Scientific.American.300-1.-.Jan.2009.-.The.Evolution.of.Evolution.pdf

SPECIAL ISSUE on the Most Powerful Idea in Science
Evolution at Work
How Doctors, Police
and Others Use
It on the Job
January 2009 $ . . £
The Evolution of
EVOLUTION
How Darwin’s Theory Survives,
Thrives and Reshapes the World
The Future of
Human Evolution
Molecular Proof of
Natural Selection
How Life Invents
Complex Traits
Creationists’
Latest Tricks
features ■
Scientific American January 2009 ■ Volume 300 Number 1
SPECIAL ISSUE 24
the evolution of
Evolution
INTRODUCTION
24 Darwin’s Living Legacy
By Gary Stix
This Victorian scientist constructed his revolutionary
theory of evolution through natural selection over
a lifetime of meticulous observation and thought.
As perhaps the most powerful idea in science, it still
drives the contemporary research agenda. Kenn Brown, Mondolithic Studios
MODES OF SELECTION
30 Testing Natural Selection 30
By H. Allen Orr
Biologists working with the most sophisticated
ic tools are demonstrating that natural selection
plays a far greater role in shaping DNA than even
most evolutionists had thought.
SOURCES OF VARIATION 38
38 From Atoms to Traits
By David M. Kingsley
Random variations anisms provide fodder for
evolution. Modern scientists are revealing how that
diversity arises and how even simple DNA changes 50
can add up plex creatures and cultures.
FAMILY TREE
46 The Human Pedigree
By Kate Wong
Some 180 years after unearthing the first human 46
fossil, paleontologists have amassed a formidable
record of our forebears.
On The Cover
ANATOMY From finch beaks to genes to the future of
This Old Body humanity, Charles Darwin’s profound insights
50 about evolution have shaped our view of life.
By Neil H. Shubin
Cover concept by Jen Christiansen.
Evolutionary hand-me-downs inherited from fish
cover images: TIME LIFE PICTURES/Getty Images (Charles Darwin); KENN BROWN Mondolithic
and tadpoles have lef