Scott Solomon

An evolutionary biologist provides surprising insights into the changing nature of Homo sapiens in this "important and an entertaining read" (Choice). In Future Humans, evolutionary biologist Scott Solomon draws on recent discoveries to examine the future evolution of our species. Combining knowledge of our past with current trends, Solomon offers convincing evidence that evolutionary forces are still affecting us today. But how will modernization-including...

In many ways, insects are just like us. Elaborate mating rituals, a variety of parenting styles, and a plethora of careers-from architects and engineers, to farmers and ranchers. Like us, they're able to share complex information essential for survival, significantly impact their environment, and recycle. But insects outdo us in so many respects. They are terrestrial, but some can live underwater. Their six legs are great for walking or running, but...

Darwin was puzzled by the sudden appearance of complex, diverse flora and fauna in the fossil record roughly 540 million years ago, a period known as the Cambrian explosion. And Darwin had no idea that the history of life on Earth has included five big mass extinction events followed by accelerated periods of evolution that often took life in radically new directions.

While some insects are herbivores and others are predators, a third group gets their energy and nutrients as parasites and parasitoids. Grisly though it might sound to us, you'll discover that some insects inject their eggs into the bodies of insects and other animals, and some even insert their eggs into others' eggs. Sometimes the hosts live through this process, but sometimes they do not.

Darwin saw that natural selection not only leads to species that evolve to their mutual advantage, but to enemies that wage an evolutionary arms race that ends up benefiting both sides. Study coevolutionary cases - from the yucca plant and its symbiotic partner, the yucca moth, to the fastest animal on Earth, the cheetah, and its prey the springbok antelope, which has evolved to be almost as fast.

You might never have eaten beetle larvae, locusts, ants, or termites, but chances are your ancestors did-just as many people do today. Explore the insect-rich diets of people around the world and learn why many scientists and dietitians believe insects just might be the food of our future.

Insect pollinators contribute about $195 billion to the global economy, pollinating approximately 80% of the most important crops worldwide. Explore the complexities of these insects, the many types of pollination they perform, and the coevolutionary dance that continues today between these animals and their plants.

Learn everything you need to know about starting an insect collection and making your own observations about your local environment. Discover how to start a collection of preserved insects using materials you probably already have at home. From nets to aspirators to pitfall traps, you'll have everything you need.

Explore how population bottlenecks and the founder effect lead to random changes in the frequency of genes, an independent mechanism of evolution known as genetic drift. Darwin had an inkling of this process when he proposed that "spontaneous variations" play a role in evolution. But genetic drift has proved far more significant than he ever envisioned.

Zoom in on the branch of the Tree of Life that gave rise to our species. Fossil discoveries and insights from DNA have led researchers to abandon the iconic image of a linear progression from hunched apes to upright humans. In its place is a much more intertwined tree for humans and their closest living and extinct relatives, including Neanderthals and the recently discovered Denisovans.