Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

Author: Geerat Vermeij

An interpretation of the chronology of life during the last six hundred million years of earth history. It discusses the nature and dynamics of evolutionary change in organisms and their biological surroundings.

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Summary

Description

This book is written for those who, like me, are fascinated with evolution, but I hope it will also be read by historians of human affairs. There are some obvious parallels between the history of life and the cultural history of man--the episodic pace of change the effects of crises, and the role of population growth, for example--and the fossil record teaches some sobering lessons about the futility of the seemingly unstoppable arms race between nations.

Critic Reviews

“With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology. -- Science”

"With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology."--Science "With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology."--Alan J. Kohn, Science "An extraordinarily useful book to students of evolutionary paleobiology."--Carlton Brett, Geology

About the Author

Geerat J. Vermeij, Professor of Geology at the University of California, Davis, is the author of Biogeography and Adaptation: Patterns of Marine Life (Harvard). Vermeij received a 1992 MacArthur Fellowship. See page 24 for a description of his forthcoming book, A Natural History of Shells.