- Paperback: 470 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press (7 Aug 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226580830
- ISBN-13: 978-0226580838
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
531,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Genetics > Plant
- #23 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Botany & Plant Sciences > Physiology
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This text provides a comprhensive synthesis of modern evolutionary biology as it relates to plants. It recounts the saga of plant life from its origins to the radiation of the flowering plants. Through computer-generated "walks" the book arrives at plant forms strikingly similar to actual living plants and those of the distant past, showing how living plants might have evolved. It concludes with an extended consideration of molecular biology and paleontology.
From the Publisher
Book Reviews:
"This much-needed review of the evolution of plants from the origin of life on earth to the most advanced flowering plants is more than a textbook. As a paleobotanist, Niklas has provided an excellent insight into the history of the plant kingdom, but the text is brought to life through many fascinating facts about living plants, by molecular and genetic information, and by a balanced review of such topics as the species concept and of cladistic methods." – Sir Ghillean Prance, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
"This much-needed review of the evolution of plants from the origin of life on earth to the most advanced flowering plants is more than a textbook. As a paleobotanist, Niklas has provided an excellent insight into the history of the plant kingdom, but the text is brought to life through many fascinating facts about living plants, by molecular and genetic information, and by a balanced review of such topics as the species concept and of cladistic methods." – Sir Ghillean Prance, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
"This book conveys a brilliant, up-to-date vision of evolutionary plant biology. Every biologist, from the student to the experienced specialist, should profit from its fresh outlook." - Peter Endress, Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich
"Plant biologists have in one sense been waiting many years for this book, and yet perhaps its real importance lies in the fact they did not realize it was coming." - Nature
"So well does the author explain as he goes along that The Evolutionary Biology of Plants should be accessible to all biologists and interested non-biologists. It is not easy reading, but the text is both authoritative and enjoyable." - Times Literary Supplement
"Those interested in the evolution of plant life, and in evolution in general, will certainly find this work insightful and well worth reading." - American Scientist
"Karl Niklas, a brilliant student of evolutionary plant morphology, has presented a work that ties together the major themes of evolution in an impressive and extraordinarily useful synthesis." - Peter Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden
"Niklas draws masterfully from population biology, physiology, mechanics, and paleontology in fashioning a distinctive perspective on plant evolution. Don;t read this book unless you want to think." - Andrew Knoll, Harvard University
"This book is very well written, especially current, thought provoking, and an excellent synthesis. Niklas not only highlights some of the major evolutionary innovations involving plants, but also presents a fresh, synthetic perspective on the role that both extant and fossil plants may play in interpreting evolution. The entire text can used by undergraduate students with minimal background in the biological sciences." - Thomas Taylor, University of Kansas
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace did not originate the concept of adaptation, but they were the first to offer a coherent explanation for how organisms evolve the ability to cope with particular, often vastly different environments. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace did not originate the concept of adaptation, but they were the first to offer a coherent explanation for how organisms evolve the ability to cope with particular, often vastly different environments. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The rarity of up-to-date general surveys on this topic makes this a valuable book, but I think a better job could have been done. It starts out in a promising way, with an excellent introduction to the issues and problems of evolution from the perspective of plant biology, and I found this to be the most enlightening section of the book. The writing at that point is clear and purposeful. However, things start ramping down from there. Plant evolution is dealt with in a piecemeal fashion: certain topics, notably the author's own concern with the evolution of morphology, are treated at length; other, equally important, topics, e.g., symbioses, are skipped almost entirely (there is not a single word on the evolution of mycorrhizal or nitrogen-fixation symbiosis, and very little about the various angiosperm-insect symbioses). Interactions with diseases, parasites and herbivores are virtually ignored. This seriously detracts from the book's clear intent to sketch the "big picture" in plant evolution, and the author's increasingly complicated and disconnected prose does not help matters. But for someone thirsting for knowledge on plant evolution, the book provides plenty of things to think about, and the ample bibliography points the way to more.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A friend of mine told me about this book and said I had to read it. I am not a science student, but I found the book in my school library and read it anyway. It's a great book and I'm sure glad my friend told me about it. Plants are truly interesting, perhaps more so than animals because plants are so different from everything we are taught about in high school biology. Niklas's book is also well written. He speaks directly to the reader, using simple words to describe really complicated biological issues. Everything I always wondered about is found in this book. I've recommended it to my friends. I think everybody ought to know about the 'green world' that surrounds us!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The author has written an up to date and thoughtful book about evolution using plants as examples of all major ideas. This book should be read by any one interested in evolution or plant biology. The text is easy to read, with a minimum of jargon, and the book is well illustrated. I was especially interested in how the author combined information for the study of living plants with the information from the fossil record. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I recommend it highly.
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