Evolution, 3rd Edition

The theory of evolution is outstandingly the most important theory in biology, and it is
always a pleasure to be a member, facing in either direction, of the class that is fortunate
enough to be studying it. No other idea in biology is so powerful scientifically, or so
stimulating intellectually. Evolution can add an extra dimension of interest to the most
appealing sides of natural history a we shall see, for example, how modern evolutionary biologists tend to argue that the existence of sex is the profoundest puzzle of all, and
quite possibly a mistake that half the living creatures of this planet would be better
off without. Evolution gives meaning to the drier facts of life too, and it is one of the
delights of the subject to see how there are ideas as well as facts within the disorienting
technicalities of the genetics laboratory, and how deep theories about the history of life
can hinge on measurements of the width of a region called “prodissoconch II” in the
larval shell of a snail, or the number of ribs in a trilobite’s tail. So great is the depth and
range of evolutionary biology that every other classroom on campus must feel (as you
can sort of tell) locked in with more superficial and ephemeral materials