Narrow roads of gene land

Narrow roads of gene land

OOK REVIEWS _ to provide the feundabon and ]ustilicatiun fur networkullegislation bu, in sodoing It also statwd itself of a veal source of isformlt...

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OOK

REVIEWS

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to provide the feundabon and ]ustilicatiun fur networkullegislation bu, in sodoing It also statwd itself of a veal source of isformltio” particularly abOUt pupulatlon size, age structure and dispersion. Nw technolo~came to the rescue.Like so many other lfdds of science.microelw tronics and advancedrownunications have re”oh,tio”irrd manne mnmmaf SCIC”ce.If is now pcsrible to study free-ranging marine mn~nwls.usin~rem~trscnsingand recordins techniques, thfd prowde a bewildering “otumcofinfonnation. Thechallenge f”, Ihe sc,entif,c community now is to find betrer ways al processing and interpreting the lir#e amounts of data befomfns available a?n to integrate thm mfarmation with data rlt,RIed 1” uam,,e,. *xxcia,,v about “ceano gaphv. T&hnologr ‘has p;ovided rcienhds wdh the power to answer questions of ‘+wral scientificrelevancewithin the marine mamma, arenaandfo addressspecific prob. uns concernb~g marine nwwna, conservntionand management. It is agnst this background of conservation concern and research activity that this CD-RX4 about muine mammals 01the world has been producel. There an few. if any. such comprehensive awr “.G coveringrhewholeran~eofspecf~; adthis is the first acco”nt to be prcduc- .s a CD-ROM. The CD-ROMis the result of d cdlaboratkve iink between FAOand the Expert Gear for Taxonomlr tdentfl!catlon and It serwes FAD%red to provide basic inmrmdion uf importaxe to hsheries managers. In lnaw I”a\5. (hi* * an intruductor” @de to n&n; mammals z a grwp. I& central feature is tne specks canis that pre vfdean ill~trationofeachsweiesandskull diagrams together wltb iat describing the charactenstes of the species including dfstindive behatiow ;mA III !!CEJcower. vation status. Distribution maps provide a wide to the geographicaf~cupfed by most species and an idtietificatton key ir alsoprovided. The presentation cd tbia ,nfomlat,“” on a CD-ROM has severa: advantages, one I), the most important of which is that there can be cross-re*erencinebetween differen, &ta sets. Technical te.& in the specie! cards are highhshted and a glossary can bt consulted to pronde a descrtphon of tht memng of there terms. Of particular im por+ace to fhheries managers and c(ms.x vat&m groups is the fafilily !hat provides i list d marfne mammal specie ~currfng IS any sected geographical region. This wi, assist with the rapid identification ot paten tia, conflict between marine mammals am proposed bFher&.

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‘The cdftors stress that this is only “erion I.0 and that dweelopment of the dataase w,,, contlrx~. This CtbROM is an exellent start becauseit contains most of the asic infurmation. Areas of current weakessarr in the bibliographyand thedlstrlbuODmaps. For a publication like this 10sue. eed it mwt pnwide the user with enough ,fwmatw,, to expand his k”ow,edge in a articulararea beyond that gtven,n thtsvolme. Therefore,it would be useful toseesep rate selected bibliographies lor each cdthe pecies. ,t would rdso be wise. from a ftshries management perrpectwe. to identify articu,nrcentresofabundancef~rre,e~nt pecies on the distribution maps. such 8s “portant breed,“~,ocar,ons torplnntpeds. This CDROM will appeal to users with ww$ifferent motivationsmd backcrwnds. ,a”;those involved In project work in chcols through to pravldiny information II technical r;purtsand also as a genera, a,crencework on marine mamma,r. I.L. Boyd

