The Growth of Biological Thought Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance

By: Ernst Mayr(Author)

992 pages, illustrations

Publisher: Harvard University Press

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ISBN: 9780674364462 Paperback Jan 1985 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 6 days
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About this book

No one in this century can speak with greater authority on the progress of ideas in biology than Ernst Mayr. And no book has ever established the life sciences so firmly in the mainstream of Western intellectual history as The Growth of Biological Thought. Ten years in preparation, this is a work of epic proportions, tracing the development of the major problems of biology from the earliest attempts to find order in the diversity of life to modern research into the mechanisms of gene transmission.

1. Introduction: How to write history of biology
2. The place of biology in the sciences and its conceptual structure
3. The changing intellectual milieu of biology

PART I DIVERSITY OF LIFE
4. Macrotaxonomy, the science of classifying
5. Grouping according to common ancestry
6. Microtaxonomy, the science of species

PART II EVOLUTION
7. Origins without evolution
8. Evolution before Darwin
9. Charles Darwin
10. Darwin's evidence for evolution and common descent
11. The causation of evolution: natural selection
12. Diversity and synthesis of evolutionary thought
13. Post-synthesis developments

PART III VARIATION AND ITS INHERITANCE
14. Early theories and breeding experiments
15. Germ cells, vehicles of heredity
16. The nature of inheritance
17. The flowering of Mendelian genetics
18. Theories of the gene
19. The chemical basis of inheritance
20. Epilogue: Toward a science of science

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Biography

Ernst Mayr was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the Crafoord Prize for Biology, the National Medal of Science, the Balzan Prize, and the Japan Prize.

By: Ernst Mayr(Author)

992 pages, illustrations

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Media reviews

"Mayr's book is a book of great erudition and insight. No other single volume offers such an extensive account of the history of the subjects in question while providing as penetrating a view of the nature of these subjects."
– Richard W. Burkhardt, Times Higher Education Supplement

"This solid book [...] is essential reading for everyone at all interested in evolution, in biology or its history, or in science in general."
– A. J. Cain, Nature

"Professor Mayr has written a monumental history of biological ideas [...] [It is] a marvelous course in evolution, taught historically. For a reader who is willing to make the effort, this book provides one of the best and most nearly complete discussions of these ideas to be found anywhere. It is an example of those rare books in popular science which can teach scientists as well as laymen [...] [This book] is full of insights and historical revelations. Nothing quite like The Growth of Biological Thought has been attempted before. It is a book that could have been written only by a scientist in complete command of his subject."
– Jeremy Bernstein, New Yorker

"This is an extraordinary, epic work in which Mayr once again shows himself a master of detail, interpretation, and synthesis."
– Douglas J. Futuyma, Science

"Mayr concentrates on scientific problems and concepts, placing them in the intellectual milieu of each historical period [...] Tightly drawn, highly opinionated presentations are invaluable in science, and Mr. Mayr's [book] is certainly provocative."
– James L. Gould, New York Times Book Review

"'The Growth of Biological Thought will be a richly rewarding experience [...] Mayr's vivid manner, his clear analytical distinctions, his candor in meeting controversial issues head on, make his discussions as stimulating as they are valuable."
– Frederic L. Holmes, Washington Post Book World

"It is full of insights and historical revelations. Nothing quite like The Growth of Biological Thought has been attempted before. It is a book that could have been written only by a scientist in complete command of his subject."
– The New Yorker