The Nature Of Selection

Author : Elliott Sober
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022630888X
Total Pages : 397 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Nature of Selection written by Elliott Sober and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-12-10 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nature of Selection is a straightforward, self-contained introduction to philosophical and biological problems in evolutionary theory. It presents a powerful analysis of the evolutionary concepts of natural selection, fitness, and adaptation and clarifies controversial issues concerning altruism, group selection, and the idea that organisms are survival machines built for the good of the genes that inhabit them. "Sober's is the answering philosophical voice, the voice of a first-rate philosopher and a knowledgeable student of contemporary evolutionary theory. His book merits broad attention among both communities. It should also inspire others to continue the conversation."-Philip Kitcher, Nature "Elliott Sober has made extraordinarily important contributions to our understanding of biological problems in evolutionary biology and causality. The Nature of Selection is a major contribution to understanding epistemological problems in evolutionary theory. I predict that it will have a long lasting place in the literature."-Richard C. Lewontin

Author : John A. Endler
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691209510
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.17/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Natural Selection in the Wild. (MPB-21), Volume 21 written by John A. Endler and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural selection is an immense and important subject, yet there have been few attempts to summarize its effects on natural populations, and fewer still which discuss the problems of working with natural selection in the wild. These are the purposes of John Endler's book. In it, he discusses the methods and problems involved in the demonstration and measurement of natural selection, presents the critical evidence for its existence, and places it in an evolutionary perspective. Professor Endler finds that there are a remarkable number of direct demonstrations of selection in a wide variety of animals and plants. The distribution of observed magnitudes of selection in natural populations is surprisingly broad, and it overlaps extensively the range of values found in artificial selection. He argues that the common assumption that selection is usually weak in natural populations is no longer tenable, but that natural selection is only one component of the process of evolution; natural selection can explain the change of frequencies of variants, but not their origins.

Author : Dave Freedman
Publisher : Hachette Books
ISBN 13 : 1401384587
Total Pages : 395 pages
Book Rating : 4.86/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Natural Selection written by Dave Freedman and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2006-06-06 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A shocking biological discovery. A previously unknown predatory species. Evolving just like the dinosaurs. Now. Today. Being forced out of its world and into man's for a violent first encounter. Weaving science and thriller in a way not seen since Jurassic Park, Natural Selection introduces a phenomenally dangerous new species that is rapidly adapting in a way never before seen. A mystery. A chase. A vast expansive puzzle. A team of marine scientists is on the verge of making the most stunning discovery in the history of man. In their quest for answers, they engage a host of fascinating characters. The world's premier neurology expert. A specialist on animal teeth. Flight simulation wizards, evolution historians, deep sea geologists, and so many more. Along the way, the team of six men and women experience love, friendship, loyalty and betrayal. Together, they set off to exotic locales. Literally to the bottom of the ocean. To a vast and mysterious redwood forest. To an unknown complex of massive caves. When people start dying, the stakes are upped even further. Then the real hunt begins. . . . Loaded with astonishing action sequences, Natural Selection is that rare breed of thriller, filled with intricately layered research, real three-dimensional characters, and tornado pacing.

Author : George Christopher Williams
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691185506
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Adaptation and Natural Selection written by George Christopher Williams and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological evolution is a fact—but the many conflicting theories of evolution remain controversial even today. When Adaptation and Natural Selection was first published in 1966, it struck a powerful blow against those who argued for the concept of group selection—the idea that evolution acts to select entire species rather than individuals. Williams’s famous work in favor of simple Darwinism over group selection has become a classic of science literature, valued for its thorough and convincing argument and its relevance to many fields outside of biology. Now with a new foreword by Richard Dawkins, Adaptation and Natural Selection is an essential text for understanding the nature of scientific debate.

