Book
Biogeography : an ecological and evolutionary approach / C. Barry Cox, Former Head of Biological Sciences at King's College London, UK, Peter D. Moore, Emeritus Reader in Ecology, King's College London, UK, Richard J. Ladle, Titular Professor of Conservation Biogeography, Federal University of Alagoas, Brazil.
"Before starting to outline the structure of biogeography today, it is worthwhile to try to explain how scientists work, and what are their limitations - how far should the student trust what they say and believe? And the best way to learn this is to look at how scientists have behaved in the past, for the research workers of today are no different from them. So history has much to teach us. It is natural to assume that any research worker is free to make any sort of suggestion as to what new idea they might put forward in trying to solve their current problems. The reality is rather different. Just as in the past, the range of what are seen as possible solutions is limited by what contemporary society or science views as permissible or respectable. Attitudes to the idea of evolution (chapter 6) or of continental drift (see below) are good examples of such inhibitions in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the concept of evolution is still controversial today in some societies and communities. The history of scientific debate is rarely, if ever, one of dispassionate, unemotional evaluation of new ideas, particularly if they conflict with one's own. Scientists, like all men and women, are the product of their upbringing and experience, affected by their political and religious beliefs (or disbeliefs), by their position in society, by their own previous judgments and publicly expressed opinions, and by their ambitions-just as "there's no business like show business," there's no interest like self-interest! Very good examples of this, discussed later in this chapter, is the use of the concept of evolution by the rising middle-class scientists of England as a weapon against the 19th-century establishment (see later in this chapter) while, at the individual level, the history of Leon Croizat and his ideas (see later in this chapter) provides an interesting study"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781119486312
- ISBN: 1119486319
- Physical Description: xv, 498 pages ; 26 cm
- Edition: Tenth edition.
- Publisher: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2020.
- Copyright: ©2020
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Formatted Contents Note:
- 1: Introduction -- Section I: the challenge of existing -- 2: Patterns of distribution: finding a home -- 3: Communities and ecosystems: living together -- 4: Patterns of biodiversity -- 5: Plate tectonics -- 6: Evolution, the source of novelty -- Section III: Islands and oceans -- 7: Life, death and evolution on islands -- 8: Patterns in the oceans -- Section IV: Historical biogeography -- 9: From evolution to patterns of life -- 10: Geography, life and climates through time -- 11: Patterns of life today -- 12: The arrival of the ice ages -- Section V: people and problems -- 13: The human intrusion -- 14: Conservation biogeography.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Biogeography.
Biogéographie.
Biogeography
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Northwest Indian College.
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- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
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| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lummi Library | QH 84 .C65 2020 | 680326 | Stacks | Available | - |