Did Darwin see evolution as progressive, directed toward producing ever more advanced forms of life? Most contemporary scholars say no. In this challenge to prevailing views, Robert J. Richards says yes-and argues that current perspectives on Darwin and his theory are both ideologically motivated and scientifically unsound. This provocative new reading of Darwin goes directly to the origins of evolutionary theory. Unlike most contemporary biologists or historians and philosophers of science, Richards holds that Darwin did ...
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Did Darwin see evolution as progressive, directed toward producing ever more advanced forms of life? Most contemporary scholars say no. In this challenge to prevailing views, Robert J. Richards says yes-and argues that current perspectives on Darwin and his theory are both ideologically motivated and scientifically unsound. This provocative new reading of Darwin goes directly to the origins of evolutionary theory. Unlike most contemporary biologists or historians and philosophers of science, Richards holds that Darwin did concern himself with the idea of progress, or telos, as he constructed his theory. Richards maintains that Darwin drew on the traditional embryological meanings of the terms "evolution" and "descent with modification." In the 1600s and 1700s, "evolution" referred to the embryological theory of preformation, the idea that the embryo exists as a miniature adult of its own species that simply grows, or evolves, during gestation. By the early 1800s, however, the idea of preformation had become the concept of evolutionary recapitulation, the idea that during its development an embryo passes through a series of stages, each the adult form of an ancestor species. Richards demonstrates that, for Darwin, embryological recapitulation provided a graphic model of how species evolve. If an embryo could be seen as successively taking the structures and forms of its ancestral species, then one could see the evolution of life itself as a succession of species, each transformed from its ancestor. Richards works with the Origin and other published and archival material to show that these embryological models were much on Darwin's mind as he considered the evidence for descent with modification. Why do so many modern researchers find these embryological roots of Darwin's theory so problematic? Richards argues that the current tendency to see evolution as a process that is not progressive and not teleological imposes perspectives on Darwin that incorrectly deny the clearly progressive heart of his embryological models and his evolutionary theory.
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Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $10.41, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by University of Chicago Press.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $10.89, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by University of Chicago Press.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $10.92, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by University of Chicago Press.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $19.00, very good condition, Sold by Murphy-Brookfield Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Iowa City, IA, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by Univ of Chicago Pr.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $19.63, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1993 by University Of Chicago Press.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 350grams, ISBN: 9780226712031.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $20.20, very good condition, Sold by BookHouse On-Line rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Minneapolis, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by University Of Chicago Press.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $21.50, very good condition, Sold by AJA Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Venice, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by University of Chicago Press.
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Very good. Book has some very minor shelf wear. Very attractive book is in Near like new condition. All items guaranteed, and a portion of each sale supports social programs in Los Angeles. Ships from CA.
Add this copy of The Meaning of Evolution: the Morphological to cart. $22.50, very good condition, Sold by Daedalus Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Portland, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by University of Chicago Press.
