The Changing Role of the Embryo in Evolutionary Thought: Roots of Evo-Devo (Cambridge Studies in Phi
By addebook • Jun 22nd, 2008 • Category: Biology •
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The Changing Role of the Embryo in Evolutionary Thought: Roots of Evo-Devo (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Pages: 294
Publication Date: 2005-03-14
Sales Rank: 793281
ISBN / ASIN: 0521806992
EAN: 9780521806992
Binding: Hardcover
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Studio: Cambridge University Press
Average Rating: 5
In this book Ron Amundson examines 200 years of scientific views on the evolution-development relationship from the perspective of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). This new perspective challenges several popular views about the history of evolutionary thought by claiming that many earlier authors made history come out right for the Evolutionary Synthesis. The book starts with a revised history of nineteenth-century evolutionary thought. It then investigates how development became irrelevant to evolution with the Evolutionary Synthesis. It concludes with an examination of the contrasts that persist between mainstream evolutionary theory and evo-devo.
Review:
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This gives a great view of the history of evo-devo. My supervisor, one of the reviewers of the book, had joked that it was fantastic “even though it was written by a philosopher”.
Admundson gives a great analysis on the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis and its dominance in biological thought. As well, the section on heredity was fantastic as I had been mulling these same ideas over for some time before I came across this, which really helped crystalize things. In short, the notion of heredity was pirated from developmental biology by the geneticists(T Morgan and followers), and this had long term consequences for developmental biology in evolutionary theory. Perfect example today is that “heritability” is stricly a population level concept, which is at odds whith heredity as understood by developmental biologist. However, it seems clear that “heritability” in the individual is a neessary precondition to detection of “heritability” in a population. Failing to recognize the importance of “developmental heredity” will mean that the neo-darwinian synthesis will be incomplete.
Get this book. If you don’t know the history of your discipline, you can’t understand it fully.
http://rapidshare.com/files/43838110/amun0521806992.rar
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