So, I'm providing these notes to give you a sense of organization and the main themes of the lecture. But, if you consistently miss lecture, you will be in trouble in this class. That is the one observation that comes out again and again as I have taught this course over the years, if you miss class, you will pay a price. My exams will include all material discussed in lecture and are not limited to the contents of these notes. This is a famous quote by biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky.
Evolution simply means that living organisms have changed through time.
On the surface, this seems a simple idea and perfectly consistent with everything else going on around us in the world.