Her research and books look very interesting, but I have been a little hesitant because some scientists (including some well-respected ones I know personally and have high regard for) hold her in utter disdain over the PNAS communication she sponsored on the hypothesis that caterpillars evolved from onychophornas by hybridogenesis. Of course, just because I respect these scientists doesn't mean they are right about everything. What do people on this list think of this controversy?
A different but related perspective is in the book _Compositional Evolution: The Impact of Sex, Symbiosis, and Modularity on the Gradualist Theory of Evolution_ http://amzn.to/eawM0b by the computer scientist Richard Watson. This is very theoretical and definitely not appropriate for a theory-laden course. I mentioned this book to a highly regarded mathematical population geneticist--I think I had told him all of two sentences about it--and he told me that if it was by a computer scientist I should put it out of my mind and stay as far away from it as possible. Again, I was taken aback by this very dismissive attitude by a senior scientist. --Ruchira On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:29 PM, John Cozza <jco...@bio.miami.edu> wrote: > I would recommend "Acquiring Genomes" by Lynn Margulis. Although it does > not aspire to be a textbook of symbioses, it does present some cool > examples of microbial symbionts, and focuses on the role of such symbioses > in speciation and evolution. It's written clearly and for a general > audience. As a bonus, Dr. Margulis' impressive knowledge of historical > and current symbiosis research, including some controversial theories, > gives a wonderful feel for the process of science. Published in 2002, > it's already a little out of date (!), but still thought provoking and > useful. > > John > > P.S. if you or anybody uses this book with students I would be very > interested in hearing about the outcome. > > > I'm surprised that someone more knowledgeable than I hasn't already > > responded to this post. I'm in the midst of reading Angela Douglas's > _The > > Symbiotic Habit_ http://amzn.to/gIhu9L though off the top of my head, I > > think it might be a bit heavy going for a senior-level course . > > > > --Ruchira > > > > On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 7:42 AM, David Inouye <ino...@umd.edu> wrote: > > > >> Next fall I am going to start up a senior-level course in symbiosis, > >> which > >> I will mostly teach from my skewed perspective as a biochemist, but > >> which I > >> realize has very patchy coverage in that regard. I will probably hand > >> out > >> papers to the students from the original literature, but I was hoping > >> that > >> there might be a book or two that would be helpful - although a fast > >> look > >> did not find much. So, if any of the folks on your listserv has a > >> favorite > >> they'd like to point me to, I'd appreciate it. > >> > >> Many thanks > >> > >> Skip > >> _________________________________ > >> Sidney K. Pierce, Ph. D. > >> > >> Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of Maryland > >> > >> And > >> > >> Professor of Biology > >> Department of Biology > >> University of South Florida > >> 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SCA 110 > >> Tampa, FL 33620 > >> > >> email: pie...@usf.edu > >> > >> Phone: office <%28813%29%20974-4494>(813) 974-4494 > >> Lab <%28813%29%20974-8159>(813) 974-8159 > >> > >> Web- http://biology.usf.edu/ib/faculty/spierce/ > > >
