Mark Ridley works in the Department of Zoology, Oxford University. He has previously held positions at Cambridge University, England, and at Emory University, Atlanta, in the U.S.A.

Introduction
A. From Darwin to the Modern Synthesis
Section Introduction
1.: Darwin, C. (1858) Extract from an unpublished work on species
2.: Darwin, C. (1858) Abstract of a letter from C. Darwin, Esq., to Prof. Asa Gray, Boston, U.S.A.
3.: Maynard Smith, J. (1987) Weismann and modern biology
4.: Fisher, R. A. (1930) The nature of inheritance
5.: Wright, S. (1932) The roles of mutation, inbreeding, crossbreeding, and selection in evolution
6.: Haldane, J. B. S. (1949) Disease and evolution
B. Natural selection and random drift in populations
Section Introduction
7.: Kettlewell, H. B. D. (1958) A résumé of investigations of the evolution of melanism in the Lepidoptera
8.: Cook, L. M.; Dennis, R. L. H.; and G. S. Mani (1999). Melanic morph frequency in the peppered moth in the Manchester area
9.: Karn, M. N. and Penrose, L. S. (1951) Birth weight and gestation time in relation to infant survival
10.: Ulizzi, L. and Terrenato, L. (1992) Natural selection associated with birth weight. VI. Towards the end of the stabilizing component
11.: Gibbs, H. L and Grant, P. R. (1987) Oscillating selection on Darwin's finches
12.: Lewontin, R. C. The paradox of variation
13.: Kimura, M. Recent developments of the neutral theory
C. Adaptation
Section introduction
14.: Fisher, R. A. (1930). The nature of adaptation
15.: Williams, G. C. (1966). Adaptation and natural selection
16.: Grafen, A. (1986). Adaptation versus selection in progress
17.: Reeve, H. K. and Sherman, P. W. (1991). An operational, nonhistorical definition of adaptation
18.: Orr, H. A. and Coyne, J. The genetics of adaptation: a reassessment
19.: Cain, A. J. (1964). The perfection of animals
20.: Gould, S. J. and Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme
D. Speciation and biodiversity
Section introduction
22.: Mayr, E. Typological v population thinking
23.: Mayr, E. Species concepts and their application
24.: Darwin, C. (1859) The sterility of hybrids
25.: Dobzhansky, T. (1970). Reproductive isolation as a product of genetic divergence and natural selection
26.: Rice, W. R. and Hostert, E. E. Laboratory experiments on speciation: what have we learned in 40 years?
27.: Coyne, J. H. and Orr, H. A. (2000). The evolutionary genetics of speciation
28.: Schluter, D. (2000) Ecological basis of postmating isolation
29.: Grant, V. Hybrid speciation
E. Macroevolution
Section introduction
30.: Erwin, D. H. and Anstey, R. L. (1995) Speciation in the fossil record
31.: De Beer, G. R. (1971). Homology: an unsolved problem
32.: Dawkins, R. (1996). The ey gene
33.: Dickinson, W. J. (1995) Molecules and morphology: where's the homology?
34.: Haeckel, E. (1905) The fundamental law of organic evolution
35.: Garstang, W. (1951) Three poems
F. Evolutionary genomics
Section introduction
36.: Ochman, H.; Lawrence, J. G.; and Groisman, E. A. (2000). Lateral gene transfer and the nature of bacterial innovation
37.: Vision, T. J.; Brown, D. G.; and Tanksley, S. D. (2000). The origins of genomic duplications in Arabidopsis
38.: Humans, M. Ridley
39.: Raff, R. A. (1996). Co-option of eye structures and genes
40.: Benner, S. A.; Caraco, M. D.; Thomson, J. M.; and Gaucher, E. A. (2002). Planetary biology - paleontological, geological, and molecular histories of life
G. The history of life
Section introduction

42.: Schopf, J. W. (1994). Disparate rates, differing fates: tempo and mode of evolution changed from the Precambrian to the Phanerozoic
43.: Cooper, A. and Fortey, R. (1998). Evolutionary explosions and the phylogenetic fuse
44.: Dilcher, D. (2000). Major evolutionary trends in the angiosperm fossil record
H. Case studies
Section introduction
45.: Medawar, P. B. (1951) An unsolved problem in biology
46.: Crick , F. H. C. (1968). The origin of the genetic code
47.: Maynard Smith, J. (1971) The origin and maintenance of sex
48.: Janzen, D. H. (1983) A caricature of seed dispersal by animal guts
49.: Nilsson, D-E. and Pelger, S. (1994). A pessimistic estimate of the time required for an eye to evolve
50.: Sniegowski, P. D.; Gerrish, P. J.; Johnson, T.. and Shaver, A. (2000). The evolution of mutation rates
J. Human evolution.
Section introduction
51.: Sarich, V. and Wilson, A. C. (1967) Immunological time scale for hominid evolution
52.: King, M-C. and Wilson, A. C. (1975). Evolution at two levels in humans and chimpanzees
53.: Britton, R. J. (2002). Divergence between samples of chimpanzee and human DNA sequences is 5%, counting indels
54.: Muller, H. J. (1950). Our load of mutations
55.: Livingstone. F. B. (1962). On the non-existence of human races
56.: Krogman, W. M. (1951). The scars of human evolution
57.: Pinker, S. (1994). The big bang
K. Evolution and human affairs
Section introduction
58.: Antolin, M. F. and Herbers, J. M. (2001). Evolution's struggle for existence in America's public schools
59.: Dobzhansky, T. (1973). Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution
60.: Hume, D. The argument from design
61.: Monod, J. (1974). On the molecular theory of evolution
62.: Huxley, T. H. (1893). Evolution and ethics
63.: Palumbi, S. (2001) Humans as the world's greatest evolutionary force
Biographical notes
Select bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index