The adaptation% program Adaptation and Natural Selection

Press with a new Introduction. is still. thirty years on. a tremendously good ad. worthy of close study. I” it. Wf,,lams aid the foundabons for the scientitic studv )f adaptation. what he called tcleanam~. low snore affectionately the adaptationist xogram. This isa special branch of biology. rdaptation being whaL dwinyishes the ield from physics and chemistry. thou& he lees not see it as a branch of eunfulionory liology. The book is cast largely ac a work of cri.Ique.and was sosuccessful that this aspect Enow somewhat obsolete,though still prob ihly useful to those entering the Ileld. but ilong the way Williams has so many ideas &=,“t more promtsing ,,“es ot enquby, and ~nt~tpatcs ,n~ny of the issues discussed ,vcr the next 20 vearr the inmortanea oi {roup (&de) s&ion In ioss~l trends: 01 nortallty rates and the cost of reproduction II history evolution; of r&&e parental ~nvertment in sexur, dimorohism: of kinship. reciprocity, and mistakes in social re of predation pressure In gre&vlousmess;of historical constraints in evolution ~eneraffy;and of the gene as the key unit of ~&&on-in just a few paragraphs, he us”ally manages to capture the essenceal the thing. This remains the best hdroduction to the fidd(togetherwith h,smorerecentPlon andPurpse in N&we’). Among the program’s most adept practitioners has been W.D.Hamilton, for whom Williams‘ evolutionary ideas ‘have always seemed convergent like those of a twin or older brother from wham I was parted at birth’(p,354).NarmluR~dCeneLandlsa collection of Hamilton’sfirst 15puhltcatlonr. 1963-1980.H~iiioa’spartieulargeniushas be” in capturtng e*sencesnot ,u*t *n a few p.wagraphs. lx-: in fonndaear well: Jnivenity

life

latlrms:

Narrow Roads of Gene Land k[_$]>f

bv W.D. Hamilton W.H. Freema”,Spektrum.

,996. B40.W hbk. 820.00 pbk ,SBN II 7,67 45518, cl ,167 4530 5

,._“-’ 2n and

“‘_&

doph.tiun und N&ml Me&n, which has recently been reissued by Princeton

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have been enormously usefulin understanding the evo!utio” a, sociafity, senescence, sex ratios and dispersal, respectively. The papers are accompanied by Introductory essays,each of about 10 pages, which give autobfographfcal details, enlarge upon cerfaia opinions. .uld cite more recent work. Partlcularlystriklngto mewas theverylong gestation time for many of the papers, often %wx “.a,. I.?. “0. B*“g”rr

1.997

in d&and drabs. 3s is ,be curre”, vogue Mt,sf”g cm humanity’s future. Hamilton expresses a certain about Ihe relaxation of selec,,on in modern society. forweing addiction to tecbnofo~icaf fixes (hnspitafs, etc.)a”tf 5(‘adualsubmersio”mto the societal sopercrgnism. He wonder> whether some sort of (democratic) euseeec steps might ,ores,au the ISSUB. but has no concrete proposals: c”lio”s,y. “0 mention is made of (market-directed?) genetic en@.

Gofdie, Preride”, of Ln$tbl”ders (pgefbi”. c”m~,ro”cern,“~yourco”tributi”“s Now ,he best news. The disk sells fnr

wlstlulness

neering. perhaps a more easily imagined future for the coming ” ld, e ““1 a. The (re~a~aearance of these vohm~ 1s adelight: now. if onlywecould get thesame for Fisher!

unly t49.95 direct lrom Lightbinders, a, www.lb~n.com, or n school that orlers 25 copies or more gets them a, hall price. plus

an the iiwne a”d fossil barnacles Anyone who doubts Darwin’s experience i” ,.a~“omy should read this work. - The Onem “fSwc,es 16,h cd”. 18i21. I am happy th;s was’the e&i”” ,“:lude,i with this series because it was the editin “early everyone read from 1872 urtil Ernst Mayr edited a facsimile edition of the :s, edItion ill ,964. . Or, rhe “onws

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The Darwin CD-ROM 1s a labor of love. We are all the hme!ir,erier Will

Canrriuonces bywh,cbBn,,sh

Shoreline biology

nnd foreqn Orch!ds are feridiscd by Inrecls, and on the goad Effects of In~ercrwsirq (1st win. 1662). - The Descenr of Mon. and Se,ec,r
The DARWIN Multimedia CD-ROM (2nd edn)

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heswond editionof Is much improved

the Darwm CD-RO!vf aver the firs,, and

* The Erpressmn of ibe Emobons m Man and Animals (1872). * Sbor, papers by Charles Darwin (K:,Sf87T). These ?2 papers cover many of Darwin’s rcien,i,ic i”,w?S,E. * Triumph of Ihe Dawnion ,MefhefhodBy Michael Ghiselin (2nd edn, 1991) Gbiielin is one of the editors and contributors Lo this CD-ROM. We “we h,m ., great debt of gratitude. l The Darwin Biographical Dictionary A high proportion of Darwin’s contemporaries are ,“cb,ded In this “everyhelpful Dictionary. The enfnes are brief - sometimes 1 wanted to !ulmv more. * TheDarwin Bibliography. * ?, _ Darwi” Tlmeline. . The Dow” House Appeal, avideo narrated .^ .^... byyblr uaw Atte”b”ro”gh. Probably this sounds good to the readol TREE. Cut now the criti-

