This book is the first textbook I have encountered that takes the coalescent as an integrated, normal aspect of modern population genetics. For anyone wanting to teach this subject, or indeed learn it, Nielsen and Slatkin's recent book presents a refreshingly modern synthesis.
Julia Sigwart, Systematic Biology
Overall, An Introduction to Population Genetics: Theory and Applications will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any aspiring biology student. This is an ideal textbook for a short semester or quarter-long population genetics course, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Furthermore, practicing geneticists and bioinformaticians would benefit from the taste of population genetics that this volume offers.
Joseph Lachance, The Quarterly Review of Biology
Preface.- Introduction.- 1. Allele Frequencies, Genotype Frequencies, and Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium.- 2. Genetic Drift and Mutation.- 3. Coalescence Theory: Relating Theory to Data.- 4. Population Subdivision.- 5. Inferring Population History and Demography.- 6. Linkage Disequilibrium and Gene Mapping.- 7. Selection I.- 8. Selection in a Finite Population.- 9. The Neutral Theory and Tests of Neutrality.- 10. Selection II: Interaction and Conflict.- 11. Quantitative Genetics.- Appendix A. Basic Probability Theory.- Appendix B. The Exponential Distribution and Coalescence Times.- Appendix C. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Estimation.- Appendix D. Critical Values of the Chi-square Distribution with d Degrees of Freedom.- Answers to Exercises.- Glossary.
Assumes little prior knowledge of mathematics, with all the mathematical background necessary to understand the basic theory presented provided in appendices
Contains numerous applications of theory to problems that arise in the study of human and other populations