My name is Norman Johnson and I am an evolutionary biologist at UMass Amherst. My forthcoming book, Darwin’s Reach, is about the numerous and varied practical applications that have come from ideas and information in evolutionary biology.

Many of these applications are related to health: Why are we vulnerable to disease? How are evolutionary concepts used in tracking the movements of viruses? Other applications are in the realm of agriculture: How can we make our crops less vulnerable to pests and pathogens? Why are most mass produced varieties of tomatoes tasteless? Still more applications are related to conservation and environmental concerns: What features influence how well organisms can adapt to current and expected climate change? Darwin’s reach is quite broad; evolutionary biology can be applied to all of these and many other pressing questions. 

The applications are far too numerous to include in one book of any manageable length. Moreover, the world revolves and science moves on. New information relevant to evolutionary biology comes in almost daily. One main purpose of this blog is keep up with these new inputs. Another is to cover things not addressed in the book.