation, across the British Isles. CLM includes long-form articles, events listings, publication reviews, new product information and updates, reports of conferences and letters.

Subscriptions from £26 per year
Academic & Professional Books  Evolutionary Biology  Evolution

The Major Transitions in Evolution

By: John Maynard-Smith(Author), Eörs Szathmáry(Author)
384 pages, 90 illustrations
The Major Transitions in Evolution
Click to have a closer look
  • The Major Transitions in Evolution ISBN: 9780198502944 Paperback Oct 1997 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 2-3 weeks
    £75.00
    #40297
Price: £75.00
About this book Contents Customer reviews Related titles

About this book

During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organised and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies, and the unique language ability of humans. A common theme in the book is that entities that could replicate independently before the transition can replicate afterwards only as part of a larger whole. Why, then, does selection between entities at the lower level not disrupt selection at the higher level? In answering this question, the distinguished authors offer an explanation for the evolution of cooperation at all levels of complexity.

Contents

List of Tables
Preface

1. Introduction
2. What is Life?
3. Chemical evolution
4. The evolution of templates
5. The chicken and egg problem
6. The origin of translation and the genetic code
7. The origin of protocells
8. The origin of eukaryotes
9. The origin of sex and the nature of species
10. Intragenomic conflict
11. Symbiosis
12. Development in simple organisms
13. Gene regulation and cell heredity
14. The development of spatial patterns
15. Development and evolution
16. The origins of societies
17. The origins of language

References
Index

Customer Reviews

By: John Maynard-Smith(Author), Eörs Szathmáry(Author)
384 pages, 90 illustrations
Media reviews

"It spans the major transitions in evolution, starting with a prebiotic mix of free molecules and ending with the evolution of human language [...] A splendid and rewarding tour de force."
Nature

Current promotions
New and Forthcoming BooksBest of WinterNHBS Moth TrapBuyers Guides