The major transitions in evolution
by John Maynard Smith · first published 1995
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During evolution there have been major changes in the way genetic information is transmitted from one generation to the next. This book discusses these transitions. The authors highlight the similarities between different transitions and show how an understanding of one sheds light on others.
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Was it John Maynard Smith - The Major Transitions in Evolution? It's a great book, that goes deeper than Dawkins' vulgarizations.
on “Why complex life probably evolved only once” ↗…into more depth on the important stages of evolution: http://www.amazon.com/Major-Transitions-Evolution-Maynard-Sm... On a tangent, my dismissiveness of creationists has only increased since reading The Major Transitions in Evolution. There are some really perplexing things in early evolution that we don't understand at all. And yet creationists like to talk about chimps and rocks.
on “Deep Intellect: Inside the mind of the octopus” ↗…to be operative in the sense of leading to clear predictions, must be simple. Of course, it may be that no operative theories are possible in the social sciences." - Maynard Smith and Szathmary, The Major Transitions in Evolution
on “Why Math is deeper than Sociology [quote]” ↗