Genesis: The Evolution of Biology

385 Pages·2007·4.32 MB·English

Genesis:
The Evolution of Biology
JAN SAPP
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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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
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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”
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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