Jonathan Kraus's Page

Superpoke!

OK Don't know who else could give me a ride and if no one, maybe next time. The economy needs to let up so people can get on their feet again and when that happens, I'm going to get me a car again. lol

yeah Barbara told me about it, i might be moving up to Springfield soon so i get a chance ill come hang out :D

Hey Jonathan: This is Barbara. Just wanted to let you know that Corey Garrison is one of my students. He'll probably come to one of our meetups. He's a really good guy, you'll like him :)

Hello sir. I scarcely ever use this thing (I know, I should). Your group sounds pretty swell and I'd definitely be in. Just toss me an e-mail at jteberhard@gmail.com and hit me with the details.

Best,

JT

I know what you mean! I have MySpace (2 separate accounts), Facebook, Meetup, Nexus, an INFP group, and 5 email accounts. Sometimes it's like I live several different lives, some of which I don't dare get mixed up. It gets confusing!

General books are great places to start. I think you mentioned Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker. If I'm mistaken and you haven't read it, do so. Sean B. Carroll has a few books I'd recommend, but some with a warning. First, his newest book is so new I haven't had a chance to buy it. I don't think it looks to be a technical work. It's Remarkable Creatures.

"Carroll recounts the most important discoveries in two centuries of national history — from Darwin’s trip around the world to CharlesWalcott’s discovery of pre-Cambrian life in the Grand Canyon; from Louis and Mary Leakey’s investigation of our deepest past in East Africa to the trailblazers in modern laboratories who have located a time clock in our DNA. Join him in a rousing voyage of discovery, from the epic journeys of pioneering naturalists to the breakthroughs making headlines today."

If you know a bit about DNA, or want to learn, check out his earlier book The Making of the Fittest. It's about the DNA evidence for evolution. I read it before having any formal genetics classes, so I don't think it's bad at all.

Other than that, I'm afraid I'm not too useful. I look at more specific books myself. You may look at The Natural History of Seeing, which is a book about the structure, function, and evolution of the eyes. From what I've read, it's not too technical. At least thumb through it.

There's some general books I haven't bought like What Evolution Is, etc. You can find them in most science sections. Just make sure they're not Creationist books posing as science.

Dawkins has a few interesting books that I wouldn't recommend to just anyone, but you might flip through. The Ancestor's Tale is pretty good. He also has River Out of Eden and The Extended Phenotype. If you want a technical work on statistics and evolution, look at The Selfish Gene which is considered a classic in biology.

Hey, I don't think I'll be at the atheist meeting tonight. I've got a lot of work to do for class tomorrow. Tell me how it is and whether or not you think you'd attend again.

It was great to meet you too. I will be in Springfield regularly, feel free to give me a yell anytime!