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Welcome to the home page for Biology 203 - Evolution at Old Dominion University.
Whether you're a student in my course or just an innocent by-surfer, I
hope you'll find something of use and/or interest here. One quick note
on the relative brevity of the page: perhaps because evolution is both
so broad in scope and so fundamental to all branches of biology, relatively
few indices of "purely"evolutionary topics seem to exist. Instead, you'll
find information and resources about evolutionary practice and theory embedded
within the resources devoted to fields ranging from population ecology
(population genetics models and software) to systematics (computer programs
for reconstructing phylogenies) to artificial life (interactive animations
demonstrating the effect of natural selection). So as you're surfing, be
sure to look everywhere -- that's where you'll find it! Meanwhile, if you
know of a good site I should include, please let
me know.
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History
and philosophy of evolutionary thought
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Aristotle's Final Cause (telos) was, in some ways, a barrier to the development
of sound ideas about evolutionary change. Read a good summary at Lecture
on 4 causes . The truly inspired can read Aristotle's own explanations
by searching on the phrase "final cause" at The
Internet Classics Archive .
Evolutionary
history of life on earth
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The Evolution
Entrance to U.C. Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology home page has great
links to, among other things, biographical sketches of most (if not all)
of the scientists whose work was important in the growth and developmentof
evolutionary thought. It's also an exceptional site if you want to exploret
he evolutionary history of any group of organisms.
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On-line
simulations of evolutionary processes
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The Museum of Evolution
and Artificial Life offers some nifty simulations. Be sure to
check out the Weasel for a hands-on refutation of a common claim against
the power of natural selection. Note that these are not interactive.
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Play with natural selection in action using computer-generated life forms
called Biomorphs. Start with Basic
Biomorphs , then expand your horizons to Biomorphs
with sex, migration . These are really fun, interactive applets.
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Check out the artificial life (in an artificial ecosystem) at BBC
Evolution Weekend: Alife . You can create your own creatures
and subject them to selection in an environment of useful creatures and
pests. Read the instructions first!
Miscellaneous
GREAT sites for more information
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The BBC has a wonderful site covering a variety of aspects of evolutionary
biology at BBC
Education: Evolution homepage .
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PBS developed a nice Evolution
site in conjunction with its recent TV series. The site includes
historical information, simulations, educational activities, and more.
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It's not really by or even directly about Richard Dawkins, but The
World of Richard Dawkins website by John Catalano has the most diverse
and interesting set of links relating to evolution I've seen -- including
news stories, simulation software, book reviews, and more. One of the best
features is interviews, book excerpts, and back-and-forth dialogues (aka
arguments :) about a variety of evolutionary topics.
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The Talk.Origins Archive is a
very rich site developed by folks associated with the talk.origins newsgroup
and discussion list and contains a wealth of material related to the evolution
vs. creation debate. The compilations of evidence (e.g., the fossil record,
"intermediate forms", speciation, etc.) are excellent resources for anyone
interested in evolutionary biology (even if you don't care about the debate).
And those interested in the more political realm can find information and
links to additional sites on both ends of the debate.
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