John Tyler Bonner, one of our most distinguished and insightful
biologists, here challenges a central tenet of evolutionary
biology. In this concise, elegantly written book, he makes the bold
and provocative claim that some biological diversity may be
explained by something other than natural selection.
With his customary wit and accessible style, Bonner makes an
argument for the underappreciated role that randomness--or
chance--plays in evolution. Due to the tremendous and enduring
influence of Darwin's natural selection, the importance of
randomness has been to some extent overshadowed. Bonner shows how
the effects of randomness differ for organisms of different sizes,
and how the smaller an organism is, the more likely it is that
morphological differences will be random and selection may not be
involved to any degree. He traces the increase in size and
complexity of organisms over geological time, and looks at the
varying significance of randomness at different size levels, from
microorganisms to large mammals. Bonner also discusses how sexual
cycles vary depending on size and complexity, and how the trend
away from randomness in higher forms has even been reversed in some
social organisms.
Certain to provoke lively discussion, "Randomness in Evolution"
is a book that may fundamentally change our understanding of
evolution and the history of life.
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