The following books are recommended by various members of the MSUM Biology Department.  The volumes are arranged under general topics.  A knowledge of basic biological principles would contribute to the understanding and appreciation of these works.

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ECOLOGY:

A Sand County Almanac  by Aldo Leopold

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies  by Jared Diamond

Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World  by Jack Weatherford

Silent Spring  by Rachel Carson

The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples  by Tim Flannery

The Future of Life  by Edward O. Wilson

EVOLUTION / ORIGINS:

Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea  by Carl Zimmer

River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life  by Richard Dawkins

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time  by Jonathan Weiner

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design   by Richard Dawkins

The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life  by Charles Darwin 

The Selfish Gene  by Richard Dawkins

The Story of Life  by Richard Southwood

The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism  by Niles Eldredge 

GENETICS:

DNA: The Secret of Life  by James D. Watson, Andrew Berry (Contributor) 

Genes, Peoples, and Languages  by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters  by Matt Ridley

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey  by Spencer Wells

The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism, and Environment  by Richard Lewontin

HISTORY OF BIOLOGY:

A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock  by Evelyn Fox Keller

Charles Darwin: A New Life  by John Bowlby 

Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands  by Edward J. Larson 

Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA  by James D. Watson

The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics  by Robin Marantz Henig 

The Voyage of the Beagle  by Charles Darwin

MICROBIOLOGY / PARASITOLOGY:

Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures  by Carl Zimmer

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance  by Laurie Garrett

The Hot Zone  by Richard Preston

PALEOBIOLOGY:

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History  by Stephen Jay Gould

PHILOSOPHICAL BIOLOGY:

Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge  by Edward O. Wilson

On Human Nature  by Edward O. Wilson

Science As a Way of Knowing: The Foundations of Modern Biology  by John A. Moore

The Genetic Gods: Evolution and Belief in Human Affairs  by John C. Avise 

This is Biology: The Science of the Living World  by Ernst Mayr
 
 

CONTACT PERSON:  Robert Weibust - weibust@mnstate.edu

LAST UPDATE:  3/8/04

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