Chance in Evolution (2016)
Ramsey, Grant (Editor)
Pence, Charles H. (Editor)
University of Chicago Press
Physical Details: 384 pages
Language: English
Humans, however much we would care to think otherwise, do not represent the fated pinnacle of ape evolution. The diversity of life, from single-celled organisms to multicellular animals and plants, is the result of a long, complex, and highly chancy history. But how profoundly has chance shaped life on earth? And what, precisely, do we mean by chance? Bringing together biologists, philosophers of science, and historians of science, Chance in Evolution is the first book to untangle the far-reaching effects of chance, contingency, and randomness on the evolution of life. The book begins by placing chance in historical context, starting with the ancients and moving through Darwin and his contemporaries, documenting how the understanding of chance changed as Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection developed into the modern synthesis, and how the acceptance of chance in Darwinian theory affected theological resistance to it. Subsequent chapters detail the role of chance in contemporary evolutionary theory—in particular, in connection with the concepts of genetic drift, mutation, and parallel evolution—as well as recent empirical work in the experimental evolution of microbes and in paleobiology. By engaging in collaboration across biology, history, philosophy, and theology, this book offers a comprehensive and synthetic overview both of the history of chance in evolution and of our current best understanding of the impact of chance on life on earth.
...MoreEssay Review Jeroen Hopster (2017) Evolutionary Chance and Contingency: In Search for Systematics. Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 481-485).
Review Thomas Bonnin (2018) Review of "Chance in Evolution". History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences (p. 52).
Essay Review Ariel Jonathan Roffé (2018) Contemporary Perspectives on the Meaning, Roles, and Implications of Chance in Evolution. Science and Education (pp. 1003-1016).
Review Carlos Mariscal; Alexander Lerner (2018) Review of "Chance in Evolution". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 97-100).
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