Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection focuses on inheritance and survival without attempting to explain the forms organisms take. The first part of Form and Transformation looks critically at the conceptual structure of Darwinism and describes the limitations of the theory of evolution. The authors argue that a theory of biological form is needed to understand the structure of organisms and their transformations. The second part of the book explores such a theory by portraying organisms as developing and dynamic systems, within which gene action is understandable. The authors present a number of specific examples, including tetrapod limb formation and Drosophila development, to illustrate how these dynamic organisms produce generic forms.
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"Anyone who has been puzzled by the sorts of views championed by the structuralists, ideal morphologists and rational empiricists should read Webster and Goodwin's Form and Transformation. You may not agree, but at least you will understand--and this is no small accomplishment." David L. Hull, Northwestern University
"This book makes an important contribution to the paradigm shift." Molecular Reproduction and Development
"This book makes an important contribution to the paradigm shift." Molecular Reproduction and Development
Book Description
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection fails to explain the forms of organisms because it focuses on inheritance and survival, not on how organisms are generated. This book argues that biology needs a theory of biological form, and that this must be based on a generative theory of organisms as developing and transforming entities of a distinctive type (fields). A number of examples are presented and used to explain the logical relationships of biological forms that underlie biological classification schemes, based upon the properties of complex dynamic systems.
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First Sentence:
Marjorie Grene's (1974, p. 408) remark is made in the course of a discussion of Aristotle and modern biology and especially of Aristotle's concept of eidos. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
null disc, holotype individual, meristic series, denticle bands, intrinsically robust process, morphogenetic theory, species taxa, mirror duplications, species taxon, single natural kind, morphological correspondence, morphogenetic transformations, rational taxonomy, eyeless gene, limb field, whorl formation, monotonic gradient, genealogical nexus, taxonomic practice, morphogenetic sequences, oral apparatus, gap genes, segmentation genes, tetrapod limbs, holotype specimen Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
D'Arcy Thompson, Unitary Morphogenetic Field, Concrete Universal, Rational Morphology, Twin Earth, David Hull, Geoffroy St Hilaire, Positions of Organic Stability, Abstract Universal, Principle of Connections New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Marjorie Grene's (1974, p. 408) remark is made in the course of a discussion of Aristotle and modern biology and especially of Aristotle's concept of eidos. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
null disc, holotype individual, meristic series, denticle bands, intrinsically robust process, morphogenetic theory, species taxa, mirror duplications, species taxon, single natural kind, morphological correspondence, morphogenetic transformations, rational taxonomy, eyeless gene, limb field, whorl formation, monotonic gradient, genealogical nexus, taxonomic practice, morphogenetic sequences, oral apparatus, gap genes, segmentation genes, tetrapod limbs, holotype specimen Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
D'Arcy Thompson, Unitary Morphogenetic Field, Concrete Universal, Rational Morphology, Twin Earth, David Hull, Geoffroy St Hilaire, Positions of Organic Stability, Abstract Universal, Principle of Connections New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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This book cites 77
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18
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- The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin on 4 pages
- On the Origin of Species (Penguin Classics) by Charles Darwin on 4 pages
- The Origin Of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition by Charles Darwin on 4 pages
- Mathematical Biology: I. An Introduction (Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics) (Pt. 1) by James D. Murray on page 147, page 151, and Back Matter
- Evolutionary Developmental Biology - Second Edition by Brian K. Hall on page 241, and Back Matter
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- Genes in Development: Re-reading the Molecular Paradigm (Science and Cultural Theory) by Eva M. Neumann-Held on page 134, and Back Matter
- Systems Engineering for Business Process Change: Collected Papers from the EPSRC Research Programme by Peter Henderson on page 35, and page 181
- The Way of the Cell: Molecules, Organisms, and the Order of Life by Franklin M. Harold in Back Matter
- The Philosophy of Biology: An Episodic History (The Evolution of Modern Philosophy) by Marjorie Grene in Back Matter
- Complexity and Management (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) by Ralph D. Stacey in Back Matter
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