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Genesis: The Evolution of Biology PDF

385 Pages·2007·4.32 MB·English
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Genesis: The Evolution of Biology JAN SAPP OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS  This page intentionally left blank Genesis The Evolution of Biology   1 2003 3 Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright © 2003 by Jan Sapp Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 http://www.oup-usa.org Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sapp, Jan. Genesis : the evolution of biology / by Jan Sapp. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-19-515618-8; ISBN 0-19-515619-6 (pbk.) 1. Biology—History. 2. Evolution (Biology)—History. 3. Genetics— History. I. Title. QH305.S27 2003 570—dc21 2002152271 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Carole, Will, and Elliot This page intentionally left blank A little Learning is a dang’rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. Fir’d at first sight with what the Muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts, While from the bounded level of our mind, Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind; But more advanc’d, behold with strange surprise New distant scenes of endless science rise! Alexander Pope (1688–1744), “A Little Learning” This page intentionally left blank Preface What is evolution? What is an organism? What is a gene? This book explores these concepts and the controversies that have surrounded them. It aims to provide a short history of biology, one that can be read by nonspecialists and one that in- corporates new evolutionary research programs, contemporary Darwinian and non- Darwinian theory, changing concepts of the organism, and shifting concepts of the gene, all of which advance research today. A central question motivating the book is: Why did the history of biology and evolutionary thought unfold the way it did? In the book, I search for answers in the use of specific techniques, models, and analogies; financial support; institutional conditions; and sometimes larger social and intellectual movements. Though a book such as this cannot contain all of the outstanding scholarship pertaining to the history of biology, I have selected the major historic transitions and key figures representative of them. Part I describes the emergence of evolu- tionary theory in France led by Lamarck and analyzes the subsequent genesis of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, its philosophical and social significance, and objections to it in the nineteenth century. Part II describes parallel research on the cell in development and heredity and highlights nineteenth-century attempts to discern the processes by which animals develop from eggs. Part III follows epi- sodes in genetics and evolutionary theory, from the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws to the neo-Darwinian synthesis and the development of microbial genetics. Part IV examines the rise of molecular biology, the genetic code, its central doctrines, and their critics. It also explores research on hereditary mechanisms in addition to chromosomal genes, whose investigations were developed in the latter decades of the twentieth century. When sketching historical changes, I have tried to underscore important themes in the history, philosophy, and social studies of biology while avoiding arcane language. I have drawn from various studies to illustrate the two-way traffic be- tween social theory and evolutionary explanation. I explore the development of evolutionary thought from Lamarck to Darwin in the context of social change in

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