Evolutionary Theory And Processes Modern Perspectives

Author : Solomon P. Wasser
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 503 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789401148306

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Evolutionary Theory and Processes: Modern Perspectives by Solomon P. Wasser Pdf

This volume consists of papers written by evolutionary, molecular and organismal biologists, geneticists, ecologists, behavioural ecologists, morphologists, mathematicians, theoreticians and experimentalists, in honour of Professor Eviatar (Eibi) Nevo on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. The contributors are only a small subset of Eibi's many friends, collaborators and students (not that one can distinguish these categories among Eibi's colleagues). His widespread influence and activity, both in Israel and more generally, as a leading evolutionary biologist is indicated by his many co-authors on books and papers, and by his many students integrated in teaching and research. This volume presents some of the most recent dramatic results of molecular, genomic, and organismal evolutionary processes. It represents analyses, experiments, observations, reviews, discussions and forecasts of evolutionary theory comprising both novel methods and results, reanalyzed and reviewed data sets based on comparative, experimental, and theoretical studies utilizing model organisms across phylogeny, including bacteria, fungi, plants, animals and humans. It elucidates the revolution in molecular biology that ushered in our understanding of the evolutionary process over time and space. The topics discussed include major problems of evolutionary theory concerning origins, phylogeny, relative importance of evolutionary forces, structure and function, adaptation and speciation in space and time in changing and stressful environments. A major emerging generalization is the nonrandomness of genome structure highlighting the importance of natural selection as a major organizing evolutionary force not only at the phenotypic level, but most importantly at the interlinked genotypic molecular level. The integration between the molecular and organismal levels unifies life which is subjected to the mechanism of natural selection as a major orienting evolutionary force.

Author : Solomon P. Wasser
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 483 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2013-03-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789401704434

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Evolutionary Theory and Processes: Modern Horizons by Solomon P. Wasser Pdf

This volume presents provocative research in four broad areas: Evolution of Life and Evolutionary Theory, including papers on the origin of life, stress and evolution; Genome Evolution, including papers on adaptive genome regulation, and comparative mammalian genomes; Phylogeography and Phylogeny, including papers on mushroom phylogeny, macroevolution, and the origin of higher taxa; Human Evolution and Ecology, including papers on man's place in nature, and the origin of human hairlessness.

Author : Niles Eldredge,Telmo Pievani,Emanuele Serrelli,Ilya Temkin
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 394 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2016-09-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226426198

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Evolutionary Theory by Niles Eldredge,Telmo Pievani,Emanuele Serrelli,Ilya Temkin Pdf

The natural world is infinitely complex and hierarchically structured, with smaller units forming the components of progressively larger systems: molecules make up cells, cells comprise tissues and organs that are, in turn, parts of individual organisms, which are united into populations and integrated into yet more encompassing ecosystems. In the face of such awe-inspiring complexity, there is a need for a comprehensive, non-reductionist evolutionary theory. Having emerged at the crossroads of paleobiology, genetics, and developmental biology, the hierarchical approach to evolution provides a unifying perspective on the natural world and offers an operational framework for scientists seeking to understand the way complex biological systems work and evolve. Coedited by one of the founders of hierarchy theory and featuring a diverse and renowned group of contributors, this volume provides an integrated, comprehensive, cutting-edge introduction to the hierarchy theory of evolution. From sweeping historical reviews to philosophical pieces, theoretical essays, and strictly empirical chapters, it reveals hierarchy theory as a vibrant field of scientific enterprise that holds promise for unification across the life sciences and offers new venues of empirical and theoretical research. Stretching from molecules to the biosphere, hierarchy theory aims to provide an all-encompassing understanding of evolution and—with this first collection devoted entirely to the concept—will help make transparent the fundamental patterns that propel living systems.

