The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms

The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms

Author: Robert F. Shedinger

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-06-28

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1532658338

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Is Darwinian evolution really the most successful scientific theory ever proposed—or even the best idea anyone has ever had, as Daniel Dennett once put it? The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms provides a comprehensive critical reading of the literature of evolutionary biology from Darwin to Dobzhansky to Dawkins, revealing this popular account of evolution to be a grand narrative of Darwinian triumph that greatly overstates the empirical validity of modern evolutionary theory. The mechanisms driving the evolutionary process truly remain a mystery more than one hundred fifty years after Origin of Species, a fact that can free religion scholars to think in more creative ways about the positive contributions religious reflection might make to our understanding of life’s origin and diversity. The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms calls for an embrace of mystery, understood not as an abdication of the scientific quest for truth but as a courageous and humble acknowledgment of the limits of human reason and an openness to a fundamentally religious orientation toward life.


Book Synopsis The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms by : Robert F. Shedinger

Download or read book The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms written by Robert F. Shedinger and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-06-28 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is Darwinian evolution really the most successful scientific theory ever proposed—or even the best idea anyone has ever had, as Daniel Dennett once put it? The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms provides a comprehensive critical reading of the literature of evolutionary biology from Darwin to Dobzhansky to Dawkins, revealing this popular account of evolution to be a grand narrative of Darwinian triumph that greatly overstates the empirical validity of modern evolutionary theory. The mechanisms driving the evolutionary process truly remain a mystery more than one hundred fifty years after Origin of Species, a fact that can free religion scholars to think in more creative ways about the positive contributions religious reflection might make to our understanding of life’s origin and diversity. The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms calls for an embrace of mystery, understood not as an abdication of the scientific quest for truth but as a courageous and humble acknowledgment of the limits of human reason and an openness to a fundamentally religious orientation toward life.

Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms

Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms

Author: Pierre Pontarotti

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-07-03

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 3642382126

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This book presents 19 selected contributions to the 16th Evolutionary Biology Meeting, which took place in September 2012 in Marseilles. The aims of these annual meetings, which gather together leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists, are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. The first chapter deals with the history of a great discovery: The first experiments on ascidian and sea urchin egg fertilization. The remaining contributions are grouped under the following categories: · Evolutionary biology concepts · Exobiology and the origin of life · Evolutionary mechanisms Offering an up-to-date overview of recent findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book is an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.


Book Synopsis Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms by : Pierre Pontarotti

Download or read book Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms written by Pierre Pontarotti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-07-03 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents 19 selected contributions to the 16th Evolutionary Biology Meeting, which took place in September 2012 in Marseilles. The aims of these annual meetings, which gather together leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists, are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. The first chapter deals with the history of a great discovery: The first experiments on ascidian and sea urchin egg fertilization. The remaining contributions are grouped under the following categories: · Evolutionary biology concepts · Exobiology and the origin of life · Evolutionary mechanisms Offering an up-to-date overview of recent findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book is an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.

Strickberger's Evolution

Strickberger's Evolution

Author: Brian K. Hall

Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers

Published: 2011-06-07

Total Pages: 779

ISBN-13: 1449663907

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Thoroughly updated and reorganized, Strickberger's Evolution, Fourth Edition, presents biology students with a basic introduction to prevailing knowledge and ideas about evolution, discussing how, why, and where the world and its organisms changed throughout history. Keeping consistent with Strickberger's engaging writing style, the authors carefully unfold a broad range of philosophical and historical topics that frame the theories of today including cosmological and geological evolution and its impact on life, the origins of life on earth, the development of molecular pathways from genetic systems to organismic morphology and function, the evolutionary history of organisms from microbes to animals, and the numerous molecular and populational concepts that explain the earth's dynamic evolution. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images or content found in the physical edition.


Book Synopsis Strickberger's Evolution by : Brian K. Hall

Download or read book Strickberger's Evolution written by Brian K. Hall and published by Jones & Bartlett Publishers. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 779 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thoroughly updated and reorganized, Strickberger's Evolution, Fourth Edition, presents biology students with a basic introduction to prevailing knowledge and ideas about evolution, discussing how, why, and where the world and its organisms changed throughout history. Keeping consistent with Strickberger's engaging writing style, the authors carefully unfold a broad range of philosophical and historical topics that frame the theories of today including cosmological and geological evolution and its impact on life, the origins of life on earth, the development of molecular pathways from genetic systems to organismic morphology and function, the evolutionary history of organisms from microbes to animals, and the numerous molecular and populational concepts that explain the earth's dynamic evolution. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images or content found in the physical edition.

