地球之外或许存在生命痕迹，但地外生命并不等于地外文明。
* 科学怪咖马斯克的移民火星计划，早在20年前就已被批驳得体无完肤？
* 霍金对地球将迎来灭顶之灾的预言，其实并非科学界的新鲜论断？
* 《流浪地球》的“逃跑方案”，真的能让人类对抗残酷的宇宙法则并避免自毁吗？
哪里有什么外星文明呢？不过是人类为满足好奇心而构筑的想象罢了。
【编辑推荐】
自古以来，人类便对宇宙怀有好奇，对地外文明的想象和探索也从未终止。1974年，天文学家卡尔·萨根提出，仅在银河系，便存在100万个由智慧生命创造的文明。这个激动人心的观点催生了许多科幻小说或影视作品，其中对外星智慧生命特征的种种刻画，充分满足了我们内心深处对这些尚未出现的“太空邻居”的期待。
然而，随着有关地球生命起源与外星生命探索的研究不断深入，越来越多的科学证据表明，40亿年前生命在这颗蓝色行星上的起源和复杂性的演化，直至发展出今天的文明，并非任意星系中随处可见的现象，而是一种非常稀有的结果。地球这枚“暗淡蓝点”，或许真的是茫茫宇宙中唯一适合高等生命存在的家园。当智人因为漫不经心的管理而把动植物逼上灭绝的境地，宇宙因此遭受的损失将比我们感性认知中的更加惨重。
【内容简介】
结合最新的天文物理学、天体生物学和行星科学知识，古生物学家彼得·D.沃德和天文学家唐纳德·布朗利以极强的洞察力和清晰的条理，对地球上高等生物的出现原因进行了严谨而透彻的分析与推断。
在这趟探寻生命的宇宙之旅中，我们会惊奇地看到，虽然微生物这样简单生命的活动证据不难找到，但复杂生命的演化和生存所需的条件却相当难得，如宜居带的形成、板块构造和月球在地球生命起源中所扮演的角色等。如果你也对宇宙生命的诞生之谜感兴趣，那么本书作为“稀有地球”假说的立论之作，将是书单中必不可少的一本。尽管已经提出二十余年，但该假说的根本立论在今天仍然成立，而且说服力似乎越来越强。读罢此书你将发现，地球上的缤纷生命远比我们所想象的更为珍贵，因为即便穷尽人类文明，我们也未必能接触到另一个宇宙文明。

A radical reconsideration of how we develop the qualities that make us human, based on decades of cutting-edge experimental work by the former director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Virtually all theories of how humans have become such a distinctive species focus on evolution. Here, Michael Tomasello proposes a complementary theory of human uniqueness, focused on development. Building on the seminal ideas of Vygotsky, his data-driven model explains how those things that make us most human are constructed during the first years of a child’s life.
Tomasello assembles nearly three decades of experimental work with chimpanzees, bonobos, and human children to propose a new framework for psychological growth between birth and seven years of age. He identifies eight pathways that starkly differentiate humans from their closest primate relatives: social cognition, communication, cultural learning, cooperative thinking, collaboration, prosociality, social norms, and moral identity. In each of these, great apes possess rudimentary abilities. But then, Tomasello argues, the maturation of humans’ evolved capacities for shared intentionality transform these abilities—through the new forms of sociocultural interaction they enable—into uniquely human cognition and sociality. The first step occurs around nine months, with the emergence of joint intentionality, exercised mostly with caregiving adults. The second step occurs around three years, with the emergence of collective intentionality involving both authoritative adults, who convey cultural knowledge, and coequal peers, who elicit collaboration and communication. Finally, by age six or seven, children become responsible for self-regulating their beliefs and actions so that they comport with cultural norms.
Becoming Human places human sociocultural activity within the framework of modern evolutionary theory, and shows how biology creates the conditions under which culture does its work.

人们已经广泛认识到主流经济学不能从微观经济学原理出发建立一套统一一致的宏观经济理论，也无法为经济体系的持续变化提供本源性的解释。因此，从20世纪80年代早期开始，越来越多的经济学家开始尝试用演化方法来回答上述两个关键问题。在这个新领域，已经积累了大量的、多种多样的文献，但是，能将这些学者的观点与看法联结起来的演化经济学的基本原则却仍不明晰。《经济学的演化基础》精心收集了15篇致力于用演化科学的思路重构经济学、并在这一领域做出重要贡献的学者的论著。通过使用中观经济学作为分析主体把微观经济学与宏观经济学、静态世界与动态世界桥接起来，《经济学的演化基础》展现给读者的，是一种整合的经济学理论，并且为经济学基础理论的研究提供了一套全新的方法。

