Making Sense of Evolution explores contemporary evolutionary biology, focusing on the elements of theories—selection, adaptation, and species—that are complex and open to multiple possible interpretations, many of which are incompatible with one another and with other accepted practices in the discipline. Particular experimental methods, for example, may demand one understanding of "selection," while the application of the same concept to another area of evolutionary biology could necessitate a very different definition.
Spotlighting these conceptual difficulties and presenting alternate theoretical interpretations that alleviate this incompatibility, Massimo Pigliucci and Jonathan Kaplan intertwine scientific and philosophical analysis to produce a coherent picture of evolutionary biology. Innovative and controversial, Making Sense of Evolution encourages further development of the Modern Synthesis and outlines what might be necessary for the continued refinement of this evolving field.
eBook - PDF
Making Sense of Evolution
The Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Biology
- 309 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Making Sense of Evolution
The Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Biology
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Information
Publisher
University of Chicago PressYear
2010Print ISBN
9780226668376
9780226668369
eBook ISBN
9780226668352
Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prelude: Evolutionary Biology and Conceptual Analysis
- 1. Natural Selection and Fitness: After the "Force" Metaphor
- 2. How (Not) to Measure Natural Selection
- 3. The Targets and Units of Selection: Individual Events and Population Dynamics
- 4. Studying Constraints through G-Matrices: The Holy Grail of Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics
- 5. A Quarter Century of Spandrels: Adaptations, Adaptionisms, and Constraints in Biology
- 6. Functions and For-ness in Biology
- 7. Testing Adaptive Hypotheses: Historical Evidence and Human Adaptations
- 8. Slippery Landscapes: The Promises and Limits of the Adaptive Landscape Metaphor in Evolutionary Biology
- 9. Species as Family Resemblance Concepts: The (Dis-) Solution of the Species Problem?
- 10. Testing Biological Hypotheses: The Detective versus the Statistician
- Coda: A Philosophical Dialogue
- References
- Index
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Yes, you can access Making Sense of Evolution by Massimo Pigliucci,Jonathan Kaplan in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Evolution. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.