Trees of Life:: A Visual History of Evolution by Theodore W. Pietsch (English) P

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Pietsch has spent decades collecting and researching the origin and meaning of these evolutionary trees and presents a visually breathtaking and intellectually brilliant history of the form.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

For the past 450 years, tree-like branching diagrams have been created to show the complex and surprising interrelationships of organisms, both living and fossil, from viruses and bacteria to birds and mammals. This stunning book celebrates the manifest beauty, intrinsic interest, and human ingenuity of these exquisite trees of life. Theodore W. Pietsch has chosen 230 trees of life - from among thousands of possible contenders - dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. His arrangement gives readers a visual sense of the historical development of these diagrams and shows how, in Darwin's words, "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Pietsch's brief, accessible prose accompanies the diverse trees to fully reveal the engrossing history of human theories of evolution. Over the centuries, trees of life appeared in a wide variety of forms; some were revered as iconic while others incited intense controversy. The earliest examples were meant to portray the imagined temporal order in which God created life on Earth. More recent scientific trees represent hypothetical histories of life.Never before has the full spectrum of trees of life been brought together in a single volume. Pietsch has spent decades collecting and researching the origin and meaning of these evolutionary trees and presents a visually breathtaking and intellectually brilliant history of the form.

Back Cover

For the past 450 years, tree-like branching diagrams have been created to show the complex and surprising interrelationships among organisms, both living and fossil, from viruses and bacteria to birds and mammals. This stunning book celebrates the manifest beauty, intrinsic interest, and human ingenuity of these exquisite trees of life. Theodore W. Pietsch has chosen 230 trees of life dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. His arrangement gives readers a visual sense of the historical development of these diagrams and shows how, in Darwin's words, "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." "With the concept of evolution now often iconified to the point of misrepresentation, Trees of Life reminds us that both the idea and its representation were--and are--fluid, debated, and reconstructed."-- Science " Trees of Life is a beautiful book, and the diversity of beautiful images within its pages should be of interest to historians of science, biologists, folks working at the intersection of science and art, and, honestly, anyone with a genuine interest in science and the study of the natural world. This is a taxonomy of trees of life, if you will."-- The Dispersal of Darwin "Better than any work before it... Anyone interested in the history of phylogenetics and the study of evolutionary relationships should certainly pick up this wonderful book. In a field advancing as quickly as systematic biology, it is nice to look back at the past once in a while."--Systematic Biology " Trees of Life is the sort of book that instantly fascinates... This exemplary work is an important contribution to the history of evolution."-- Taxon "Looking at the ways images of trees have been used to depict the relationships between organisms over the past five centuries, Pietsch explores how the visual history of these 'trees of life' reveals changing human understandings of evolution."-- ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

Flap

For the past 450 years, tree-like branching diagrams have been created to show the complex and surprising interrelationships among organisms, both living and fossil, from viruses and bacteria to birds and mammals. This stunning book celebrates the manifest beauty, intrinsic interest, and human ingenuity of these exquisite trees of life. Theodore W. Pietsch has chosen 230 trees of life dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. His arrangement gives readers a visual sense of the historical development of these diagrams and shows how, in Darwin's words, "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." "With the concept of evolution now often iconified to the point of misrepresentation, Trees of Life reminds us that both the idea and its representation were--and are--fluid, debated, and reconstructed."-- Science " Trees of Life is a beautiful book, and the diversity of beautiful images within its pages should be of interest to historians of science, biologists, folks working at the intersection of science and art, and, honestly, anyone with a genuine interest in science and the study of the natural world. This is a taxonomy of trees of life, if you will."-- The Dispersal of Darwin "Better than any work before it . . . Anyone interested in the history of phylogenetics and the study of evolutionary relationships should certainly pick up this wonderful book. In a field advancing as quickly as systematic biology, it is nice to look back at the past once in a while."--Systematic Biology " Trees of Life is the sort of book that instantly fascinates . . . This exemplary work is an important contribution to the history of evolution."-- Taxon "Looking at the ways images of trees have been used to depict the relationships between organisms over the past five centuries, Pietsch explores how the visual history of these 'trees of life' reveals changing human understandings of evolution."-- ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

Author Biography

Theodore W. Pietsch is Dorothy T. Gilbert Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Curator of Fishes at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including The Curious Death of Peter Artedi: A Mystery in the History of Science and Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea.

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroductionBrackets and Tables, Circles and Maps, 1554–1778Early Botanical Networks and Trees, 1766–1815The First Evolutionary Tree, 1786–1820Diverse and Unusual Trees of the Early Nineteenth Century, 1817–1834The Rule of Five, 1819–1854Pre-Darwinian Branching Diagrams, 1828–1858Evolution and the Trees of Charles Darwin, 1837–1868The Trees of Ernst Haeckel, 1866–1905Post-Darwinian Nonconformists, 1868–1896More Late Nineteenth-Century Trees, 1874–1897Trees of the Early Twentieth Century, 1901–1930The Trees of Alfred Sherwood Romer, 1933–1966Additional Trees of the Mid-Twentieth Century, 1931–1943The Trees of William King Gregory, 1938–1951Hints of New Approaches, 1954–1970Phenograms and Cladograms, 1958–1966Early Molecular Trees, 1962–1987Notable Trees of the Past Four Decades, 1970–2010Primeval Branches and Universal Trees of Life, 1997–2010GlossaryNotesReferencesIndex

Review

For those with an interest in the history of evolution. Birdbooker Report Trees of Life is the sort of book that instantly fascinates... This exemplary work is an important contribution to the history of evolution. Taxon Better than any work before it... Anyone interested in the history of phylogenetics and the study of evolutionary relationships should certainly pick up this wonderful book. In a field advancing as quickly as systematic biology, it is nice to look back at the past once in a while. -- Prosanta Chakrabarty Systematic Biology Trees of Life is a beautiful book, and the diversity of beautiful images within its pages should be of interest to historians of science, biologists, folks working at the intersection of science and art, and, honestly, anyone with a genuine interest in science and the study of the natural world. This is a taxonomy of trees of life, if you will. -- Michael Barton Dispersal of Darwin Evolution is often visualized as a branching tree, with the format depending on what the author desires to show. Evolutionary biologist Pietsch is more interested in the history of such trees as art. Choice With the concept of evolution now often iconified to the point of misrepresentation, Trees of Life reminds us that both the idea and its representation were-and are-fluid, debated, and reconstructed. -- Camillia Matuk Science Trees of Life commemorates the tree as a visual representation of life; science buffs will revel in this dazzling forest of transformation. -- Jen Forbus Shelf Awareness Looking at the ways images of trees have been used to depict the relationships between organisms over the past five centuries, Pietsch explores how the visual history of these 'trees of life' reveals changing human understandings of evolution. ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment Pietsch, an evolutionary biologist, gathers together and explains more than 200 'tree of life' diagrams going back 450 years. These branch-like drawings-some simple, some incredibly elaborate-were made to illustrate interconnectedness between organisms and the process of evolution. They can be seen as scientific documents, artistic renderings, or both. -- John Lewis Baltimore Magazine The book testifies to Pietsch's encyclopaedic ambition and his unmistakable passion for the subject. His collection is rich and wide in scope... Because of this diversity, the book provides a very stimulating overview of (Western) attempts to make graphic sense of life and its history on this planet. It has no rival as an introduction to the subject. -- Nils Petter Hellstrom Journal Archives of Natural History Of interest primarily to naturalists and historians, the collection of symbolic relationships presents a unique evolutionary transition through time. -- Aron Row San Francisco Book Review Notable in this work is a nice balance between text and graphics... the book is an excellent source not only of the diversity of diagrams, but of the meaning behind each. -- E.O. Wiley Quarterly Review of Biology A luminous book... For classroom use, the brevity and simplicity of the introductory remarks will serve instructors who wish to teach these images' and their authors' significance to the history of biology and the history of scientific illustration. Biologists, historians of science, scholars interested in the intersections between art and design and science will find an abundance of images and wise commentary that reveals new details with each reading. -- Christine Manganaro Journal of the History of Biology The author has given us a new insight into the varying approaches to evolutionary trees, and an essential source book for the history of evolutionary concepts. -- Gina Douglas Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Promotional

Systematics and the exact tracing of evolutionary pathways increasingly continue their renaissance as a major enterprise of biology. Theodore W. Pietsch's Trees of Life: A Visual History of Evolution is an excellent way to study and think about the historical process that is under way. -- E. O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

Prizes

Commended for PROSE (Biological Sciences) 2012

Long Description

For the past 450 years, tree-like branching diagrams have been created to show the complex and surprising interrelationships of organisms, both living and fossil, from viruses and bacteria to birds and mammals. This stunning book celebrates the manifest beauty, intrinsic interest, and human ingenuity of these exquisite trees of life. Theodore W. Pietsch has chosen 230 trees of life - from among thousands of possible contenders - dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. His arrangement gives readers a visual sense of the historical development of these diagrams and shows how, in Darwins words, 'from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.' Pietsch's brief, accessible prose accompanies the diverse trees to fully reveal the engrossing history of human theories of evolution. Over the centuries, trees of life appeared in a wide variety of forms; some were revered as iconic while others incited intense controversy. The earliest examples were meant to portray the imagined temporal order in which God created life on Earth. More recent scientific trees represent hypothetical histories of life. Never before has the full spectrum of trees of life been brought together in a single volume. Pietsch has spent decades collecting and researching the origin and meaning of these evolutionary trees and presents a visually breathtaking and intellectually brilliant history of the form.

Review Text

""The author has given us a new insight into the varying approaches to evolutionary trees, and an essential source book for the history of evolutionary concepts.""

Review Quote

With the concept of evolution now often iconified to the point of misrepresentation, Trees of Life reminds us that both the idea and its representation were-and are-fluid, debated, and reconstructed.

Details ISBN1421411857 Author Theodore W. Pietsch Pages 376 Audience Age 17 Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press Year 2013 ISBN-10 1421411857 ISBN-13 9781421411859 Format Paperback Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press Subtitle A Visual History of Evolution Place of Publication Baltimore, MD Country of Publication United States DEWEY 576.8 Short Title TREES OF LIFE Language English Media Book UK Release Date 2013-08-26 NZ Release Date 2013-08-26 Alternative 9781421404790 Audience Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly AU Release Date 2013-07-14 Publication Date 2013-07-01 Illustrations 231, 226 black & white line drawings, 5 black & white halftones US Release Date 2013-07-01 We've got this

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