《中国人民大学经济学系列教材:演化经济学导论》由贾根良著，中国人民大学出版社出版，《中国人民大学经济学系列教材:演化经济学导论》是中国人民大学经济学系列教材。

《分子系统发生学》是应用分子数据重建系统发生关系的学科。本教材全面系统地论述了分子系统发生学的基础、原理、方法及应用。由18章组成，可以归纳为五大部分：第一部分包括第1～3章，分别介绍了系统发生和系统树的基本知识；第二部分包括第4～7章，是分子系统发生分析的基础，其中第4章和第5章是分子系统发生学的信息学基础，第6章是数据集系统发生信号评估，第7章讨论了分子进化模型及模型选择原理与方法；第三部分中的第8～12章是各种系统发生分析方法，分别就目前主要的系统发生分析方法（距离矩阵法、简约法、最大似然法、贝叶斯推论法和系统发生网络法等）从原理、软件操作、应用及局限性等方面进行了详细的介绍，第13章讨论了系统发生假设检验的原理和方法，第14章讨论了系统发生分析可靠性与影响因素；第四部分主要涉及各类数据集分析策略，其中第15章总结了不同类型数据的分析策略，第16章对复杂数据系统发生的分析策略与方法进行了详细地介绍，第17章是多基因数据分析策略和方法；最后一部分即第18章是系统树的可视化、注释与应用方面的内容。
《分子系统发生学》可作为生物学、生物技术、生态学和生物信息学专业的本科生、研究生及科研人员学习分子系统发生学的教材或参考资料。

This book presents a challenge to the widely-held assumption that human languages are both similar and constant in their degree of complexity. For a hundred years or more the universal equality of languages has been a tenet of faith among most anthropologists and linguists. It has been frequently advanced as a corrective to the idea that some languages are at a later stage of evolution than others. It also appears to be an inevitable outcome of one of the central axioms of generative linguistic theory: that the mental architecture of language is fixed and is thus identical in all languages and that whereas genes evolve languages do not. Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable reopens the debate. Geoffrey Sampson's introductory chapter re-examines and clarifies the notion and theoretical importance of complexity in language, linguistics, cognitive science, and evolution. Eighteen distinguished scholars from all over the world then look at evidence gleaned from their own research in order to reconsider whether languages do or do not exhibit the same degrees and kinds of complexity. They examine data from a wide range of times and places.They consider the links between linguistic structure and social complexity and relate their findings to the causes and processes of language change. Their arguments are frequently controversial and provocative; their conclusions add up to an important challenge to conventional ideas about the nature of language. The authors write readably and accessibly with no recourse to unnecessary jargon. This fascinating book will appeal to all those interested in the interrelations between human nature, culture, and language.

The Handbook of Language Variation and Change , written by a distinguished international roster of contributors, reflects the vitality and growth of the discipline in its multifaceted pursuits. It is a convenient, hand-held repository of the essential knowledge about the study of language variation and change.
Written by internationally recognized experts in the field.
Reflects the vitality and growth of the discipline.
Discusses the ideas that drive the field and is illustrated with empirical studies.
Includes explanatory introductions which set out the boundaries of the field and place each of the chapters into perspective.

The human imagination never ceases to be captivated by the quest for its own roots. Who were our ancestors? In the evolutionary clash of brains and brawn, what was it that prevailed and made us, Homo sapiens, uniquely human? Today scientists cite language as the distinctively human feature. But what is language a sign, a grunt? a sound with collective symbolic meaning? This remarkable book seeks to set the record straight with a critical refinement of the language theory, providing us for the first time with a scientific explanation of how Eve came to speak at all. Wrestling with the age-old question of why such a large gulf exists between humans and other animals, Philip Lieberman mines both the fossil record and modern neuroscientific techniques to chart the development of the anatomy and brain mechanisms necessary for human language as we know it. Eschewing any notion of a language gene or instinct, he pursues instead an evolutionary path in which environment acts on a biological capacity to reveal the interconnectedness of systems that make us most human: precise motor skills, speech, language, and complex thought. Eve Spoke challenges the dominant scientific theories of language's origins and forges a new understanding of the role of language in our evolution.

