In this innovative celebration of diversity and affirmation of individuality in animals and humans, Joan Roughgarden challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science—and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution's Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality. Roughgarden argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity. She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as lesbian, gay, and transgendered; and calls on the Christian religion to acknowledge the Bible's many passages endorsing diversity in gender and sexuality. Evolution's Rainbow concludes with bold recommendations for improving education in biology, psychology, and medicine; for democratizing genetic engineering and medical practice; and for building a public monument to affirm diversity as one of our nation's defining principles.

Click here to visit evolutionandchristianfaith.org "I'm an evolutionary biologist and a Christian," states Stanford professor Joan Roughgarden at the outset of her groundbreaking new book, Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist. From that perspective, she offers an elegant, deeply satisfying reconciliation of the theory of evolution and the wisdom of the Bible. Perhaps only someone with Roughgarden's unique academic standing could examine so well controversial issues such as the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, or the potential flaws in Darwin's theory of evolution. Certainly Roughgarden is uniquely suited to reference both the minutiae of scientific processes and the implication of Biblical verses. Whether the topic is mutation rates and lizards or the hidden meanings behind St. Paul's letters, Evolution and Christian Faith distils complex arguments into everyday understanding. Roughgarden has scoured the Bible and scanned the natural world, finding examples time and again, not of conflict, but of harmony. The result is an accessible and intelligent context for a Christian vision of the world that embraces science. In the ongoing debates over creationism and evolution, Evolution and Christian Faith will be seen as a work of major significance, written for contemporary readers who wonder how-or if-they can embrace scientific advances while maintaining their traditional values.

Are selfishness and individuality—rather than kindness and cooperation—basic to biological nature? Does a "selfish gene" create universal sexual conflict? In The Genial Gene, Joan Roughgarden forcefully rejects these and other ideas that have come to dominate the study of animal evolution. Building on her brilliant and innovative book Evolution's Rainbow, in which she challenged accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation, Roughgarden upends the notion of the selfish gene and the theory of sexual selection and develops a compelling and controversial alternative theory called social selection. This scientifically rigorous, model-based challenge to an important tenet of neo-Darwinian theory emphasizes cooperation, elucidates the factors that contribute to evolutionary success in a gene pool or animal social system, and vigorously demonstrates that to identify Darwinism with selfishness and individuality misrepresents the facts of life as we now know them.

The evolutionary ecology of the Anolis lizards--the colorful green, grey, and brown lizards seen around houses, gardens, and woods in the West Indies--is the subject of this pathbreaking new book. Offering fascinating insights into the more than 150 Anolis species dispersed throughout the Caribbean islands, distinguished biologist Jonathan Roughgarden details the differences between a wide range of behaviors and physical characteristics that resulted from evolutionary divergences concurrent with the plate-tectonic origins of the region. Succinct and extremely well-written, the book summarizes the author's more than twenty years of research and will be enthusiastically received by students and researchers in ecology and theoretical, tropical, and population biology.

God, Sex, Science, Gender: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Christian Ethics is a timely, wide-ranging attempt to rescue dialogues on human sexuality, sexual diversity, and gender from insular exchanges based primarily on biblical scholarship and denominational ideology. Too often, dialogues on sexuality and gender devolve into the repetition of party lines and defensive postures, without considering the interdisciplinary body of scholarly research on this complex subject. This volume expands beyond the usual parameters, opening the discussion to scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to foster the development of Christian sexual ethics for contemporary times. Essays by prominent and emerging scholars in the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, literary studies, theology, and ethics reveal how faith and reason can illuminate our understanding of human sexual and gender diversity. Focusing on the intersection of theology and science and incorporating feminist theory, God, Science, Sex, Gender is a much-needed call for Christian ethicists to map the origins and full range of human sexual experience and gender identity. Essays delve into why human sexuality and gender can be so controversial in Christian contexts, investigate the complexity of sexuality in humans and other species, and reveal the implications of diversity for Christian moral theology. Contributors are Joel Brown, James Calcagno, Francis J. Catania, Pamela L. Caughie, Robin Colburn, Robert Di Vito, Terry Grande, Frank Fennell, Anne E. Figert, Patricia Beattie Jung, Fred Kniss, John McCarthy, Jon Nilson, Stephen J. Pope, Susan A. Ross, Joan Roughgarden, and Aana Marie Vigen.

This is a reprint of a classic which synthesizes population, genetics, and population genetics to form one of the first books on evolutionary ecology. Written by one of the foremost authorities in the field, it is designed as an introduction useful to readers at various levels from diverse backgrounds. It features balanced, readable coverge of both elementary and advanced topics that are essential to those interested in evolutionary biology, ecology, animal behavior, sociobiology, and paleobiology.

The author of this treatise uses the Anolis lizard to demonstrate the concept of ecology models - how ecological context supplies the natural selection that drives evolution and how evolutionary change among species in turn affects their ecological station.

Presents an overview of ecological modeling as it relates to current ecological theory. KEY TOPICS: A Primer of Ecological Theory maintains its scientific objectivity while covering the full extent of current ecological modeling theory. The book introduces the use of computer technology to ecological modeling through MATLAB. This allows all work to be verified and the skills transferred to other disciplines. MARKET: A valuable resource book for ecologists, resource managers, and economists.

Dans sa théorie de l’évolution par la « sélection naturelle », Darwin a ajouté un second processus, qu’il baptise « sélection sexuelle ». D’abord pensé pour expliquer les caractères exubérants des mâles, comme la queue du paon, ce concept a, par extension, servi à définir des rôles sexuels stéréotypés, le mâle devant conquérir et la femelle pouvant choisir. Appliquée à l’espèce humaine, cette théorie de la « sélection sexuelle » a pu servir d’explication (voire de justification) du viol, de l’infidélité ou de la pornographie. J. Roughgarden rejette ce modèle en s’appuyant sur les faits accumulés par la biologie. Il existe, par exemple, des espèces où c’est la femelle qui est combative, colorée, et le mâle qui s’occupe des soins aux petits. On compte en outre chez les animaux des comportements homosexuels, des individus transgenres, et des espèces où cohabitent plus de deux « genres ». Les explications en termes de sélection sexuelle s’inspirent également du paradigme du « gène égoïste » où dans la nature tout ne serait que conflit, égoïsme, profit. Contre cette image d’une guerre des sexes généralisée, Roughgarden propose une alternative qu’elle appelle « sélection sociale », mettant en avant le travail d’équipe et la coopération entre les partenaires.