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Henig, R. M. (2000) A Monk and Two Peas. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. (Beginning with William Bateson’s ‘rediscovery’ of Gregor Mendel’s work at the turn of the century, this book relates the story of Mendel from his time at the St Thomas monastery to his death from Bright’s disease in 1884. An excellent account of both the man and his work are provided.)Google Scholar

Howard, J. (2001) Darwin: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. Oxford. (A particularly good introduction to Darwin and Darwinism in this excellent ‘Very Short Introduction’ series.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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Neal, D. (2004) Introduction to Population Biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. (Darwin’s theories of natural selection and evolutionary biology are used as underlying themes in the study of population genetics and interactions between species. Problems are provided at the end of each chapter; answers are found at the end of the book. A well written and suitably descriptive introduction to this complex topic.)Google Scholar

Schluter, D. (2000) The ecology of Adaptive Radiation. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (The text focuses on the evolution of ecological diversity. Examples are used throughout and an evidence-based approach is employed. Having worked on the Galapagos finches, Dolph Schluter is currently working on sticklebacks and the evolution of differences between species.)Google Scholar

Vinicius, L. (2010) Modular Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. (Arguing from units of inheritance to origins of species to the development of multicellularity and life cycle evolution; this text emphasises, as stated in its subtitle, ‘How natural selection produces biological complexity’.)Google Scholar

Bell, G. (2008) Selection: The Mechanism of Evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (A detailed and up-to-date account of both natural and artificial in a range of different populations.)Google Scholar

Darwin, C. (1859) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. John Murray, London. (Every student of evolution should read the Origin in the original – the first edition (reprinted many times) is recommended.)Google Scholar

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Krebs, J. R., Davies, N. B. and West, S. A. (2012) An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology, 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. (Still the standard text on the topic; the text adopts the modern adaptationist programme. This edition is superbly illustrated and reveals much of behavioural evolution.)Google Scholar

Skelton, P. (ed.) (1993) Evolution: A Biological and Palaeontological Approach. Addison-Wesley, Wokingham. (A comprehensive and thorough account of biological evolution. In particular, Tim Halliday’s chapter 7 explores sexual selection and mating systems in great detail; a very readable account.)Google Scholar

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Harrison, R. G. (ed.) (1993) Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (An excellent ‘popular’ book on speciation.)Google Scholar

Mayr, E. (1963) Animal Species and Evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (It is still worth reading Mayr’s magnum opus on speciation.)Google Scholar

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Makishima, A. (2017) Origins of the Earth, Moon and Life: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Elsevier, Amsterdam. (Beginning with the origin of elements, and thence formation of the early solar system, and the oldest records of life, this interdisciplinary reference affords an overview of Life’s potential within our solar system.)Google Scholar

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Depew, D. J. and Weber, B. H. (1996) Darwinism Evolving. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. (An overview of Darwinian evolutionary theory (not evolutionary biology). Beginning with Darwinism as a research tradition, the book explores neoclassical biology, genetic Darwinism, molecular biology and the future of Darwinism.)Google Scholar

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