A giraffe, also known as a cameleopard because the creature has the size of the camel, but has the skin of a leopard. (Image by Prof. Robert Berwick.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Robert Berwick
MIT Course Number
6.877J / HST.949J
As Taught In
Fall 2005
Level
Graduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
Why has it been easier to develop a vaccine to eliminate polio than to control influenza or AIDS? Has there been natural selection for a 'language gene'? Why are there no animals with wheels? When does 'maximizing fitness' lead to evolutionary extinction? How are sex and parasites related? Why don't snakes eat grass? Why don't we have eyes in the back of our heads? How does modern genomics illustrate and challenge the field?
This course analyzes evolution from a computational, modeling, and engineering perspective. The course has extensive hands-on laboratory exercises in model-building and analyzing evolutionary data.
