|
Showing 1 - 12 of
12 matches in All Departments
In this volume, the product of decades of study and research,
the world's foremost geneticist surveys the major developments in
what is emerging as the most important single area of scientific
inquiry in the twentieth century: biological theory of evolution in
particular.
Noting that the theory of evolution in biology is more than a
century old, Dr. Dobzhansky points out that it is nevertheless only
in recent times that our knowledge of its physical basis as well as
our understanding of its dynamics has progressed greatly. Yet, he
notes, new problems have replaced the older ones at the forefront
of scientific inquiry, problems which require entirely new
approaches. It is to these manifold and exciting new questions that
the author brings a lifetime of experience.
Throughout, his goal is to create not a summary of all the
available literature, nor a professional book written only for the
scientific community, but rather a presentation of basic ideas,
accompanied by the indispensable references which would enable
interested readers to pursue the matter further. The book has been
purposely kept short to enable it to be read as a whole, and above
all, it has been written in a manner which will hold the attention
as well as inform both the general reader and the professionally
concerned scientist.
Featuring an introduction by Stephen Jay Gould, "Genetics and
the Origin of Species" presents the first edition of Dobzhansky's
groundbreaking and now classic inquiry into what has emerged as the
most important single area of scientific inquiry in the twentieth
century: biological theory of evolution. Genetics and the Origin of
Species went through three editions (1937, 1941, and 1951) in which
the importance accorded natural selection changed radically.
The Silliman Lectures at Yale University have been responsible for
many books which have greatly influenced the progress of scientific
work in the twentieth century. One of the foremost scientists of
our time, Theodosius Dobzhansky, recipient of the Elliot and
Kimbler prizes, and Da Costa Professor of Zoology at Columbia
University, delivered the Silliman Lectures given in honor of the
Centennial of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Based upon
these lectures, Mr. Dobzhansky's latest book, Mankind Evolving, now
takes its place beside his other great works. With a profound
knowledge of the biological theory of evolution and modern
genetics, Mr. Dobzhansky explores the possibilities of
understanding mankind as a product of evolution and as an evolving
whole. Human evolution, contends Mr. Dobzhansky, cannot be
understood as a purely biological process, nor can it be adequately
described as a history of culture; rather, it is the interaction
between the two components of evolution-the biological, or organic,
and the cultural, or superorganic. The interdependence of these two
components is brought out most clearly if we consider that they
both serve the same function-the adaptation to and control of man's
environment. Drawing upon evidence from human biology, and the
study of fossil ancestors of now-living mankind, Mr. Dobzhansky
explains how the biological process led to the inception and
advancement of culture as an instrument of adaptation. In producing
the genetic basis of culture, biological evolution has transcended
itself: it has produced the superorganic. The superorganic, Mr.
Dobzhansky points out, has not annulled the organic; and human
welfare, both in individuals and in societies, is predicated upon
the health of the genetic endowment of human population. Man has
not only evolved but is evolving, and Mr. Dobzhansky expounds the
thesis that the genetic basis of culture should be improved, or at
the very least should not be allowed to deteriorate. Mankind
Evolving is of vital importance not only for scientists but for all
who are concerned with the health of future generations. Winner of
the Anisfield-Wolf Award and the Pierre Lecomte Du Nuoy Prize. "The
most interesting . . . the most judicious scientific treatise that
has ever been written on the nature of man . . . displays
tremendous erudition over an even broader range of knowledge than
is found in its author's previous works. . . . No one who is
concerned with his own nature and that of mankind-and this included
poets, philosophers, and theologians-can afford to miss this
book."-George Gaylord Simpson.
|
You may like...
Hampstead
Diane Keaton, Brendan Gleeson, …
DVD
R66
Discovery Miles 660
|