Genesis: The Evolution of Biology

By Jan Sapp

Book Overview

Genesis: The Evolution of Biology presents a history of the past two centuries of biology, suitable for use in courses, but of interest more broadly to evolutionary biologists, geneticists, and biomedical scientists, as well as general readers interested in the history of science. The book covers the early evolutionary biologists-Lamarck, Cuvier, Darwin and Wallace through Mayr and the neodarwinian synthesis, in much the same way as other histories of evolution have done, bringing in also the social implications, the struggles with our religious understanding, and the interweaving of genetics into evolutionary theory. What is novel about Sapp's account is a real integration of the cytological tradition, from Schwann, Boveri, and the other early cell biologists and embryologists, and the coverage of symbiosis, microbial evolutionary phylogenies, and the new understanding of the diversification of life coming from comparative analyses of complete microbial genomes.

The book is a history of theories about evolution, genes and organisms from Lamarck and Darwin to the present day. This is the first book on the general history of evolutionary biology to include the history of research and theories about symbiosis in evolution, and first to include research on microbial evolution which were excluded from the classical neo-Darwinian synthesis. Bacterial evolution, and symbiosis in evolution are also excluded from virtually every book on the history of biology.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195156196
• ISBN13: 9780195156195
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A nice overview

This book offers an informative panorama of the "evolution of evolution science", with nice insights and a careful examination of the many controversies in this thriving field, including historical, social and political influences and biases. Sometimes the author concedes a little too much to the "social" and "institutional" influences on scientific research, though it was a relief to read his direct criticism of the over rated (and outdated) Khunian nonsense.

Excellent!!! only if you are interested in the truth...

Words can not do justice for this brilliant man, I suggest reading it and allowing yourself to make the own reveiw. I will say this though, anyone invloved in the field of biology should read a copy. Anyone who is not in the field of biology should own a copy!Great book, I hope everyone can get what I got from it!