一本你从未见过的、有关演化的视觉盛宴
跟随摄影大师的艺术镜头
探索生物演化的科学奥秘
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🦍编辑推荐
♤全方位多角度的视觉记录
全书六个章节，从亿万年前的远古生命遗迹到人类世间的灭绝物种化石，从多彩缤纷的鸟类世界到纷繁复杂的哺乳动物，读者可以通过与高清照片的科普文字，感受充满未知和 挑战的演化进程。
♤艺术与科学完美结合，揭示演化的奥秘
著名摄影家罗伯特 •克拉克以摄影充分展现各类生物的细节和强烈的艺术之美；而多位生物领域科学家、研究人员、博物馆工作人员共同协助，力求知识翔实、精确；
♤与全球知名博物馆及动植物园合作，展现罕见细节
作者甄选19家权威机构的标本，以使读者可尽情饱览包括大英博物馆、美国自然历史博物馆、邱园、皇家植物园等全球知名博物馆和动植物园罕见藏品。
♤全书全彩印刷，200余幅高清摄影，展现肉眼难以看清的诸多细节
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🦎内容简介
《演化之旅》由屡获殊荣的摄影师罗伯特·克拉克拍摄的200多张异彩纷呈的珍贵图像和著名科普作者大卫·奎曼和约瑟夫·华莱士言简意赅的科普文字共同构成。全书意在以视觉图像，记录一场亿万年以来有关生物演化的神奇之旅。
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全本以“远古的历史”“鸟类：自然选择和人工选择”“冷血动物的多样性”“植物：演化盛开”“昆虫：多种多样的适应性”“哺乳动物：交错的网”“人类的起源”“演化的演化”八个大章节，全方位、多角度的展现生物的演化案例。
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作者甄选世界范围内包括大英博物馆、美国自然历史博物馆、邱园、皇家植物园等知名博物馆和动植物园的罕见藏品。整个编撰过程中又有诸多生物领域科学家、研究人员、博物馆工作人员共同协助，力求图像及知识的清晰、客观、详实、准确。
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🐞媒体推荐
《演化之旅》是一本你从未见过的视觉科学教科书 ——《美国国家地理》
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《演化之旅》是一本精雕细琢的完美作品。之所以说“精雕细琢”，是因为它以细腻的细节展开，清晰地描绘了作者对演化这一主题的热爱。这是一场自然世界和它背后的生物进程的盛宴。《演化之旅》使自然赤裸地展现……让你感觉好像在一个自然历史博物馆的幕后参观，而许多标本仿佛还在呼吸 ——《BBC野生动物》
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一本探索推动地球多样性进程的精美书籍，一部引人入胜的进化史视觉记录—— http://ScienceFocus.com
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克拉克拍摄的生动、令人惊叹的照片捕捉到了地球生命的一些惊人变异和进化……生物演化的进程可能需要几千年的时间，但在这本书里我们可以领略精彩一瞥—— http://Smithsonian.com
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有关演化奇迹的摄影集，有关植物和动物以非凡方式演化生存的精彩绝伦的案例——《华盛顿邮报》

生物演化是人类关心的永恒主题。古生物学家根据岩石中保存的化石记录和古环境信息，一直致力于真实地恢复这一漫长的历史画卷。
《生物演化与环境》以精美的化石为实证，以重大生物进化事件为主线，讲述地球生命38亿年以来真实发生的进化过程，以及所伴随的环境演变。其中，生物及其类群的起源、辐射、灭绝和全球气候变化、青藏高原隆升等重大变革事件是重点内容，使读者不但能够了解地球生物演化的复杂过程，也学会“讲古论今”，对现今的地球环境和人类的未来做出深层次的思考。

Language has no counterpart in the animal world. Unique to Homo sapiens, it appears inseparable from human nature. But how, when and why did it emerge? The contributors to this volume - linguists, anthropologists, cognitive scientists, and others - adopt a modern Darwinian perspective which offers a bold synthesis of the human and natural sciences. As a feature of human social intelligence, language evolution is driven by biologically anomalous levels of social cooperation. Phonetic competence correspondingly reflects social pressures for vocal imitation, learning, and other forms of social transmission. Distinctively human social and cultural strategies gave rise to the complex syntactical structure of speech. This book, presenting language as a remarkable social adaptation, testifies to the growing influence of evolutionary thinking in contemporary linguistics. It will be welcomed by all those interested in human evolution, evolutionary psychology, linguistic anthropology, and general linguistics.

