The key to understanding population genetics is gaining familiarity with a set of traditional conceptual approaches along with clasical hypotheses adn debates. Armed with this background, many empirical studies will be readily understood because the basic hypoheses they address are understood from first principles. To achieve this goal, this book is designed to contain mostly conceptual material that is augmented with case studies as illustrations. Several outstanding pedagogical features including methods boxes and exercises to assist students in conducting simulations using public domain software will be integrated into the text.