Bøker av for the National Academy of Sciences

Chemical signals among organisms form "e;a vast communicative interplay, fundamental to the fabric of life,"e; in the words of one expert. Chemical ecology is the the discipline that seeks to understand these interactions-to use biology in the search for new substances of potential benefit to humankind.This book highlights selected research areas of medicinal and agricultural importance. Leading experts review the chemistry ofInsect defense and its applications to pest control.Phyletic dominance--the survival success of insects.Social regulation, with ant societies as a model of multicomponent signaling systems.Eavesdropping, alarm, and deceit--the array of strategies used by insects to find and lure prey.Reproduction--from the gamete attraction to courtship nd sexual selection.The chemistry of intracellular immunosuppression.Topics also include the appropriation of dietary factors for defense and communication; the use of chemical signals in the marine environment; the role of the olfactory system in chemical analysis; and the interaction of polydnaviruses, endoparasites, and the immune system of the host.

Since George Gaylord Simpson published Tempo and Mode in Evolution in 1944, discoveries in paleontology and genetics have abounded. This volume brings together the findings and insights of today's leading experts in the study of evolution, including Ayala, W. Ford Doolittle, and Stephen Jay Gould.The volume examines early cellular evolution, explores changes in the tempo of evolution between the Precambrian and Phanerozoic periods, and reconstructs the Cambrian evolutionary burst. Long-neglected despite Darwin's interest in it, species extinction is discussed in detail.Although the absence of data kept Simpson from exploring human evolution in his book, the current volume covers morphological and genetic changes in human populations, contradicting the popular claim that all modern humans descend from a single woman.This book discusses the role of molecular clocks, the results of evolution in 12 populations of Escherichia coli propagated for 10,000 generations, a physical map of Drosophila chromosomes, and evidence for "e;hitchhiking"e; by mutations.