Paleontology: A Philosophical Introduction (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Biology) - Hardcover

Turner, Derek

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521116376 ISBN 13: 9780521116374

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

In the wake of the paleobiological revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, paleontologists continue to investigate far-reaching questions about how evolution works. Many of those questions have a philosophical dimension. How is macroevolution related to evolutionary changes within populations? Is evolutionary history contingent? How much can we know about the causes of evolutionary trends? How do paleontologists read the patterns in the fossil record to learn about the underlying evolutionary processes? Derek Turner explores these and other questions, introducing the reader to exciting recent work in the philosophy of paleontology and to theoretical issues including punctuated equilibria and species selection. He also critically examines some of the major accomplishments and arguments of paleontologists of the last 40 years.

About this title

Book Description:

In the wake of the paleobiological revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, paleontologists continue to investigate far-reaching questions about how evolution works. Derek Turner introduces the reader to exciting recent work in the philosophy of paleontology and the diverse issues such as punctuated equilibrium and species selection.

About the Author:

Derek Turner is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Connecticut College. His previous publications include Making Prehistory: Historical Science and the Scientific Realism Debate (Cambridge University Press, 2007), as well as a number of articles on the philosophy of paleontology.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0521116376
• ISBN 13: 9780521116374
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240