The question basically sums it up. I'm looking for books/textbooks that explain evolution from a genetic perspective.
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1$\begingroup$ So your question is about your problem, not a problem in biology. I suggest re-reading the Tour for examples of the types of biological questions that are on-topic here. $\endgroup$– DavidCommented Mar 11 at 17:23
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$\begingroup$ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_synthesis_(20th_century) $\endgroup$– imrobertCommented Mar 28 at 17:55
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$\begingroup$ Dawkin's selfish gene is still a nessisary starting point if you don't know much about evolution. $\endgroup$– JohnCommented Apr 29 at 20:38
3 Answers
Depends on the level you are after. Science is constantly changing our understanding of fields. To you want to secure the "established basics" or do you want to "find bleeding edge perspectives" of evolution?
The better the question is asked the better the answer.
Since evolution has been a major focus since the 60s, any textbook would bring you upto date on stuff that has been acceptably proven. However, Evolution in popular terms is generally gravely misunderstood, and you don't want to read the zealots opinions (e.g Dawkins).
To get a popular overview of the current state, I would recommend the book "How Life Works, Philip Ball". (honestly haven't read the whole thing, but seems to bring up some critical common missunderstandings..)
What many biologist forget is that evolution is a theory without a complete foundation. Classical evolutionary reasoning cn explain anything, true or not. It's a theory, and definitely a phenomena, but not an explanation.
I'm not rejecting evolutionary theory, merely emphasising some of it's shortfalls.
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$\begingroup$ Evolution has been a major focus since long before the 60s! The convergence of genetics and evolution itself goes back to the 20s-30s with regard to the Modern Synthesis (see wiki comment above). I am not sure what to make exactly of your statements about a complete foundation, that is neither here nor there with regard to this question. I'd suggest trying to edit your question to target it a little bit more directly to the matter at hand, rather than evolution at large. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 30 at 22:45