At the Sesquicentennial of Origin

摘要

More than a few biol-ogists have fanta- sized about tak-ing Charles Darwin out for a beer, to pick his brain and hear his reactions to a whirlwind update on evo-lutionary science. Old news items to relate would have to include the discoveries of the material of inheritance, continen- tal drift, and radiometric dating. More recent topics to consider are equally compelling and a bit kaleidoscopic, ranging from extreme archaean lifestyles to epigenetics, macroecology, ribozymes, Hox genes, units of selection, and xenology in eukaryotes, among many others. If you could put a single book-length survey into the pigeon breeder's hands to focus the conversation, Evolution Since Darwin: The First 150 Years, edited by Michael Bell, Douglas Futuyma, Walter Eanes, and Jeffrey Levinton, would be an excellent choice as a comprehensive guide to current understanding and controversies.