Author : Robert G. Wesson
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262731027
Total Pages : 382 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Beyond Natural Selection written by Robert G. Wesson and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: proposes an approach to evolution that is more in harmony with modern science than Darwinism or neo-Darwinism

Author : Jerry Fodor
Publisher : Profile Books
ISBN 13 : 1847651909
Total Pages : 114 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What Darwin Got Wrong written by Jerry Fodor and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2011-02-24 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, a distinguished philosopher and scientist working in tandem, reveal major flaws at the heart of Darwinian evolutionary theory. They do not deny Darwin's status as an outstanding scientist but question the inferences he drew from his observations. Combining the results of cutting-edge work in experimental biology with crystal-clear philosophical argument they mount a devastating critique of the central tenets of Darwin's account of the origin of species. The logic underlying natural selection is the survival of the fittest under changing environmental pressure. This logic, they argue, is mistaken. They back up the claim with evidence of what actually happens in nature. This is a rare achievement - the short book that is likely to make a great deal of difference to a very large subject. What Darwin Got Wrong will be controversial. The authors' arguments will reverberate through the scientific world. At the very least they will transform the debate about evolution.

Author : Richard G. Delisle
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030655369
Total Pages : 474 pages
Book Rating : 4.65/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Natural Selection written by Richard G. Delisle and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-02-27 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contests the general view that natural selection constitutes the explanatory core of evolutionary biology. It invites the reader to consider an alternative view which favors a more complete and multidimensional interpretation. It is common to present the 1930-1960 period as characterized by the rise of the Modern Synthesis, an event structured around two main explanatory commitments: (1) Gradual evolution is explained by small genetic changes (variations) oriented by natural selection, a process leading to adaptation; (2) Evolutionary trends and speciational events are macroevolutionary phenomena that can be accounted for solely in terms of the extension of processes and mechanisms occurring at the previous microevolutionary level. On this view, natural selection holds a central explanatory role in evolutionary theory - one that presumably reaches back to Charles Darwin's Origin of Species - a view also accompanied by the belief that the field of evolutionary biology is organized around a profound divide: theories relying on strong selective factors and those appealing only to weak ones. If one reads the new analyses presented in this volume by biologists, historians and philosophers, this divide seems to be collapsing at a rapid pace, opening an era dedicated to the search for a new paradigm for the development of evolutionary biology. Contrary to popular belief, scholars' position on natural selection is not in itself a significant discriminatory factor between most evolutionists. In fact, the intellectual space is quite limited, if not non-existent, between, on the one hand, "Darwinists", who play down the central role of natural selection in evolutionary explanations, and, on the other hand, "non-Darwinists", who use it in a list of other evolutionary mechanisms. The "mechanism-centered" approach to evolutionary biology is too incomplete to fully make sense of its development. In this book the labels created under the traditional historiography - "Darwinian Revolution", "Eclipse of Darwinism", "Modern Synthesis", "Post-Synthetic Developments" - are thus re-evaluated. This book will not only appeal to researchers working in evolutionary biology, but also to historians and philosophers."

Author : Michaelis Michael
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 1498700888
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Evolution by Natural Selection written by Michaelis Michael and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2015-11-18 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A persistent argument among evolutionary biologists and philosophers revolves around the nature of natural selection. Evolution by Natural Selection: Confidence, Evidence and the Gap explores this argument by using a theory of persistence as an intentional foil to examine ways in which similar theories can be misunderstood. It discusses Charles Dar

Author : Charles Darwin
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521348072
Total Pages : 710 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Charles Darwin's Natural Selection written by Charles Darwin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1987-11-26 with total page 710 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species is unquestionably one of the chief landmarks in biology. The Origin (as it is widely known) was literally only an abstract of the manuscript Darwin had originally intended to complete and publish as the formal presentation of his views on evolution. Compared with the Origin, his original long manuscript work on Natural Selection, which is presented here and made available for the first time in printed form, has more abundant examples and illustrations of Darwin's argument, plus an extensive citation of sources.

Author : Robert Pollack
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781499122244
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Course of Nature written by Robert Pollack and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2014-08-13 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humanity is a part of Nature, yet every thinking person at one time or another asks herself or himself, "How did we get here? What makes me different from the rest of Nature?" In The Course of Nature an artist and a scientist ask those questions with full respect for all contexts, both scientific and not. Amy Pollack's figures stand on their own as elegant summaries of one or another aspect of Nature and our place in it. Robert Pollack's one-page essays for each illustration lay out the underlying scientific issues along with the overarching moral context for these issues. Together the authors have created a door into Nature for the non-scientist, and a door into the separate question of what is right, for both the scientist and the rest of us.