ENGLISH

Unfinished Synthesis: Biological Hierarchies and Modern Evolutionary Thought

By Niles Eldredge

Book information

Year
1985
ISBN
0195036336, 9780195036336, 0195055748, 9780195055740
LCC
QH366.2
Open Library ID
OL22359689M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
17 MB (17416065 bytes)
Pages
256\248
Topic
Biology Biophysics
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

This study provides a stimulating critique of contemporary evolutionary thought, analyzing the Modern Synthesis first developed by Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ernst Mayr, and George Gaylord Simpson. The author argues that although only genes and organisms are taken as historic "individuals" in conventional theory, species, higher taxa, and ecological entities such as populations and communities should also be construed as individuals--an approach that yields the ecological and genealogical hierarchies that interact to produce evolution. This clearly stated, controversial work will provoke much debate among evolutionary biologists, systematists, paleontologists, and ecologists, as well as a wide range of educated lay readers.

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