Beyond Natural Selection [Hardcover]

Robert Wesson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1991 | ISBN-10: 0262231611 | ISBN-13: 978-0262231619 | Edition: First Edition

Humans are not simply the result of a mechanistic process. In this broad inquiry, Robert Wesson proposes an approach to evolution that aims to be more in harmony with modern science and more meaningful for the comprehension of our existence. He emphasizes the importance for evolution of inner direction and the self-organizing capacities of life. This view is better able to account for the chaotic nature of the evolutionary process and the inherent propensity of complex dynamic systems to grow more complex with time. A large number of examples of plants and animals support this idea, and Wesson's account includes both documented scientific facts and anecdotes about the odd aberrations in natural selection. Wesson also points out that Darwinism and neo-Darwinism explain only part of the richness of contemporary biota and, in fact, even deny the reality of the most important features of evolution. Complex systems such as the human eye, the sonar apparatus of bats, and the electric organs of some fish are infused with patterns better described by the methods of modern chaos theory. He begins with a description of Darwinian theory and the controversies over its application and then proceeds to show why natural selection cannot sufficiently account for the development of the multitude of modern species. Along the way Wesson addresses a number of issues, including the implications for Darwinian theory of the incomplete fossil record, the often extravagant and apparently useless developments around sex, and an ethical challenge to Darwin's insistence on survival of the fittest. He explains the ways genetic patterns or attractors influence evolution and considers the relationship of heredity and environment as well as genetic and behavioural response to external signals. Wesson concludes this study by applying evolutionary theory to humans, summarizing the long term trend of evolution and discussing the relationship between the way we understand evolution and development of human values.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every biologist should read this sweeping vision of the character and meaning of the evolutionary process. Wesson"s work can be compared to Richard Dawkins" The Blind Watchmaker; however, Wesson rides home a different philosophy. It is a less familiar one but more contemporary and more important. He is opening a new avenue that will have an impact on the thinking of a significant number of people." John H. Campbell , University of California, Los Angeles

"In many ways, this book is akin to a primer on current evolutionary theory. Yet, Wesson picks his points carefully as he builds the case that chaos theory offers a way of understanding order and pattern in evolution... a coherent presentation of many contemporary evolutionary conundrums as they might be addressed through a chaos framework." Science Books & Films

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Robert Wesson, a political scientist who has undergone ecdysis, is Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford, California.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Mit Pr; First Edition edition (July 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262231611
• ISBN-13: 978-0262231619
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,686,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The falsifiability of natural selection, March 14, 2000

By 

John C. Landon "nemonemini" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Natural Selection (Bradford Books) (Paperback)

This is one of the most helpful critiques of the dogma of natural selection, along with Soren Lovtrup's Darwinism: Refutation of a Myth, and Robert Reid's Evolutionary Theory: The Unfinished Synthesis. Filled with the hard evidence you won't find in textbooks and that explodes Darwin's claims,without rejecting the broad context of evolution, the book cogently attempts to reach a broader systems view that looks at the transformations of the genome as a whole. Although the intimations of chaos theory here are a bit simplistic, no substitute theory is required to demonstrate the fact that natural selection simply cannot account for the rising number of factual discrepancies. This type of exploration of new ground is both vital and timely. The author's wry suggestion that the six-leggedness of insects falsifies natural selection is but one of the many insights. His disposal of sexual selection is another. Any Darwin dogmatist should be afraid of this book. If you read it, you will snap out of it and end up a Darwin doubter. Bravo. John Landon [e-mail]

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes -- but not Intelligent Design, April 23, 2007

By 

David Keppel (Bloomington, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Natural Selection (Hardcover)

This is a valuable look at self-organization in evolution. Citing many cases where a reductionistic explanation of genetic variation and natural selection is inadequate, Wesson argues that complex biological structures owe their emergence to a fusion of physical processes at the edge of "Chaos." You will find similar themes in the work of Ilya Prigogine, Brian Goodwin, Niles Eldredge, and others.
Advocates of so-called Intelligent Design often cite this book, while "ultra-Darwinians" dislike it. Actually, however, Wesson's presentation offers a third way, neither reductionist nor theistic. (I do not know what Wesson's personal views are, but it is his work here that is in question.)

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best collection of arguments against Darwinism., October 1, 1999

By 

Anthony Damato "Law professor" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beyond Natural Selection (Hardcover)

This is a spectacular collection of the best and most pertinent biological anomalies that one has to come to grips with in explaining neo-Darwinian natural selection. At the same time, it is abysmally written. The author knows nothing about sentence structure, paragraph structure, or connectives. If the book were well-written (perhaps in its second edition), it might become a world-class best seller. It's worth five stars only because of the superbly selected information it contains. == Anthony D'Amato Leighton Professor of Law Northwestern University