later editions may be possible if this ““e sells well. as believe it will. The CD-ROM haj the excellent DynaTex, browser that wo~kruallpwellnnMS-WindowsorWinB. tinir and Macintosh. DynsTex, has corn0”d Pion,S under Dome,t;~““o”. ,nsec than 9000 hypedinks to related topics have bee” I riuomur Pion~s. me Formorion of lqembfe placed by the editors. Figures and phow Mould. through lhe dctmon of Worm? with graphs are displayed in smaller versions Observobons on theirttnbifs, and many other (lhumbnails) in the tex, but expand info a works? Where are the f,“e works of historiam of science who have iffuminoted the larger form when double-clicked. Many of work of Darwin? Perhaps Ihe ‘lawi” Bis the birds discussed in the tevt also have live graphical Dictis”ary could be ileshed out buttonslorplqingthe bird’ssong, donated mc:e.Tbe sd~!“rsa”swer,heseq~,a,ionsi” in this edition by the Come,, Laboratory cf ,heir,“trodiic,,o”,o,heCD-ROM.They,”j, Ornithology from their excellent collecti”“. didno, havetheresources in ~“““eyorThis CAROM is comprised of the follow. “ower to Yet there thines on the disk. Thev Ing items: ask readers fo jam themi” pruducing a b& . The ZOO10~ Of me &ogle ~1832-,83Vj, ter third edition. on fhe supposition that fhis edited by Charles Darwin. >“c,udi”g chap one sells we0 ennugh 10 ,us,ify it. Anyone ters on fossil mammals (Richard Owe”). with theenergyand tfmeto transcribeother mammals (R&&Waterhouse). birds (John works or Dawi” (preferably wifn hyperGould), fish (Leonard Jenyns) and reptffes links. but no, “ecessardvl or who car, co”(Thomas Self). All drawings are included. trihule p,c,ures “1 pfaeeI:a”imaf. or plants . Joumd of Researches into ,*e *‘“fur”, Hismentioned by Darwin should contac, Pete toryand&@y ofthe Counbies orsited duriq

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plete searching ca@xlitm and more

Prwvne

Intertidal Ecology edifed

by 0. Ruffaelk

and S Halukrns

Chapman B Ha,,. ,996. S24.99 hbk (x I 356 pager) ,SBN 0 412 29960 7

The Biology of Rocky Shores by C Lirfle and&4

Kirchirw

““fversity

OtiOKl Press. 1996. P35.N hbk, 514.95 pbh (ix A 240 pages) fSBN 0 19 854936 9 / 0 19 854935 0

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he marine fnterddti zone could be COR s&red to br the ‘frm, fly‘ of commuAs an experimental stamping ground. it has played a” impartan, historical role in the conceptual development of ecologyand has contributed sig”dfcan,ly to methodologkafadvacerin lieldtechnique~. Both The Biology of Rocky Shores and Inter1idalEcol~~takeadvanta~e of this rich his. tnryof~ntertl~ialecof”~ toillwtrategeneraJ prinripfesofcommu”,~~“logyandecof~caf Iiefd methods for studems in ecofrrs. Both books are intended as inlroductmy texts for studenls in marine ecolcqy. Rather than relying solely on clarslc, hlstorical exmnpfes. the authors of both Letis draw or, recent studi= and if,w,ra,e wvff how ecofogy is a dynamic and growmr: field. Both include (but are not limited to) cbapiers orsectionso”: (I) ,hephysu.f.?“vi:o”me”, of the intertidal and the deter”~immts of ew vironmental gradients. (‘2) the patterns of ~nationanddistributionoior~anismsalong these ennro”me”,af gradients. (3) the cornplex inferaction o, physical and bvatic prrr cesseswhich geeneratepattemso” theshr,.z. (4) human impacts on intertidal cw”““~“i,ies. and (5) general methods for L!ves,i@“g cor”mo”,tys,ructure I” the field. However. beyo”d,hesm,ifari,ies in over-

nity ecology.

; ers 1come to : ckm. Where areThe“oriarron ofAssnds

I ~ ~

all ~trocture,

these books take decidedly