The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance [Paperback]

Ernst Mayr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 1985 | ISBN-10: 0674364465 | ISBN-13: 978-0674364462

No one in this century can speak with greater authority on the progress of ideas in biology than Ernst Mayr. And no book has ever established the life sciences so firmly in the mainstream of Western intellectual history as "The Growth of Biological Thought." Ten years in preparation, this is a work of epic proportions, tracing the development of the major problems of biology from the earliest attempts to find order in the diversity of life, to modern research into the mechanisms of gene transmission.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Professor Mayr has written a monumental history of biological ideas...[It is] a marvelous course in evolution, taught historically. For a reader who is willing to make the effort, this book provides one of the best and most nearly complete discussions of these ideas to be found anywhere. It is an example of those rare books in popular science which can teach scientists as well as laymen...[This book] is full of insights and historical revelations. Nothing quite like The Growth of Biological Thought has been attempted before. It is a book that could have been written only by a scientist in complete command of his subject.
--Jeremy Bernstein (New Yorker )

This is an extraordinary, epic work in which Mayr once again shows himself a master of detail, interpretation, and synthesis.
--Douglas J. Futuyma (Science )

The Growth of Biological Thought will be a richly rewarding experience...Mayr's vivid manner, his clear analytical distinctions, his candor in meeting controversial issues head on, make his discussions as stimulating as they are valuable.
--Frederic L. Holmes (Washington Post Book World )

Mayr concentrates on scientific problems and concepts, placing them in the intellectual milieu of each historical period...Tightly drawn, highly opinionated presentations are invaluable in science, and Mr. Mayr's [book] is certainly provocative.
--James L. Gould (New York Times Book Review )

This solid book...is essential reading for everyone at all interested in evolution, in biology or its history, or in science in general.
--A. J. Cain (Nature )

Mayr's book is a book of great erudition and insight. No other single volume offers such an extensive account of the history of the subjects in question while providing as penetrating a view of the nature of these subjects.
--Richard W. Burkhardt (Times Higher Education Supplement )

About the Author

Ernst Mayr is Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the Crafoord Prize for Biology, the National Medal of Science, the Balzan Prize, and the Japan Prize.

Product Details

• Paperback: 992 pages
• Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (January 22, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674364465
• ISBN-13: 978-0674364462
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive and Fascinating Journey, August 27, 2001

By 

Robert Dray (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance (Paperback)

Ernst Mayr's comprehensive history of biological thought is nothing less than the story of man's discovery of his own place in nature. Mayr goes back centuries in this fascinating detective story of man's attempt to make sense of all the similarities and all the diversity of organic life, as well as the changes in life forms and the makeup of the earth as found in the geological record. Mankind's attempts to understand life forms through their categorization is fully discussed. Mayr is exceptionally good in his lengthy review of evolutionary thought and brings it up to date throught the century following Darwin. He ends by dealing with the problem of inheritance and the development of genetic theory which is brought up through the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Throughout the work Mayr retains a focus on the place of biological thought in the history of science. He clearly shows how historians and philosophers of science have made serious errors by assuming that physics and mathematics present the perfect models for the "scientific method." He illustrates how biological understanding does not often fit those paradigms. A real strength of his book is how he develops the "conceptual" universe of thinkers and researchers as they struggled with the problems posed by biological diversity and change. "In biological science," he says, "our understanding of the world is achieved more effectively by conceptual improvements than by the discovery of new facts." Pertinent here is what he refers to as the "strait jacket of Plato's essentialism" that influenced thinking right into the 20th century. He also demonstrates why it was so important that biologists began to ask "why?" instead of simply "how?" One particular hi-lite of Mayr's book is his "rehabilitation" of the reputation of Jean Baptiste Lamarck who is so often disparaged in texts which use him as "the" example of all that was wrong with biological thinking prior to Darwin. Mayr clearly shows the power of Lamarck's thought and reveals that he, more than anyone, "discovered the Achilles heel of natural theology" with his insight that "a species must likewise change forever in order to remain in harmonious balance with the environment." This book is not a quick read as it is packed with information. But it is a fascinating detective story that should be seen as required reading for any educated individual. It is often hard to put it down as one is constantly looking forward to seeing how men solved the various problems of biological change and the nature of organic life.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A definitive work on the phylosophy of evolutionary theory, July 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance (Paperback)

Professional biologists, particularly those who have received their graduate trainining in recent years like myself, tend to ignore the philosophical basis of theoretical systems and working hypothesis we use in our work, be it research or teaching, everyday. There are several different and apparently contradictory systems to explain the mechanisms of evolution but, nonetheless, the most successful and the basis of all present possible explanations is the Neo-Darwinian synthesis, which integrated Charles Darwin's hypothesis with modern research techniques and methods, opening the path to mechanistic explanations and eventually, yes, reductionism, validating organismal biology as a "hard core" science. Dr. Mayr was one of those biologists who laid the basis for the Neo-Darwinian synthesis. In this book, he traces back the concept of organism, species, diversity, inheritance and evolution to the early greek philosophers and exposes the changes of the philosophic! ! al and conceptual basis of evolutionary theories to our days.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biology as it Should be Presented, May 19, 2005

By 

David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance (Paperback)

Ernst Mayr (1904-2005) was an institution in the science of biology. Around long enough to contribute significantly to the development of synthetic theory, Mayr made at least some of the history he reports on in his monumental "The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution and Inheritance." While any book of this scope is bound to have some blank spots, this is by far the most comprehensive history of biological thought ever published and it is fitting that it should get as much praise as it has.

Mayr had his weak points (as all people do), but they were certainly not in depth of knowledge. Starting as an ornithologist (he could identify the local birds around his home in Germany by the time he was ten) he built a solid reputation as an evolutionary biologist. He early on (correctly, I believe) took the view that the "nature-nurture" argument was not valid, as genes and environment can never be separated. He is also the author of numerous quotable statements on the scientific method, biology and evolutionary thought, such as "...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic," a statement he backs up in this huge tome.

Indeed, Mayr is right; to understand scientific problems one needs to understand the history of thought involved. For example, Mayr first proposed punctuated equilibrium, as noted by S. J. Gould and Niles Eldredge, and defined much of the evolutionary landscape of speciation. Without the knowledge of Mayr's contribution and contributions made by other biological giants, starting with Darwin and going on through Sewell Wright, George Gaylord Simpson, the Huxleys, Dobzhansky, George Williams and many others, the rich development of biological thought is almost indecipherable. In essence, we really need to know how a particular idea was derived in order to understand its significance (It was not until I was taught the significance of the history behind cell theory that I really appreciated it!) This is how biology should be taught and this is a good book with which to start. I recommend it highly.