Mystery of Mysteries

Mystery of Mysteries

Author: Lucyle T Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science Michael Ruse

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0674042980

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With the recent Sokal hoax--the publication of a prominent physicist's pseudo-article in a leading journal of cultural studies--the status of science moved sharply from debate to dispute. Is science objective, a disinterested reflection of reality, as Karl Popper and his followers believed? Or is it subjective, a social construction, as Thomas Kuhn and his students maintained? Into the fray comes "Mystery of Mysteries," an enlightening inquiry into the nature of science, using evolutionary theory as a case study. Michael Ruse begins with such colorful luminaries as Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) and Julian Huxley (brother of novelist Aldous and grandson of T. H. Huxley, "Darwin's bulldog" ) and ends with the work of the English game theorist Geoffrey Parker--a microevolutionist who made his mark studying the mating strategies of dung flies--and the American paleontologist Jack Sepkoski, whose computer-generated models reconstruct mass extinctions and other macro events in life's history. Along the way Ruse considers two great popularizers of evolution, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, as well as two leaders in the field of evolutionary studies, Richard Lewontin and Edward O. Wilson, paying close attention to these figures' cultural commitments: Gould's transplanted Germanic idealism, Dawkins's male-dominated Oxbridge circle, Lewontin's Jewish background, and Wilson's southern childhood. Ruse explicates the role of metaphor and metavalues in evolutionary thought and draws significant conclusions about the cultural impregnation of science. Identifying strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the "science wars," he demonstrates that a resolution of the objective and subjective debate is nonetheless possible.


Book Synopsis Mystery of Mysteries by : Lucyle T Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science Michael Ruse

Download or read book Mystery of Mysteries written by Lucyle T Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science Michael Ruse and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the recent Sokal hoax--the publication of a prominent physicist's pseudo-article in a leading journal of cultural studies--the status of science moved sharply from debate to dispute. Is science objective, a disinterested reflection of reality, as Karl Popper and his followers believed? Or is it subjective, a social construction, as Thomas Kuhn and his students maintained? Into the fray comes "Mystery of Mysteries," an enlightening inquiry into the nature of science, using evolutionary theory as a case study. Michael Ruse begins with such colorful luminaries as Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) and Julian Huxley (brother of novelist Aldous and grandson of T. H. Huxley, "Darwin's bulldog" ) and ends with the work of the English game theorist Geoffrey Parker--a microevolutionist who made his mark studying the mating strategies of dung flies--and the American paleontologist Jack Sepkoski, whose computer-generated models reconstruct mass extinctions and other macro events in life's history. Along the way Ruse considers two great popularizers of evolution, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, as well as two leaders in the field of evolutionary studies, Richard Lewontin and Edward O. Wilson, paying close attention to these figures' cultural commitments: Gould's transplanted Germanic idealism, Dawkins's male-dominated Oxbridge circle, Lewontin's Jewish background, and Wilson's southern childhood. Ruse explicates the role of metaphor and metavalues in evolutionary thought and draws significant conclusions about the cultural impregnation of science. Identifying strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the "science wars," he demonstrates that a resolution of the objective and subjective debate is nonetheless possible.

Evolution and Adaptation

Evolution and Adaptation

Author: Thomas Hunt Morgan

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2021-11-05

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13:

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The chapters presented in this book were written by Thomas Hunt Morgan, an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries elucidating the role that the chromosome plays in heredity. Here, he lays out his ideas on the relations between the organism and its environment and whether Darwinian ideas are enough to explain some of the phenomena he observed during his studies, especially those of regeneration.


Book Synopsis Evolution and Adaptation by : Thomas Hunt Morgan

Download or read book Evolution and Adaptation written by Thomas Hunt Morgan and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2021-11-05 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The chapters presented in this book were written by Thomas Hunt Morgan, an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries elucidating the role that the chromosome plays in heredity. Here, he lays out his ideas on the relations between the organism and its environment and whether Darwinian ideas are enough to explain some of the phenomena he observed during his studies, especially those of regeneration.

Critique of the Theory of Evolution

Critique of the Theory of Evolution

Author: Walter Friedman

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2007-08-15

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1498276083

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In this book, Walter Friedman exposes internal contradictions that nullify the theory of evolution. He also reveals the ways Charles Darwin falsified observation data to promote his pseudoscientific discovery. In a variety of ways, Friedman aims to undercut the logical assumptions of evolutionary theory. First, he applies elementary probability theory to show that a random mutation cannot spread to an entire population, which means that the evolution of species is a myth. Friedman further contends that the centerpiece of Darwin's theory--the hypothesis of natural selection--is also a statistical impossibility, as simple arithmetic reveals. Third, he turns to genetics data to demonstrate that the idea of the evolution of species leads to ridiculous conclusions. Next, Friedman employs anthropological findings of so-called human ancestors to argue the reverse of what anthropologists believe to be true-- that evolution never took place. Fifth, Friedman appeals to the laws of physics to explain why it is impossible, in principle, for inorganic matter to transform into organic matter with a DNA-like structure. Darwin's racist view of people of African descent and its legal implications for the teaching of the evolutionary theory in public schools are also investigated. The last section of the book provides extensive criticism of the books written by prominent evolutionists, including Darwin. Friedman points out that a vast majority of false scientific theories stumbled and fell not because they were replaced by new, more sophisticated theories, but simply because of an abundance of conflicting statements and disagreement with the experimental data. For the same reasons, he finally asserts, the theory of evolution is destined for oblivion.


