What Evolution Is: From Theory to Fact - Softcover

Mayr, Ernst

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753813688 ISBN 13: 9780753813683

Publisher: W&N, 2002

Synopsis

What we do and do not know about evolution, by one of the field's pioneering thinkers.

Evolution is the most important idea in biology, with implications that go far beyond science. But despite more than a century's progress in understanding, there is still widespread confusion about what evolution is, how it works and why it is the only plausible mechanism that can account for the remarkable diversity of life on Earth.

Now, for the first time in a book aimed at a general audience, one of the founding fathers of modern biology tells us what we know - and what we do not know - about evolution. In showing how evolution has gone from theory to fact, he explores various controversial fads and fallacies such as punctuated equilibrium, the selfish-gene theory and evolutionary psychology. He ends by looking at what we know about human evolution and how, in turn, this knowledge has affected the way in which we view ourselves and the world.

About this title

Review

Why does evolution give rise to distinct species? Is evolution progressive? In What Evolution Is Ernst Mayr organises his text around commonly asked questions and points of difficulty, making this a resource to refer to, as well as to read. Those who find evolution endlessly engaging, or who find themselves engaged in endless argument with the creationists and nay-sayers among us, would do well to equip themselves with Mayr's well-organised armoury of sense, clarity and detail.

Mayr himself is a colourful figure: born in Germany in 1904, he embarked in 1928 on the first bird survey to New Guinea--an adventure that exposed him to tropical diseases, near-drowning in an overturned canoe and some very violent tribal politics. It is a shame, in some ways, that Mayr eschews such promising biographical material, stretching as it does across the entire development and refinement of Darwinian theory in the modern period. But we must respect the fact that Mayr is a teacher, not a writer: and his account of how evolution actually works is a tremendous resource for the interested lay reader.

What Evolution Is is not the best introduction to Darwinian theory on the market. That role is better fulfilled by Daniel Dennett with his (at times rather Mosaical) Darwin's Dangerous Idea; or (more flashily, and controversially) by Stephen Jay Gould. Those already entranced by the magic of evolution, however, should definitely knuckle down to Mayr's account of Darwinian theory: its proofs, its details and its implications.--Simon Ings

Review

"Mayr is one of the influential scientists of the last century. This compact book delivers the wealth of his 70 year career in a single, well measured punch." GLASGOW HERALD "We are taken all the way from Darwin to the frontiers of biology, including ideas on the causes of altruism and the consequences for humans now that natural selection is no longer happening to us." OBSERVER

Edition details

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0753813688
• ISBN 13: 9780753813683
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368