What Makes Biology Unique?

Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline

Ersnt Mayr

232 pages, parution le 01/10/2004

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Résumé

A collection of revised, collected, and new essays written by Ernst Mayr in time for his 100th birthday. Mayr, the most eminent evolutionary biologist of the past century, explores biology as an autonomous science, offers insights on the history of evolutionary thought, critiques the contributions of philosophy to the science of biology, and comments on several of the major ongoing issues in evolutionary theory. Notably, he explains that Darwin's theory of evolution is actually five separate theories, each with its own history, trajectory and impact. He points out that a number of the perennial Darwinian controversies may well have been caused by the confounding of the five separate theories into a single composite. Those interested in evolutionary theory, or the philosophy and history of science will find useful ideas in this book, which should appeal to virtually anyone with a broad curiosity about biology.

L'auteur - Ersnt Mayr

Ernst Mayr était Professeur à l'Université de Harvard, dont il fut également le Directeur du Musée de Zoologie Comparative.

Sommaire

Preface: what is there at issue?
Introduction
Science and sciences
The autonomy of biology
Teleology
Analysis or reductionism
Darwin's influence on modern thought
Darwin's five theories of evolution
Maturation of Darwinism
Selection
Kuhn's scientific revolutions
Another look at the species problem
The origin of man
Are we alone in this vast universe?

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Cambridge University Press
Auteur(s)	Ersnt Mayr
Parution	01/10/2004
Nb. de pages	232
Format	16 x 23
Couverture	Relié
Poids	483g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780521841146
ISBN13	978-0-521-84114-6