000			03462cam a22003614a 4500
001			16540451
003			BD-DhUL
005			20141114092043.0
008			101116s2011 enka b 001 0 eng
010			_a 2010048061
020			_a9780521116374 (hardback)
020			_a9780521133326 (paperback)
040			_aDLC _cDLC _dDLC _dBD-DhUL
042			_apcc
050	0	0	_aQE721 _b.T88 2011
082	0	0	_a560 _222 _bTUP
084			_aSCI075000 _2bisacsh
100	1		_aTurner, Derek D. _q(Derek Donald), _d1974-
245	1	0	_aPaleontology : _ba philosophical introduction / _cDerek Turner.
260			_aCambridge ; _aNew York : _bCambridge University Press, _c2011.
300			_axi, 227 p. : _bill. ; _c25 cm.
365			_aGBP _b20.99
490	0		_aCambridge introductions to philosophy and biology
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505	8		_aMachine generated contents note: 1. Paleontology and evolutionary theory; 2. A new way of looking at the fossil record; 3. Punctuated equilibria: provocations and problems; 4. The emergence of a hierarchical evolutionary theory; 5. The case for species selection; 6. Real trends; 7. The dynamics of evolutionary trends; 8. Is evolution contingent?; 9. Diversity and disparity; 10. Are genes the new fossils?.
520			_a"Imagine a planet almost exactly like ours, but with one crucial difference: it has no fossils. Call this imaginary planet Afossilia. Afossilia and Earth harbor the very same kinds of living things, from ferns to human beings to E. coli bacteria. Both planets have the same surface features and the same types of rocks. And both have experienced exactly the same evolutionary histories, with the same species evolving and going extinct at exactly the same time. We can even suppose that you and I have counterparts living on Afossilia -- that is, that there are people there who are exactly (or almost exactly) like us. Some Biblical literalists hold that God placed fossils in the rocks in order to test our faith in scripture. I invite you to join me now in thinking about a simple inversion of this familiar idea: what if God -- or if not God, then some more sinister spirit -- systematically removed all the fossils from the rocks just before (Afossilian) humans evolved and began to study the world around them. Afossilia has no fossilized footprints, leaf imprints, shells, pollen, teeth, bones, coprolites (fossilized feces), or any of the remains of ancient organisms that we on Earth can see on display in natural history museums. Suppose you had the opportunity to tour a major research university on Afossilia. There you would find physicists, cosmologists, astronomers, chemists, biochemists, and molecular biologists doing exactly the same things that scientists in those fields do here on Earth. But you would find no paleontologists on Afossilia -- no departments of paleontology or professional associations for paleontologists. A world without fossils must also be a world without paleontology ("the study of ancient beings"). "-- _cProvided by publisher.
650		0	_aPaleontology _xPhilosophy.
650		7	_aSCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects _2bisacsh.
856	4	2	_3Cover image _uhttp://assets.cambridge.org/97805211/16374/cover/9780521116374.jpg
906			_a7 _bcbc _corignew _d1 _eecip _f20 _gy-gencatlg
942			_2ddc _cBK
955			_bxj10 2010-11-16 _cxj10 2010-11-16 ONIX to STM _axe10 2011-08-04 2 copies rec'd., to CIP ver.
999			_c19116 _d19116