Author : Alan R. Templeton
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 716 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2006-09-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780471409519

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Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory by Alan R. Templeton Pdf

The advances made possible by the development of molecular techniques have in recent years revolutionized quantitative genetics and its relevance for population genetics. Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory takes a modern approach to population genetics, incorporating modern molecular biology, species-level evolutionary biology, and a thorough acknowledgment of quantitative genetics as the theoretical basis for population genetics. Logically organized into three main sections on population structure and history, genotype-phenotype interactions, and selection/adaptation Extensive use of real examples to illustrate concepts Written in a clear and accessible manner and devoid of complex mathematical equations Includes the author's introduction to background material as well as a conclusion for a handy overview of the field and its modern applications Each chapter ends with a set of review questions and answers Offers helpful general references and Internet links

Author : Ernst Mayr,William B. Provine
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 524 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Biology
ISBN : 0674272269

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The Evolutionary Synthesis by Ernst Mayr,William B. Provine Pdf

Biology was forged into a single, coherent science only within living memory. In this volume the thinkers responsible for the "modern synthesis" of evolutionary biology and genetics come together to analyze that remarkable event. In a new Preface, Ernst Mayr calls attention to the fact that scientists in different biological disciplines varied considerably in their degree of acceptance of Darwin's theories. Mayr shows us that these differences were played out in four separate periods: 1859 to 1899, 1900 to 1915, 1916 to 1936, and 1937 to 1947. He thus enables us to understand fully why the synthesis was necessary and why Darwin's original theory--that evolutionary change is due to the combination of variation and selection--is as solid at the end of the twentieth century as it was in 1859.

Author : Thomas Heams,Philippe Huneman,Guillaume Lecointre,Marc Silberstein
Publisher : Springer
Page : 910 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2014-11-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789401790147

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Handbook of Evolutionary Thinking in the Sciences by Thomas Heams,Philippe Huneman,Guillaume Lecointre,Marc Silberstein Pdf

The Darwinian theory of evolution is itself evolving and this book presents the details of the core of modern Darwinism and its latest developmental directions. The authors present current scientific work addressing theoretical problems and challenges in four sections, beginning with the concepts of evolution theory, its processes of variation, heredity, selection, adaptation and function, and its patterns of character, species, descent and life. The second part of this book scrutinizes Darwinism in the philosophy of science and its usefulness in understanding ecosystems, whilst the third section deals with its application in disciplines beyond the biological sciences, including evolutionary psychology and evolutionary economics, Darwinian morality and phylolinguistics. The final section addresses anti-Darwinism, the creationist view and issues around teaching evolution in secondary schools. The reader learns how current experimental biology is opening important perspectives on the sources of variation, and thus of the very power of natural selection. This work examines numerous examples of the extension of the principle of natural selection and provides the opportunity to critically reflect on a rich theory, on the methodological rigour that presides in its extensions and exportations, and on the necessity to measure its advantages and also its limits. Scholars interested in modern Darwinism and scientific research, its concepts, research programs and controversies will find this book an excellent read, and those considering how Darwinism might evolve, how it can apply to the human sciences and other disciplines beyond its origins will find it particularly valuable. Originally produced in French (Les Mondes Darwiniens), the scope and usefulness of the book have led to the production of this English text, to reach a wider audience. This book is a milestone in the impressive penetration by Francophone scholars into the world of Darwinian science, its historiography and philosophy over the last two decades. Alex Rosenberg, R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy, Duke University Until now this useful and comprehensive handbook has only been available to francophones. Thanks to this invaluable new translation, this collection of insightful and original essays can reach the global audience it deserves. Tim Lewens, University of Cambridge

Author : Robert J. Richards
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2009-02-02
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226712055

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The Meaning of Evolution by Robert J. Richards Pdf

Did Darwin see evolution as progressive, directed toward producing ever more advanced forms of life? Most contemporary scholars say no. In this challenge to prevailing views, Robert J. Richards says yes—and argues that current perspectives on Darwin and his theory are both ideologically motivated and scientifically unsound. This provocative new reading of Darwin goes directly to the origins of evolutionary theory. Unlike most contemporary biologists or historians and philosophers of science, Richards holds that Darwin did concern himself with the idea of progress, or telos, as he constructed his theory. Richards maintains that Darwin drew on the traditional embryological meanings of the terms "evolution" and "descent with modification." In the 1600s and 1700s, "evolution" referred to the embryological theory of preformation, the idea that the embryo exists as a miniature adult of its own species that simply grows, or evolves, during gestation. By the early 1800s, however, the idea of preformation had become the concept of evolutionary recapitulation, the idea that during its development an embryo passes through a series of stages, each the adult form of an ancestor species. Richards demonstrates that, for Darwin, embryological recapitulation provided a graphic model of how species evolve. If an embryo could be seen as successively taking the structures and forms of its ancestral species, then one could see the evolution of life itself as a succession of species, each transformed from its ancestor. Richards works with the Origin and other published and archival material to show that these embryological models were much on Darwin's mind as he considered the evidence for descent with modification. Why do so many modern researchers find these embryological roots of Darwin's theory so problematic? Richards argues that the current tendency to see evolution as a process that is not progressive and not teleological imposes perspectives on Darwin that incorrectly deny the clearly progressive heart of his embryological models and his evolutionary theory.

