In Search of Deep Time: Beyond the Fossil Record to a New History of Life (Comstock Books) - Softcover

Gee, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801487137 ISBN 13: 9780801487132

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Cladistics―the science of comparison―is transforming the way paleontologists view evolution. In Search of Deep Time strips away conventional assumptions about the evolution of life to reveal a world that may be far stranger and more humbling than had been previously imagined. The concept of deep time was first used by John McPhee to describe intervals of time incomprehensibly greater than our daily experience. Henry Gee explains the rise of cladistics as the best technique for making sense of the organic changes that unfold within deep time.

About this title

Review

"Gee's book is an interesting shift of perspective. . . . worth a look if only to remind yourself that even great theories like Darwin's have limitations."--Emma Bayley, Focus. May, 2000.

"A persuasive as well as convivial introduction to cladistics--paleontology's answer to the discontinuities of Deep Time--from science writer Gee. . . . Gee's corrective arguments at once ground his science in humility and liberate thinking about Deep Time through their invitation to chart a seamless topology of life then and now."--Kirkus Reviews. November 15, 2000.

"In this eloquent treatise, Gee, a senior science writer for Nature, asserts that the dramatically different scales on which deep and ordinary time are measured have significant implications for evolutionary biology and paleontology."--Publishers Weekly, November 15, 1999.

"This is an important book because it clearly explains the workings and applications of the most versatile new implement in the toolbox of evolutionary biology. . . . Gee explains it all congenially and clearly, with wit, originality and self-deprecating humour. . . . if you've been reading newspaper and science magazine accounts of contentious issues in paleontology and evolutionary biology and wondering what's really behind so much of the debate, this is the book for you."--Kevin Padian, Scientific American. February, 2000.

"Gee presents a clear explanation of the principles of cladistics. . . . which has revolutionized our interpretation of fossils. . . . This book is intended for the informed reader, and as such is to be recommended."--David M. Irwin, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Canada. Nature, 3 February, 2000.

"Gee introduces readers to cladistics, the science of comparison that is quietly revolutionizing paleontology. . . . suggesting that. . . the hierarchical tree of life with humans at the top will be replaced by a bush of intertwined evolutionary branches."--Science News, 12/2/00.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801487137
• ISBN 13: 9780801487132
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272