Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life
Title | Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life PDF eBook |
Author | Marc Laflamme |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 474 |
Release | 2011-02-28 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 9400706804 |
This volume provides a detailed description of a wide range of numerical, statistical or modeling techniques and novel instrumentation separated into individual chapters written by paleontologists with expertise in the given methodology. Each chapter outlines the strengths and limitations of specific numerical or technological approaches, and ultimately applies the chosen method to a real fossil dataset or sample type. A unifying theme throughout the book is the evaluation of fossils during the prologue and epilogue of one of the most exciting events in Earth History: the Cambrian radiation.
The Science of Science
Title | The Science of Science PDF eBook |
Author | Dashun Wang |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 315 |
Release | 2021-03-25 |
Genre | Computers |
ISBN | 1108492665 |
This is the first comprehensive overview of the exciting field of the 'science of science'. With anecdotes and detailed, easy-to-follow explanations of the research, this book is accessible to all scientists, policy makers, and administrators with an interest in the wider scientific enterprise.
The Chemistry of Microbiomes
Title | The Chemistry of Microbiomes PDF eBook |
Author | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
Publisher | National Academies Press |
Pages | 133 |
Release | 2017-07-19 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 0309458390 |
The 21st century has witnessed a complete revolution in the understanding and description of bacteria in eco- systems and microbial assemblages, and how they are regulated by complex interactions among microbes, hosts, and environments. The human organism is no longer considered a monolithic assembly of tissues, but is instead a true ecosystem composed of human cells, bacteria, fungi, algae, and viruses. As such, humans are not unlike other complex ecosystems containing microbial assemblages observed in the marine and earth environments. They all share a basic functional principle: Chemical communication is the universal language that allows such groups to properly function together. These chemical networks regulate interactions like metabolic exchange, antibiosis and symbiosis, and communication. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Chemical Sciences Roundtable organized a series of four seminars in the autumn of 2016 to explore the current advances, opportunities, and challenges toward unveiling this "chemical dark matter" and its role in the regulation and function of different ecosystems. The first three focused on specific ecosystemsâ€"earth, marine, and humanâ€"and the last on all microbiome systems. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the seminars.
Earth System Evolution and Early Life
Title | Earth System Evolution and Early Life PDF eBook |
Author | A.T. Brasier |
Publisher | Geological Society of London |
Pages | 429 |
Release | 2017-06-09 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 1786202794 |
This volume in memory of Professor Martin Brasier, which has many of his unfinished works, summarizes recent progress in some of the hottest topics in palaeobiology including cellular preservation of early microbial life and early evolution of macroscopic animal life, encompassing the Ediacara biota. The papers focus on how to decipher evidence for early life, which requires exceptional preservation, employment of state-of-the-art techniques and also an understanding gleaned from Phanerozoic lagerstätte and modern analogues. The papers also apply Martin’s MOFAOTYOF principle (my oldest fossils are older than your oldest fossils), requiring an integrated approach to understanding fossils. The adoption of the null-hypothesis that all putative traces of life are abiotic until proven otherwise, and the consideration of putative fossils within their spatial context, characterized the work of Martin Brasier, as is well demonstrated by the papers in this volume.
Quantifying Life
Title | Quantifying Life PDF eBook |
Author | Dmitry A. Kondrashov |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 434 |
Release | 2016-08-04 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 022637193X |
Since the time of Isaac Newton, physicists have used mathematics to describe the behavior of matter of all sizes, from subatomic particles to galaxies. In the past three decades, as advances in molecular biology have produced an avalanche of data, computational and mathematical techniques have also become necessary tools in the arsenal of biologists. But while quantitative approaches are now providing fundamental insights into biological systems, the college curriculum for biologists has not caught up, and most biology majors are never exposed to the computational and probabilistic mathematical approaches that dominate in biological research. With Quantifying Life, Dmitry A. Kondrashov offers an accessible introduction to the breadth of mathematical modeling used in biology today. Assuming only a foundation in high school mathematics, Quantifying Life takes an innovative computational approach to developing mathematical skills and intuition. Through lessons illustrated with copious examples, mathematical and programming exercises, literature discussion questions, and computational projects of various degrees of difficulty, students build and analyze models based on current research papers and learn to implement them in the R programming language. This interplay of mathematical ideas, systematically developed programming skills, and a broad selection of biological research topics makes Quantifying Life an invaluable guide for seasoned life scientists and the next generation of biologists alike.
Rates of Evolution
Title | Rates of Evolution PDF eBook |
Author | Philip D. Gingerich |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 399 |
Release | 2019-05-09 |
Genre | Reference |
ISBN | 1107167248 |
An overview of evolutionary rates, analyzing data from laboratory, field and fossil record studies to extract their underlying generation-to-generation rates.
Embryos in Deep Time
Title | Embryos in Deep Time PDF eBook |
Author | Marcelo Sánchez-Villagra |
Publisher | Univ of California Press |
Pages | 271 |
Release | 2012-04-03 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 0520952308 |
How can we bring together the study of genes, embryos and fossils? Embryos in Deep Time is a critical synthesis of the study of individual development in fossils. It brings together an up-to-date review of concepts from comparative anatomy, ecology and developmental genetics, and examples of different kinds of animals from diverse geological epochs and geographic areas. Can fossil embryos demonstrate evolutionary changes in reproductive modes? How have changes in ocean chemistry in the past affected the development of marine organisms? What can the microstructure of fossil bone and teeth reveal about maturation time, longevity and changes in growth phases? This book addresses these and other issues and documents with numerous examples and illustrations how fossils provide evidence not only of adult anatomy but also of the life history of individuals at different growth stages. The central topic of Biology today—the transformations occurring during the life of an organism and the mechanisms behind them—is addressed in an integrative manner for extinct animals.