Author : Danielle Sulikowski
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 64 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2016-08-08
Category : Electronic books
ISBN : 9782889199204

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Evolutionary Theory: Fringe or Central to Psychological Science by Danielle Sulikowski Pdf

The computational theory of mind, which views the brain as an information processor that operates on cognitive representations, is central to modern cognitive psychology and is the dominant perspective from which brain function is conceptualized and studied. Evolutionary Psychology (EP) is the application of evolutionary theory to understanding human behaviour and cognition. Unlike other core Psychology topic areas (such as Personality, Learning or Developmental Psychology), however, EP is not defined by the subset of psychological phenomena it seeks to describe and understand. It is instead defined by a specific meta-theoretical perspective, from which it seeks to (potentially) explain all psychological phenomena. The central question posed by this volume is whether this over-arching nature provides an opportunity for evolutionary approaches to offer an alternative meta-theoretical perspective to the information processing / representational view of brain function and behavior.

Author : National Academy of Sciences,Steve Olson
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 56 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2004-02-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780309166706

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Evolution in Hawaii by National Academy of Sciences,Steve Olson Pdf

As both individuals and societies, we are making decisions today that will have profound consequences for future generations. From preserving Earth's plants and animals to altering our use of fossil fuels, none of these decisions can be made wisely without a thorough understanding of life's history on our planet through biological evolution. Companion to the best selling title Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, Evolution in Hawaii examines evolution and the nature of science by looking at a specific part of the world. Tracing the evolutionary pathways in Hawaii, we are able to draw powerful conclusions about evolution's occurrence, mechanisms, and courses. This practical book has been specifically designed to give teachers and their students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of evolution using exercises with real genetic data to explore and investigate speciation and the probable order in which speciation occurred based on the ages of the Hawaiian Islands. By focusing on one set of islands, this book illuminates the general principles of evolutionary biology and demonstrate how ongoing research will continue to expand our knowledge of the natural world.

Author : Abram Bent︠s︡ionovich Korolʹ,Solomon Pavlovich Vasser
Publisher : Margulis Michael
Page : 220 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Biologists
ISBN : 9789655554014

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The Evolution of Eibi Nevo by Abram Bent︠s︡ionovich Korolʹ,Solomon Pavlovich Vasser Pdf

Author : Davydd Greenwood
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2018-03-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781501719936

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The Taming of Evolution by Davydd Greenwood Pdf

The theory of evolution has clearly altered our views of the biological world, but in the study of human beings, evolutionary and preevolutionary views continue to coexist in a state of perpetual tension. The Taming of Evolution addresses the questions of how and why this is so. Davydd Greenwood offers a sustained critique of the nature/nurture debate, revealing the complexity of the relationship between science and ideology. He maintains that popular contemporary theories, most notably E. O. Wilson’s human sociobiology and Marvin Harris’s cultural materialism, represent pre-Darwinian notions overlaid by elaborate evolutionary terminology. Greenwood first details the humoral-environmental and Great Chain of Being theories that dominated Western thinking before Darwin. He systematically compares these ideas with those later influenced by Darwin’s theories, illuminating the surprising continuities between them. Greenwood suggests that it would be neither difficult nor socially dangerous to develop a genuinely evolutionary understanding of human beings, so long as we realized that we could not derive political and moral standards from the study of biological processes.

