575.01/P.E

EVOLUTIONARY THEORY: PATHS INTO THE FUTURE

Edited by

JEFFREY W. POLLARD

Contents

Chapter 1: the scientific status of modern evolutionary theory

Statement of evolutionary theory

Criticism 1.  Modern evolutionary theory: metaphysics or science?

            The criterion of falsifiable predictions

Criticism 2. The theory of descent (Hypothesis 1)

Criticism 3. Is natural selection a tautology? (Hypothesis 2)

Criticism 4. Explanatory and predictive power (Hypothesis 3)

Variability in natural populations

            Function: a product of selection

            Gradualism – Adaptation – Complexity - Variable rates

            A bsence of planning ــlack of perfection

Criticism 5. Lack of evolutionary laws

Criticism 6. Social and political factors

Discussions and conclusions

Chapter 2: Cladistics: theory, purpose and evolutionary implications

Comparative biology and caldistics

            Some basic terms of comparative biology - The principles of phylogenetic systematics

The phylogenetic versus evolutionary and phenetic taxonomy: the goal and the means

            Cladistics and evolutionary systematics - Cladistics and phenetic taxonomy

The evolutionary implications of cladistics

            Hennigian cladistics and transformed caldistics - Cladistics and fossils

The future of cladistics

            Cladistics, society, and people - Predictiveness of cladistics

Chapter 3: Hierarchies and history

Discovering nature’s hierarchy

Congruence and the meaning of evolution

Inferring evolutionary change

Chapter 4: Changing from an evolutionary to a generative paradigm in biology

Typical from and homology as revealed in tetrapod limb morphology

The problem of biological from in terms of the evolutionary paradigm

Morphogenetic mechanisms of limb formation

The generative paradigm in biology

Chapter 5: The complexity of organisms

Complexity - The principle of minimum increase in complexity

Repeated structures - Form

Three specific applications

            Williston’s law - Parallel evolution - Mimicry

Chapter 6: Evolution as an entropic phenomenom

 An alternative theory

            The principle of irreversibility - The principle of individuality

            The principle of intrinsic constraints - The principle of compensatory change

Outline of non-equilibrium evolution

            The nature of biological systems - Information and cohesion - Entropy

Dynamics of evolution

            Evolution within species - Speciation

            Thresholds and mechanisms of change - Extrinsic factors

Testing the theory

            Potential falsifiers

Is evolution an entropic phenomenon?

            Entropy changes

What does the theory explain?

Research programmes

Chapter 7: Movable genetic elements and evolution

Overview of movable genetic elements

Some movable genetic elements

            Structure of Drosophila transposons

            Retroviruses and retrovirus-like elements

Biological effects of movable genetic elements

            Genetic effects - Evolution of mobile DNA

            Possible evolutionary roles of mobile DNA

Chapter 8: Environmentally induced DNA changes

Examples

            Gene amplification and drug resistance

            Environmentally induced heritable changes in flax

            Somoclonal variation

Discussion

Chapter 9: The somatic selection of acquired characters

The somatic selection hypothesis for the inheritance of acquired characters

Evidence in support of the somatic selection hypothesis

The vector for somatically derived genetic information

Future paths of experimentation

Conclusion

Chapter 10: Evolutionary epistemology

The traditional theory of knowledge - Criticism

Life and the acquisition of knowledge - Language

How did the descriptive function evolve?

From the amoeba to Einstein - Three worlds

Prep./ Khaled Shrief
Manage./ Huda Hosny

المصدر: john wiley &sons

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عنوان الهيئة: القطعة رقم (210) بالقطاع الثانى-حى مركز المدينة-التجمع الخامس-القاهرة الجديدة- Email: [email protected] »

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