Book Synopsis Critique of the Theory of Evolution by : Walter Friedman

Download or read book Critique of the Theory of Evolution written by Walter Friedman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2007-08-15 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Walter Friedman exposes internal contradictions that nullify the theory of evolution. He also reveals the ways Charles Darwin falsified observation data to promote his pseudoscientific discovery. In a variety of ways, Friedman aims to undercut the logical assumptions of evolutionary theory. First, he applies elementary probability theory to show that a random mutation cannot spread to an entire population, which means that the evolution of species is a myth. Friedman further contends that the centerpiece of Darwin's theory--the hypothesis of natural selection--is also a statistical impossibility, as simple arithmetic reveals. Third, he turns to genetics data to demonstrate that the idea of the evolution of species leads to ridiculous conclusions. Next, Friedman employs anthropological findings of so-called human ancestors to argue the reverse of what anthropologists believe to be true-- that evolution never took place. Fifth, Friedman appeals to the laws of physics to explain why it is impossible, in principle, for inorganic matter to transform into organic matter with a DNA-like structure. Darwin's racist view of people of African descent and its legal implications for the teaching of the evolutionary theory in public schools are also investigated. The last section of the book provides extensive criticism of the books written by prominent evolutionists, including Darwin. Friedman points out that a vast majority of false scientific theories stumbled and fell not because they were replaced by new, more sophisticated theories, but simply because of an abundance of conflicting statements and disagreement with the experimental data. For the same reasons, he finally asserts, the theory of evolution is destined for oblivion.

Darwin's Doubt

Darwin's Doubt

Author: Stephen C. Meyer

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2013-06-18

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 0062071491

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When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the “Cambrian explosion,” many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been found, but because scientists have learned more about what it takes to construct an animal. During the last half century, biologists have come to appreciate the central importance of biological information—stored in DNA and elsewhere in cells—to building animal forms. Expanding on the compelling case he presented in his last book, Signature in the Cell, Meyer argues that the origin of this information, as well as other mysterious features of the Cambrian event, are best explained by intelligent design, rather than purely undirected evolutionary processes.


Book Synopsis Darwin's Doubt by : Stephen C. Meyer

Download or read book Darwin's Doubt written by Stephen C. Meyer and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-06-18 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the “Cambrian explosion,” many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been found, but because scientists have learned more about what it takes to construct an animal. During the last half century, biologists have come to appreciate the central importance of biological information—stored in DNA and elsewhere in cells—to building animal forms. Expanding on the compelling case he presented in his last book, Signature in the Cell, Meyer argues that the origin of this information, as well as other mysterious features of the Cambrian event, are best explained by intelligent design, rather than purely undirected evolutionary processes.

The Great Evolution Mystery

The Great Evolution Mystery

Author: Gordon Rattray Taylor

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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Presents a view of evolutionary theory as part of a larger theory yet to be developed.


Book Synopsis The Great Evolution Mystery by : Gordon Rattray Taylor

Download or read book The Great Evolution Mystery written by Gordon Rattray Taylor and published by HarperCollins Publishers. This book was released on 1983 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a view of evolutionary theory as part of a larger theory yet to be developed.

Quantum Evolution

Quantum Evolution

Author: Johnjoe McFadden

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780393323108

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Marrying physics and biology, McFadden theorizes that evolution may not be random but directed, and that quantum mechanics endows living organisms with the ability to initiate specific actions, including new mutations. Illustrations.


Book Synopsis Quantum Evolution by : Johnjoe McFadden

Download or read book Quantum Evolution written by Johnjoe McFadden and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2002 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marrying physics and biology, McFadden theorizes that evolution may not be random but directed, and that quantum mechanics endows living organisms with the ability to initiate specific actions, including new mutations. Illustrations.

Billions of Missing Links

Billions of Missing Links

Author: Simmons, Geoffrey

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Published:

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0736931279

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Book Synopsis Billions of Missing Links by : Simmons, Geoffrey

Download or read book Billions of Missing Links written by Simmons, Geoffrey and published by Harvest House Publishers. This book was released on with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: