Origins
The Darwin College Lectures

The first book in the Darwin College Lecture series reports on the origins of the most fundamental features of our world.

A. C. Fabian (Edited by)

9780521018197, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 August 2005

184 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1.2 cm, 0.304 kg

"All in all there is plenty of food for thought in seven essas, which demonstrate that origins are usually difficult reconstruct for events that happened a long time ago." Bioscience

We all have a natural interest in our own origins and, by extension, the origins of the world in which we live. In this volume, the first in The Darwin College Lectures Series, a distinguished team of international authorities reports on the latest research on the origins of the most fundamental features of our world. Martin Rees begins the book with a bang, the Big Bang that was the probable start of our expanding universe. The contributors then focus on the origins of the solar system, material complexity and the human species. The volume ends with essays by John Maynard Smith on social behaviour, Ernest Gellner on society and John Lyons on language. The book derives from a highly successful series of lively public lectures which have since been revised and illustrated for publication under the editorship of Professor A. C. Fabian of the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge.

Preface D. H. Mellor
Introduction D. H. Mellor
1. Origin of the universe Martin J. Rees
2. Origin of the solar system David W. Hughes
3. Origins of complexity Ilya Prigogine
4. Human origins and evolution David Pilbeam
5. Origin of social behaviour John Maynard Smith
6. Origins of society Ernest Gellner
7. Origins of language John Lyons
Index.

Subject Areas: Popular science [PDZ]