Definitely Directed Evolution (1890--1926): The Importance of Variation in Major Evolutionary Works by Theodor Eimer, Edward Drinker Cope, and Leo Berg (2014)
Ulett, Mark Andrew (Author)
Maienschein, Jane A.
Arizona State University
Laubichler, Manfred Dietrich
Hall, Brian K.
Lynch, John
Smocovitis, Vassiliki B
Edition Details: Advisor: Laubichler, Manfred D; Committee Members: Hall, Brian K., Lynch, John, Maienschein, Jane, Smocovitis, Vassiliki B.
Physical Details: 241 pp.
Language: English
This dissertation shows that the central conceptual feature and explanatory motivation of theories of evolutionary directionality between 1890 and 1926 was as follows: morphological variation in the developing organism limits the possible outcomes of evolution in definite directions. Put broadly, these theories maintained a conceptual connection between development and evolution as inextricably associated phenomena. This project develops three case studies. The first addresses the Swiss-German zoologist Theodor Eimer's book Organic Evolution (1890), which sought to undermine the work of noted evolutionist August Weismann. Second, the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope's Primary Factors (1896) developed a sophisticated system of inheritance that included the material of heredity and the energy needed to induce and modify ontogenetic phenomena. Third, the Russian biogeographer Leo Berg's Nomogenesis (1926) argued that the biological world is deeply structured in a way that prevents changes to morphology taking place in more than one or a few directions. These authors based their ideas on extensive empirical evidence of long-term evolutionary trajectories. They also sought to synthesize knowledge from a wide range of studies and proposed causes of evolution and development within a unified causal framework based on laws of evolution. While being mindful of the variation between these three theories, this project advances "Definitely Directed Evolution" as a term to designate these shared features. The conceptual coherence and reception of these theories shows that Definitely Directed Evolution from 1890 to 1926 is an important piece in reconstructing the wider history of theories of evolutionary directionality.
...MoreDescription Cited in Dissertation Abstracts International-A 76/04(E), Oct 2015. Proquest Document ID: 1640906473.
Similar Citations
Article
Ulett, Mark A.;
(2014)
Making the Case for Orthogenesis: The Popularization of Definitely Directed Evolution (1890--1926)
Chapter
Gliboff, Sander;
(2011)
The Golden Age of Lamarckism, 1866--1926
Article
Schuller, Kyla;
(2012)
Taxonomies of Feeling: The Epistemology of Sentimentalism in Late-Nineteenth-Century Racial and Sexual Science
Article
James R. Jackson;
Aleta Quinn;
(2023)
Post-Darwinian fish classifications: Theories and methodologies of Günther, Cope, and Gill
Article
Popov, Igor;
(2008)
Orthogenesis versus Darwinism: The Russian Case
Thesis
Marlena Briane Cameron;
(2017)
Fossil Excavation, Museums, and Wyoming: American Paleontology, 1870-1915
Article
Bowler, Peter J.;
(1979)
Theodor Eimer and orthogenesis: Evolution by “definitely directed variation”
Article
Bill Jenkins;
(2020)
Race Before Darwin: Variation, Adaptation and the Natural History of Man in Post-Enlightenment Edinburgh, 1790–1835
Article
Noguera-Solano, Ricardo;
(2013)
The Metaphor of the Architect in Darwin: Chance and Free Will
Article
Hoquet, Thierry;
(2014)
Laws of Variation: Darwin's Failed Newtonian Program?
Article
Max Meulendijks;
(2021)
Eclipsing the Eclipse?: A Neo-Darwinian Historiography Revisited
Article
André Ariew;
(2022)
Charles Darwin as a statistical thinker
Thesis
Brinkman, Paul David;
(2005)
The Second American Jurassic Dinosaur Rush, 1895--1905
Article
Bowler, Peter J.;
(1977)
Edward Drinker Cope and the changing structure of evolutionary theory
Article
Laurent, Goulven;
(1979)
Un néo-larmarckien américain, Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897)
Book
Johnson, Rebecca L.;
(2013)
Battle of the Dinosaur Bones: Othniel Charles Marsh vs. Edward Drinker Cope
Book
Gabriele Ferrari;
(2023)
Polvere e ossa. Edward Drinker Cope e Othniel Charles Marsh, due paleontologi a caccia di dinosauri nel Far West
Article
David Ceccarelli;
(2019)
Between Social and Biological Heredity: Cope and Baldwin on Evolution, Inheritance, and Mind
Book
Jaffe, Mark;
(2000)
The Gilded Dinosaur: The Fossil War between E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh and the Rise of American Science
Book
Davidson, Jane Pierce;
(1997)
The Bone Sharp: The Life of Edward Drinker Cope
Be the first to comment!