Author : David L. Hull
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 601 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2010-12-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226360492

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Science as a Process by David L. Hull Pdf

"Legend is overdue for replacement, and an adequate replacement must attend to the process of science as carefully as Hull has done. I share his vision of a serious account of the social and intellectual dynamics of science that will avoid both the rosy blur of Legend and the facile charms of relativism. . . . Because of [Hull's] deep concern with the ways in which research is actually done, Science as a Process begins an important project in the study of science. It is one of a distinguished series of books, which Hull himself edits."—Philip Kitcher, Nature "In Science as a Process, [David Hull] argues that the tension between cooperation and competition is exactly what makes science so successful. . . . Hull takes an unusual approach to his subject. He applies the rules of evolution in nature to the evolution of science, arguing that the same kinds of forces responsible for shaping the rise and demise of species also act on the development of scientific ideas."—Natalie Angier, New York Times Book Review "By far the most professional and thorough case in favour of an evolutionary philosophy of science ever to have been made. It contains excellent short histories of evolutionary biology and of systematics (the science of classifying living things); an important and original account of modern systematic controversy; a counter-attack against the philosophical critics of evolutionary philosophy; social-psychological evidence, collected by Hull himself, to show that science does have the character demanded by his philosophy; and a philosophical analysis of evolution which is general enough to apply to both biological and historical change."—Mark Ridley, Times Literary Supplement "Hull is primarily interested in how social interactions within the scientific community can help or hinder the process by which new theories and techniques get accepted. . . . The claim that science is a process for selecting out the best new ideas is not a new one, but Hull tells us exactly how scientists go about it, and he is prepared to accept that at least to some extent, the social activities of the scientists promoting a new idea can affect its chances of being accepted."—Peter J. Bowler, Archives of Natural History "I have been doing philosophy of science now for twenty-five years, and whilst I would never have claimed that I knew everything, I felt that I had a really good handle on the nature of science, Again and again, Hull was able to show me just how incomplete my understanding was. . . . Moreover, [Science as a Process] is one of the most compulsively readable books that I have ever encountered."—Michael Ruse, Biology and Philosophy

Author : Philippe Huneman,Denis M. Walsh
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2017-08-17
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780190681456

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Challenging the Modern Synthesis by Philippe Huneman,Denis M. Walsh Pdf

Since its origin in the early 20th century, the Modern Synthesis theory of evolution has grown to become the orthodox view on the process of organic evolution. Its central defining feature is the prominence it accords to genes in the explanation of evolutionary dynamics. Since the advent of the 21st century, however, the Modern Synthesis has been subject to repeated and sustained challenges. These are largely empirically driven. In the last two decades, evolutionary biology has witnessed unprecedented growth in the understanding of those processes that underwrite the development of organisms and the inheritance of characters. The empirical advances usher in challenges to the conceptual foundations of evolutionary theory. The extent to which the new biology challenges the Modern Synthesis has been the subject of lively debate. Many current commentators charge that the new biology of the 21st century calls for a revision, extension, or wholesale rejection of the Modern Synthesis Theory of evolution. Defenders of the Modern Synthesis maintain that the theory can accommodate the exciting new advances in biology. The original essays collected in this volume survey the various challenges to the Modern Synthesis arising from the new biology of the 21st century. The authors are evolutionary biologists, philosophers of science, and historians of biology from Europe and North America. Each of the essays discusses a particular challenge to the Modern Synthesis treatment of inheritance, development, or adaptation. Taken together, the essays cover a spectrum of views, from those that contend that the Modern Synthesis can rise to the challenges of the new biology, with little or no revision required, to those that call for the abandonment of the Modern Synthesis. The collection will be of interest to researchers and students in evolutionary biology, and the philosophy and history of the biological sciences.

Author : Niles Eldredge
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1985
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780195036336

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Unfinished Synthesis by Niles Eldredge Pdf

Written by an eminent evolutionary biologist (the co-founder of the theory of punctuated equilibria), this stimulating critique of modern evolutionary thought introduces an insightful theory concerning the ecological and genealogical hierarchies which interact to produce evolution. "Interesting and provocative....A must for those with a genuine interest in the processes of evolution."--Choice

Author : D. M. Walsh
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2015-11-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107122109

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Organisms, Agency, and Evolution by D. M. Walsh Pdf

This book argues that evolution arises from the activities of organisms as agents, not from the replication of genes.