Scott Solomon
Author
Publisher
The Teaching Company
Pub. Date
[2022]
Language
English
Description
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. The truth is, our planet belongs to insects. In 24 captivating lectures beautifully illustrated with graphics,...
2) Why Insects Matter: Earth's Most Essential Species: Episode 21,Insects in Art, Literature, and Film
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Throughout our history, we have experienced admiration for insects and their unique abilities, as well as fear and disgust. Explore how those conflicting emotions have been reflected in our arts, from Aesop's fables to Kafka's Metamorphosis, from the films Alien to A Bug's Life, and characters from Jiminy Cricket to Ant Man.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
On the Origin of Species failed to account for a major part of the Tree of Life, namely bacteria and other microorganisms. These represent the original forms of life, and they have played a central role in the evolution of every species since. Study the symbiotic role of microbes in the functioning of plants and animals, and consider the view that all organisms are, in part, microbial.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Insects play a crucial role as decomposers of dead organic matter, recycling the chemicals and making them available for other organisms. Explore the feats of one of homeowners' most dreaded pests—termites. These insects not only clear forests of dead wood, but are also stellar engineers.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Darwin devised his theory of sexual selection to explain many traits that can’t be understood through natural selection alone - from the peacock’s gaudy tail to the elaborate constructions of bowerbirds. Probe deeper to discover why sexual reproduction exists at all, what causes individuals to develop into males versus females, and why some males take on the role of raising the young.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
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.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Few terrestrial organisms can be as comfortable in the water as insects. Look at the unique respiratory physiology and fascinating adaptations that make it possible for them to maintain oxygenation underwater, as well as the adaptations that allow water striders to take advantage of water's surface tension to skim along its surface.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Chart the deep insights and remarkable conclusions Charles Darwin’s ideas on natural selection inspired. These 24 fascinating episodes cover 160 years of non-stop scientific advances and their relationship to Darwin’s groundbreaking theory. Among them: the discovery of the rules of heredity, the identification of DNA, the recognition of mass extinctions, and the power to manipulate genes.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Despite its title, On the Origin of Species does not fully address how new species arise. Delve into this complex problem by investigating what a species is. Consider definitions based on morphological, biological, phylogenetic, and genomic distinctions. Then examine the reproductive barriers, both before conception and after, that can lead to the origin of new species.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Why was Darwin afraid that ants might undermine his theory of natural selection? Delve into the sterile worker paradox: the puzzle of why ants and other “eusocial” species evolved to have large numbers of non-reproducing offspring. Since the ability to reproduce is central to natural selection, this feature, which is common among insects and also present in other animals, demands explanation.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Discover the properties of insects that distinguish them from mammals and all other animals. They all have exoskeletons for strength and protection, six legs to propel their movements, compound eyes, antennae, and even more attributes in common with one another. But within this framework, their astonishing variability has allowed them to live in almost every ecological niche on the planet.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Explore one of the ultimate applications of evolutionary principles: harnessing evolution to benefit human health. Study diseases such as malaria, AIDS, influenza, and cancer that evolve rapidly to outmaneuver the body’s changing defenses. Also contrast our modern lifestyle with the physiology we inherited from our prehistoric ancestors, who evolved to compete in a far different world.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
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.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Darwin contrasted natural selection with artificial selection - the time-tested techniques for selective breeding that promote desired traits in plants and animals. See how far we’ve come with 21st-century tools such as CRISPR, which allows precise edits to the DNA sequence of any species. Evaluate the promise and perils of this technology, which lets us take evolution into our own hands.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
In addition to being food for others, insects are also predators—and quite efficient ones at that. Discover the predatory adaptations of a variety of insects, including mantids who can strike their prey in one-twentieth of a second with a head that can turn 360 degrees, and the assassin bugs whose beaks can impale their prey, deliver enzymes to liquefy the tissues, and suck them out.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Insects are the most significant herbivores worldwide. Along with the rise of the forests about 300 million years ago, insects evolved the ability to feed on and digest plants. Discover the diversity of strategies these animals have developed to feed on the many parts of plants—and how some have developed their own specialized microbiome to help them do the job.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
The arrival of genetics in the early 20th century addressed what Darwin did not know about inheritance, but there was more to uncover: How do genes function, and where do variations come from? Trace the discovery of DNA as the carrier of genetic information and the realization that mutations and other structural changes in DNA are a source of the modifications that underlie natural selection.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Convergent evolution occurs when natural selection causes different species to evolve in similar ways. Does this mean that evolution follows a predetermined path? Focus on the recent debate between scientists Stephen Jay Gould and Simon Conway Morris. Gould perceived contingencies and unpredictability, but Conway Morris saw repetition and consistency. How do these views relate to human evolution?
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
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.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Natural selection is not the only mechanism driving evolution. In this episode, discover how the movement of individuals leads to gene flow between populations. Travel to the Galapagos Islands and neighboring Cocos Island to see how finches evolved into multiple species in the Galapagos archipelago but stayed a distinct species on isolated Cocos. Consider the implications for human evolution.