Speciation

by Jerry A. Coyne, H. Allen Orr

The origin of species has spawned much interest and much literature in evolutionary biology over the past two decades, but no book-length account of the new findings and theories. Coyne (U. of Chicago) and Orr (U. of Rochester) set out to fill that gap. They see the current wave of research as a third phase after Darwin and his immediate successors' notion of gradual speciation due to ecological isolation or other factors, and the later emphasis on sudden speciation due to mutation. They begin with the reality and concepts of species and the methods of studying speciation. Then they describe the many varieties of speciation and isolation, reinforcement, selection versus drift, and macroevolution. The volume is of exceptionally high quality. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Science, Evolution, Biology, Nonfiction, Genetics, Natural History, Biography

545 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Jerry Coyne is a professor in the department of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago. His concentration is speciation and ecological and evolutionary genetics, particularly as they involve Drosophila

His work is widely published, not only in scientific journals, but also in such mainstream venues as The New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, and The New Republic. Coyne's peer-reviewed scientific publications include three papers in Nature and two in Science.

His research interests include population and evolutionary genetics, speciation, ecological and quantitative genetics, chromosome evolution, and sperm competition.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, and it truly is one of the great works of evolutionary biology to come out in the past decade. A wonderful, in-depth, and interesting summary of the field of speciation research. Coyne and Orr do show their biases (and the book does have a heavy Drosophila melanogaster focus), but that is actually quite refreshing, because they don't often obscure other points of view -- they take a very balanced approach in most chapters. It's a great read for scientists, but not recommended for the general reader, as it is still quite technical and dense.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great treatment of my favorite scientific subject!

[Narges]

I think this book is good

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a student of evolutionary biology, you should probably read this book. A great starting point for all questions related to speciation.

[Yanick Punter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schilthuizen is better