Embryology, Epigenesis and Evolution: Taking Development Seriously

by Jason Scott Robert

Overview

Philosophers of science have tended to avoid the problem of "development" by focusing primarily on evolutionary biology and, more recently, on molecular biology and genetics. Jason Scott Robert explores the nature of development as it relates to current concepts in biological theory and practice and analyzes the interrelations between development and evolution (evo-devo), an area of resurgent biological inquiry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521824675
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/04/2004
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

List of figures; Preface; 1. The problem of development; 2. Exemplars; 3. Scylla and Charybdis; 4. Constitutive epigenetics; 5. Creative development; 6. A new synthesis?; 7. The devil is in the Gestalt; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Embryology, Epigenesis, and Evolution suggests a target audience of philosophers of science and of biology, but I hope the book will be more widely read. It might start a productive exchange between biologists and philosophers on how to overcome the limitations of our knowledge." Science

From the Publisher