What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline [Hardcover]

Ernst Mayr (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521841143 | ISBN-13: 978-0521841146 | Publication Date: August 9, 2004

This collection of revised and new essays argues that biology is an autonomous science rather than a branch of the physical sciences. Ernst Mayr, widely considered the most eminent evolutionary biologist of the 20th century, offers insights on the history of evolutionary thought, critiques the conditions of philosophy to the science of biology, and comments on several of the major developments in evolutionary theory. Notably, Mayr explains that Darwin's theory of evolution is actually five separate theories, each with its own history, trajectory and impact. Ernst Mayr, commonly referred to as the "Darwin of the 20th century" and listed as one of the top 100 scientists of all-time, is Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. What Makes Biology Unique is the 25th book he has written during his long and prolific career. His recent books include This is Biology: The Science of the Living World (Belknap Press, 1997) and What Evolution Is (Basic Books, 2002).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"His mind is still remarkably sharp." Science

"In this first book of the second century of his long career, the biologist Ernst Mayr at age 100 has given us his reflections on the most interesting and important questions about life: why living things can't be understood just as very complex machines, how humans evolved, why we haven't yet communicated with any extraterrestrials, and others. Written with a clarity and vigor that shine from every page, this book is best summarized in one word: exciting!" Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography, UCLA, author of Guns, Germs and Steel (Pultizer Prize, 1998).

"Ernst Mayr has long had a deep and well-informed interest in the philosophy of biology in relation to broad questions in the philosophy of science. This is an invaluable, thought-provoking, and engaging summary of his ideas, a crowning achievement!" Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, author of Developmental Plasticity and Evolution (Hawkins Award, 2003).

" What Makes Biology Unique? offers newcomers an entertaining way to expand their horizons. We are lucky that someone who has experienced so much remains forever young in his thinking." American Scientist, Volume 93, David Sloan Wilson, Biology and Anthropology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York

Book Description

This new book, a collection of revised, collected, and some new essays written in time for his 100th birthday by the most eminent evolutionary biologist of the past century, explores biology as an autonomous science, offers insights on the history of evolutionary thought, critiques the contributions of philosophy to the science of biology, and comments on several of the major ongoing issues in evolutionary theory. Notably, Mayr explains that Darwin's theory of evolution is actually five separate theories, each with its own history, trajectory and impact.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521841143
• ISBN-13: 978-0521841146
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great overview, September 11, 2004

By 

Ben (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline (Hardcover)

This is a great overview of evolutionary thought and history. The chapters are some of his past works improved upon. He explains why there has been such trouble between evolutionists, and shows many mistaken ideas presented by Dawkins and Gould.

I would recommend this book so the reader might correct any incorrect information he might have picked up from someone not as knowledgeable about philosophy/Biology as Mayr. He clearly presents his ideas with better force than many authors of books on Biology. Perhaps you may also gain more respect for Biology apart from Chemistry and Physics.

I would also recommend his book, What Evolution Is, because he covers a lot of things in much more detail than in this newer book -- due to a broader overview in the current title.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Has Made Dr. Mayr Unique?, February 4, 2005

By 

Martin C. Michener (Hollis, nh USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline (Hardcover)

I was glad to receive this book for Christmas from my brother, and I read it in two days. The book does exactly what it sets out to do: explain the difficulties of applying the theory of evolution to daily tasks of the biologist: discerning between different species and different populations of the SAME species.

The fact that makes biology a unique discipline is this: there is not one, but TWO causalities one need consider: the normal statistical-chemical causality all empirical scientists deal with, and the running of a genetic program, established by millenia of evolutionary happenstances, which provides the "why" which many authors have wrongly considered to be anthropomorphism. To quote Dr. Mayr (p. 90): "However, organisms are subject also to a second set of causal factors, the information provided by their genetic program. There is no activity, movement, or behavior of an organism that is not influenced by the genetic program."
He goes on to clearly explain that understanding this genetic program has only recently been possible through the collaboration of genetics, cytology and molecular biology.
Dr. Mayr goes on to review and critique many recent writers on biology, and to point to exactly which parts of the unique study of bology they have misread, confused, or misunderstood. It is all excellent entertaining reading -- and quite astonishing for a man 100 years old. It is not too much to say that the world owes this amazing man an inclaculable debt for the wisdom and clarity of his studies spanning eight decades. We will miss him.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid, If Difficult to Read, Overview on the Scientific Uniqueness of Biology, December 13, 2006

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline (Hardcover)

Ernst Mayr will definitely be missed, having been one of the leading architects of the Modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution, the leading theoretical evolutionary biologist interested in understanding the processes behind speciation, and then, late in life, both a distinguished historian and philosopher of the science of biology. His final book, "What Makes Biology Unique? Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline", demonstrates convincingly why biology should be considered independent from the empirical experimental sciences of chemistry and physics; one of the several well-argued, quite innovative, and technical essays which were published elsewhere before being edited together in this essay collection. For Mayr, the main distinction between Biology and these other sciences is the fact that there is inherited genetic information which is passed from one generation to another within species, observing that such information can not be tested rigorously via an empircal experimental approach to science. He also compares and contrasts reductionist and analytic approaches to scientific research, observing that a reductionist approach often leads to inaccurate predictions. He also argues persuasively that "Darwinism" is actually composed of six different - though intricately related - evolutionary theories, observing how Darwin's ideas have had an immense impact on current scientific thought. Another of his essays is a comprehensive overview on the nature of the species problem and speciation; a task well suited to Mayr since he is still regarded by most evolutionary biologists as the foremost authority on the process of speciation. And he makes a very persuasive argument demonstrating why Biology does not adhere at all to Thomas Kuhn's theory on scientific revolutions. In this terse volume's concluding essays, Mayr does a fine job assessing the evolutionary history of human beings and offers a thoughtful, if unsympathetic critique on SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.). Although Mayr's arguments may seem a bit obtuse, and thus, difficult to read for someone unfamiliar with evolutionary biology, these splendid essays should be viewed as brilliant, though final, examples of both the keen intellect and elegant writer that Ernst Mayr was during his dual careers as a distinguished evolutionary biologist and a distinguished historian and philosopher of science.