Geerat J. Vermeij is Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Davis, and the author of several books, including A Natural History of Shells (Princeton) and The Evolutionary World: How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.
"""[A] thought-provoking study. . . . [Vermeij's] framework offers intriguing new insights, as when he contends that ecosystems operate like self-regulating economies in their exchanges of power and energy as part of a competition for resources. This provides plenty to ponder."" * Publishers Weekly * ""Vermeij has provided a literate, straightforward account of a challenging, thought-provoking topic, that is accessible to everyone, yet replete with logic, conviction and unassailable science. It may be a tad hyperbolic to describe a work such as this as 'entertaining,' but, in fact, I found it so. Brilliant and entertaining at the same time - and very readable.""---David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds ""Absorbing.""---Kenneth Silber, Splice Today"