Geerat Vermeij's Books

The Evolutionary World

How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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The Evolutionary World

How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

One of the master naturalists of our time" (American Scientist) reveals how evolutionary theory explains and affects not just the natural world but our society---and its future. Evolution has outgrown its original home in biology and geology. The Evolutionary World shows how evolution---descent with modification---is a concept that organizes, explains, and predicts a multitude of unconnected facts and phenomena. Adaptation plays a role not only in the development of new species but the development of human civilization. By understanding how evolutionary theory has played out in areas such as our economic system, our preparation for catastrophes, and even the development of communities, we can learn not just how these systems work but also what challenges lie ahead. Blind since the age of three, Dr. Geerat J. Vermeij has become renowned for his unique abilities to recognize details in the natural world that other scientists would never have noticed. In this book, he presents a new argument for evolution's broader importance. He explores similarities between genomes and languages, the contrasting natural economies of islands and continents, the emergence and importance of human values, the long-range consequences of global warming, and the perils of monopoly. He also shows that the lessons of evolution have implications for education, our system of laws, and economic growth. The Evolutionary World makes a fascinating argument about the broad-reaching impact and importance of evolution. It offers a way for us to understand and work with evolution's principles so that we can devise better solutions for our own lives, society, and the environment around us.

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Page Count

336

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

1429925779

ISBN 13

9781429925778

Privileged Hands

A Scientific Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Privileged Hands

A Scientific Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

This is the story of the author's challenge and triumph over blindness. As well as a portrait of his family relationships, it is also a portrait of the practice of science, with views expressed on evolution and biodiversity, and the importance of observati

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Page Count

333

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0716729547

ISBN 13

9780716729549

A Natural History of Shells

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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A Natural History of Shells

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

From “one of the master naturalists of our time” (American Scientist), a fascinating exploration of what seashells reveal about biology, evolution, and the history of life Geerat Vermeij wrote this “celebration of shells” to share his enthusiasm for these supremely elegant creations and what they can teach us about nature. Most popular books on shells emphasize the identification of species, but Vermeij uses shells as a way to explore major ideas in biology. How are shells built? How do they work? And how did they evolve? With lucidity and charm, the MacArthur-winning evolutionary biologist reveals how shells give us insights into the lives of animals today and in the distant geological past.

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Page Count

232

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691001677

ISBN 13

9780691001678

Nature

An Economic History

By: Geerat Vermeij

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Nature

An Economic History

By: Geerat Vermeij

From humans to hermit crabs to deep water plankton, all living things compete for locally limiting resources. This universal truth unites three bodies of thought--economics, evolution, and history--that have developed largely in mutual isolation. Here, Geerat Vermeij undertakes a groundbreaking and provocative exploration of the facts and theories of biology, economics, and geology to show how processes common to all economic systems--competition, cooperation, adaptation, and feedback--govern evolution as surely as they do the human economy, and how historical patterns in both human and nonhuman evolution follow from this principle. Using a wealth of examples of evolutionary innovations, Vermeij argues that evolution and economics are one. Powerful consumers and producers exercise disproportionate controls on the characteristics, activities, and distribution of all life forms. Competition-driven demand by consumers, when coupled with supply-side conditions permitting economic growth, leads to adaptation and escalation among organisms. Although disruptions in production halt or reverse these processes temporarily, they amplify escalation in the long run to produce trends in all economic systems toward greater power, higher production rates, and a wider reach for economic systems and their strongest members. Despite our unprecedented power to shape our surroundings, we humans are subject to all the economic principles and historical trends that emerged at life's origin more than 3 billion years ago. Engagingly written, brilliantly argued, and sweeping in scope, Nature: An Economic History shows that the human institutions most likely to preserve opportunity and adaptability are, after all, built like successful living things.

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Page Count

460

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400826497

ISBN 13

9781400826490

A Natural History of Shells

By: Geerat Vermeij

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A Natural History of Shells

By: Geerat Vermeij

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236

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691230013

ISBN 13

9780691230016

Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

By: Geerat Vermeij

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Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

By: Geerat Vermeij

Here is one biologist's interpretation of the chronology of life during the last six hundred million years of earth history: an extended essay that draws on the author's own data and a wide-ranging literature survey to discuss the nature and dynamics of evolutionary change in organisms and their biological surroundings. Geerat Vermeij demonstrates that escalation--the process by which species adapt to, or are limited by, their enemies as the latter increase in ability to acquire and retain resources--has been a dominant theme in the history of life despite frequent episodes of extinction.

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Page Count

547

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691224242

ISBN 13

9780691224244

Privileged Hands

A Scientific Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Privileged Hands

A Scientific Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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333

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0716729547

ISBN 13

9780716729549

The Evolutionary World

How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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The Evolutionary World

How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Page Count

336

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

1429925779

ISBN 13

9781429925778

Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Page Count

556

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691000808

ISBN 13

9780691000800

Nature

An Economic History

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Nature

An Economic History

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Page Count

459

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

069112793X

ISBN 13

9780691127934

Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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Evolution and Escalation

An Ecological History of Life

By: Geerat J. Vermeij

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527

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691084467

ISBN 13

9780691084466

A Natural History of Shells

By: Geerat Vermeij

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A Natural History of Shells

By: Geerat Vermeij

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236

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Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691230013

ISBN 13

9780691230016

The Evolution of Power

A New Understanding of the History of Life

By: Geerat Vermeij

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The Evolution of Power

A New Understanding of the History of Life

By: Geerat Vermeij

A sweeping new account of the role of power in the evolution of all life on Earth Power has many dimensions, from individual attributes such as strength and speed to the collective advantages of groups. The Evolution of Power takes readers on a breathtaking journey across history and the natural world, revealing how the concept of power unifies a vast range of phenomena in the evolution of life—and how natural selection has placed humanity and the planet itself on a trajectory of ever-increasing power. Drawing on evidence from fossils, living organisms, and contemporary society, Geerat Vermeij documents increases in power at all scales, from body size, locomotor performance, and the use of force in competition to efficiency in production and consumption within ecosystems. He shows how power—which he defines as the rate at which organisms acquire and apply energy—is tied to the emergence of cooperation, and how the modern economy, which for the first time has established a monopoly over the biosphere by a single species, is a continuation of evolutionary trends stretching back to the dawn of life. Vermeij persuasively argues that we can find solutions to the many problems arising from this extreme concentration of power by broadening our exclusively human-centered perspective. A masterful work by one of today’s most innovative and forward-thinking naturalists, The Evolution of Power offers a new understanding of our place in the grand sweep of evolutionary history.

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264

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691250413

ISBN 13

9780691250410

The Evolution of Power

A New Understanding of the History of Life

By: Geerat Vermeij

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The Evolution of Power

A New Understanding of the History of Life

By: Geerat Vermeij

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264

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Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691250391

ISBN 13

9780691250397

Book's by Geerat Vermeij

The Evolutionary World

The Evolutionary World

Privileged Hands

Privileged Hands

A Natural History of Shells

A Natural History of Shells

Nature

Nature

A Natural History of Shells

A Natural History of Shells

Evolution and Escalation

Evolution and Escalation

Privileged Hands

Privileged Hands

The Evolutionary World

The Evolutionary World

Evolution and Escalation

Evolution and Escalation

Nature

Nature

Evolution and Escalation

Evolution and Escalation

A Natural History of Shells

A Natural History of Shells

The Evolution of Power

The Evolution of Power

The Evolution of Power

The Evolution of Power

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