Keywords in Evolutionary Biology

About this book

A series of essays by leading evolutionists that identify and explain those terms in evolutionary biology with variable or confused meanings. Contributors include Stephen Jay Gould, Diane Paul, John Beatty, Peter Bowler, and Richard Dawkins. Exploring the complexity of keywords and clarifying their role in prominent issues in the field, this book will prove invaluable to scientists and philosophers trying to come to terms with evolutionary theory; it will also serve as a useful guide to future research into the ways in which scientific language works.

Contents

Adaptation - historical perspectives, Richard M. Burian; adaptation - current usages, Mary Jane West-Eberhard; altruism - theoretical contexts, Alexander Rosenberg; altruism - contemporary debates, David Sloan Wilson and Lee A. Dugatkin; altruism - some theoretical ambiguities, Marcy K. Uyenoyama and Marcus W. Feldman; character - historical perspectives, Lindley Darden; character - current usages, Kurt Fristrup; community, Peter Taylor; competition - historical perspectives, Robert McIntosh; competition - current usages, Evelyn Fox Keller; Darwinism, Michael Ruse; environment, Robert N. Brandon; epistasis, Michael J. Wade; eugenics, Daniel J. Kevles; evolution, Robert J. Richards; extinction, John Damuth; fitness - historical perspectives, Diane Paul; fitness - theoretical contexts, John Beatty; fitness - reproductive ambiguities, Evelyn Fox Keller; gene - historical perspectives, Jane Maienschein; gene - current usages, Philip Kitcher; genetic load, James F. Crow; genotype and phenotype, Richard C. Lewontin; group selection, David Sloan Wilson; heritability - historical perspectives, Michael J. Wade; heritability - some theoretical ambiguities, Marcus W. Feldman; heterochrony, Stephen Jay gould; heterosis, Diane Paul; homology, Michael J. Donoghue; individual, David L. Hull; lamarckism, Peter J. Bowler; macromutation, Michael R. Dietrich; monophyly, Elliott Sober; mutualism and cooperation, Douglas H. Boucher; natural selection - historical perspectives, M.J.S. Hodge; natural selection - current usages, John A. Endler; neutralism, Motoo Kimura; niche - historical perspectives, James R. Griesemer; niche - a bifurcation in the conceptual lineage of the term, Robert K. Colwell; parsimony, Elliott Sober; phenotypic plasticity, Deborah M. Gordon; progress, Richard Dawkins; random drift, John Beatty; resource, Peter Abrams; sexual selection - contemporary debates, Hamish G. Spencer and Judith C. Masters; species - historical perspectives, Peter F. Stevens; species - theoretical contexts, John Dupre; species - current usages, Mary B. Williams; teleology, James G. Lennox; unit of selection, Elizabeth A. Lloyd.

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Biography

Evelyn Fox Keller is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at MIT. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and numerous honorary degrees. Elisabeth A. Lloyd is Arnold and Maxine Tanis Chair of History and Philosophy of Science and Professor of Biology, Indiana University.