Pattern of Evolution - Hardcover

Eldredge, Niles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0716730464 ISBN 13: 9780716730460

Publisher: W H Freeman & Co, 1998

Synopsis

Attempts to take the first steps towards a fuller understanding of the process of evolution. Complaining that simple reliance on the competition to reproduce fails to explain cross-genealogical patterns in the history of life, the author looks at the history of evolutionary thought and argues that geological and other events are intricately linked to how species developed over time. Finally, he contends that his insight shows how science itself needs to reintegrate for a full understanding of the universe around us. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

About this title

Review

What drives biological evolution? Celebrated theorist Niles Eldredge shows us how the adaptation of organisms to their environment mirrors other natural processes in The Pattern of Evolution, and while he's at it, he gets in a few jabs at "ultra-Darwinians" like Richard Dawkins. The well-known theory of punctuated equilibrium, which Eldredge conceived and promoted with Stephen Jay Gould, holds that species remain stable for long intervals between literally earthshaking events that rewrite the evolutionary roster. Eschewing the traditional view differentiating between historical sciences, like his beloved paleontology, and functional sciences, like physics and chemistry, Eldredge proposes that evolutionary theory, by explaining patterns found in nature, can give us just as much "hard" knowledge as Newton's laws. His intriguing ideas are fleshed out with descriptions of illustrative sites (particularly the Puerto Rican rain forest) and dramatic arguments from before, during, and after Darwin's publication of The Origin of Species. As much a pleasure to read as his better-known colleague Gould, Eldredge shares his passions with his readers and is one of the few writers who can make theory both accessible and engrossing. While not all readers will agree with his attitude toward the "selfish gene" model of evolution, few will argue that his arguments for interdisciplinary synthesis in The Pattern of Evolution are anything but necessary and profound. --Rob Lightner

About the Author

NILES ELDREDGE is a Curator in the Department of Invertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, where he has worked as an active research paleontologist since 1969. He is the author of 20 books and more than 200 research papers, including several with Stephen Jay Gould announcing the theory of punctuated equilibria. He speaks regularly on aspects of evolutionary theory and biodiversity issues.

Edition details

• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0716730464
• ISBN 13: 9780716730460
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 219