Why are we obsessed with the things we want only to be bored when we get them?
Why is addiction perfectly logical to an addict?
Why does love change so quickly from passion to indifference?
Why are some people die-hard liberals and others hardcore conservatives?
Why are we always hopeful for solutions even in the darkest times—and so good at figuring them out?
The answer is found in a single chemical in your brain: dopamine. Dopamine ensured the survival of early man. Thousands of years later, it is the source of our most basic behaviors and cultural ideas—and progress itself.
Dopamine is the chemical of desire that always asks for more—more stuff, more stimulation, and more surprises. In pursuit of these things, it is undeterred by emotion, fear, or morality. Dopamine is the source of our every urge, that little bit of biology that makes an ambitious business professional sacrifice everything in pursuit of success, or that drives a satisfied spouse to risk it all for the thrill of someone new. Simply put, it is why we seek and succeed; it is why we discover and prosper. Yet, at the same time, it’s why we gamble and squander.
From dopamine’s point of view, it’s not the having that matters. It’s getting something—anything—that’s new. From this understanding—the difference between possessing something versus anticipating it—we can understand in a revolutionary new way why we behave as we do in love, business, addiction, politics, religion—and we can even predict those behaviors in ourselves and others.
In The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity—and will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, George Washington University professor and psychiatrist Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, and Georgetown University lecturer Michael E. Long present a potentially life-changing proposal: Much of human life has an unconsidered component that explains an array of behaviors previously thought to be unrelated, including why winners cheat, why geniuses often suffer with mental illness, why nearly all diets fail, and why the brains of liberals and conservatives really are different.

In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?
We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they?
The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor’s training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research.
In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle. He investigates the so-called 10,000-hour rule to uncover whether rigorous and consistent practice from a young age is the only route to athletic excellence.
Along the way, Epstein dispels many of our perceptions about why top athletes excel. He shows why some skills that we assume are innate, like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball or cricket batter, are not, and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete’s will to train, might in fact have important genetic components.
This subject necessarily involves digging deep into sensitive topics like race and gender. Epstein explores controversial questions such as: Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa’s geography? Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition? Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom? Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field? Through on-the-ground reporting from below the equator and above the Arctic Circle, revealing conversations with leading scientists and Olympic champions, and interviews with athletes who have rare genetic mutations or physical traits, Epstein forces us to rethink the very nature of athleticism.

什么是生命的秩序？达尔文一生所求的关键化石为何始终缺失？每次生命大爆发之前，都有大规模物种灭绝降临，在生命的轮回中大灭绝究竟扮演了什么角色？
作者艾崔奇为读者扫清了知识的迷障，他精准地把握了生命演化的脉搏，从跨度数十亿年的重要化石中寻找启示。生物演化并不像达尔文设想的那样是缓慢而渐进的变化过程，艾崔奇揭示：在大规模物种灭绝发生之前，物种都不会发生任何显著的变化。这一生命的律动，正如地球上古老动植物化石记录的那样，被认为是当下对演化最为合理的描述。

《从生态学透视生命系统的设计、运作与演化:生态、遗传和进化通过生殖的融合》系统地介绍了生态学的发展历史、不同尺度的生态学理论，包括模型、稳定性、可塑性、生态系统稳态转化、植被地理格局与演化、基因组进化、动植物生殖及"性"演化、生命的地质历史演化等。重点探讨了生命系统的设计、运作与进化等当前生命科学领域的热点问题。

In the Origin of Wealth, Eric Beinhocker offers a thorough and convincing new way to think about economic growth and business management. The author begins by exploring the roots of modern economic theory and ultimately declares it outmoded and wrong. Instead, he suggests, markets and growth can best be explained by drawing on the emerging field of complexity economics: the study of markets and social systems as complex adaptive systems. Although biological metaphors in business have become familiar (i.e., organizations are living organisms), Beinhocker moves beyond metaphor to explain the revolutions in science that will inevitably change the way we think about economics, competition, and business. The Origin of Wealth raises important questions such as: How can one create strategy in uncertain and fast moving environments? Why is it hard for large organizations to be innovative and how should we organize for better results? What role should governments play in this new era?

《进化动力学:探索生命的方程》一书阐释了生命进化所遵循的数学原理。进化动力学主要涉及复制、突变、选择、随机漂变和空间运动等过程。《进化动力学:探索生命的方程》结合生物学理论和数学语言对这些问题进行了论述。开篇简要介绍了与进化相关的基本概念、种群动力学基本模型以及准种理论；然后介绍进化动力学基本研究方法及其应用，分别就合作行为、HIV、病原体、癌症以及人类语言的进化机制展开讨论，其中所涉及的研究方法主要有进化博弈理论、囚徒困境模型、进化图论、网络博弈等。
《进化动力学:探索生命的方程》语言简洁有力，论述生动有趣。虽然书中涉及大量的数学方法，但是，读者只需具备一定的数学基础，就不会感到晦涩枯燥。该书适合于具有生物学、数学以及具有其他相关学科背景的读者阅读。