The Variation of Animals in Nature (Classic Reprint)

How evolution really works: beyond simple selection, with ideas on mutation, variation, and the forces that shape life.

In The Variation of Animals in Nature, Robson surveys how heritable variation arises and spreads. It draws connections between natural selection, mutation, recombination, and the possible roles of organisation and self-regulation in evolution. The text weighs evidence for and against key ideas and looks at how different mechanisms might drive divergence, specialization, and the emergence of new forms.

- Learn why selection alone may not explain every twist in evolution, and how new variants can arise through mutation and recombination.
- See how crosses between populations and hybridisation could spark early stages of divergence, sometimes with surprising outcomes.
- Understand debates around the evolution of dominance, gene environments, and how certain traits behave in heterozygotes.
- Explore how indirect evidence and complex data shape our view of evolutionary theory and its mathematical models.

Ideal for readers of science history and evolutionary theory who want a careful, evidence-grounded discussion of how variation translates into the diversity of life.