Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life Book

"Connie Barlow has chosen from the very best writings of some of the most articulate people of our times." -- Robert Ulanowicz, Professor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland "A valuable introduction to many old controversies and a few new ones." -- Nature "Barlow's selection is broad-ranging and well-balanced. Teilhard de Chardin is bound together with Peter Medawar and Jacques Monod, Huxley with Simpson and William Provine. She has interspersed the scientific writings with pictures and poetry. As with all the best anthologies, if you dip into it you often find something surprising." -- Mark Ridley, New Scientist As in her first well-received anthology, From Gaia to Selfish Genes, Connie Barlow has woven selections from the writings of biologists and philosophers into a unified whole. Once again she explores a range of viewpoints as she invites readers to formulate their own opinions. Editorial passages provide the historical context and introduce the debates that have ensued whenever evolutionary biology has been extended into the realm of meaning. Contents: Prophets of Progress. Julian Huxley. Francisco J. Ayala. Edward O. Wilson. The Naysayers. George Gaylord Simpson. John Tyler Bonner. David Raup. Wedges, Arms Races, and the Role of Strife. Charles Darwin. Richard Dawkins. Governors, Tinkerers, and the Role of Synergy. Gregory Bateson. Francois Jacob. Lynn Margulis and Mark McMenamin. Peter A. Corning. Ratchets, Uroboros, and the Role of Initiative. Jacob Bronowski. Alister Hardy. Karl Popper. Cosmic Visions. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Julian Huxley. Banishing Cosmic Meaning. Peter Medawar. Jacques Monod. Beyond the Binary. Connie Barlow. Dorion Sagan. Connie Barlow and M. Mitchell Waldrop. Evolution as Religion. Edward O. Wilson. Julian Huxley. Alister Hardy. John C. Greene. Responding to Creationism. Henry Morris. Charles Darwin. Theodosius Dobzhansky. Pope John Paul II. John C. Greene. George Gaylord Simpson. William Provine. Martin Eger. Richard D. Alexander. U.S. Supreme Court. Science into Myth. Jeffrey Wicken. Brian Swimme. Laurence Levine.Read More