From Library Journal
$35. biology Mayr, one of the principal architects of the modern evolutionary synthesis, has been a protagonist and astute observer in evolutionary discussions for over 50 years. This series of essays is organized topically under such headings as natural selection, adaptation, Darwin and Darwinism, taxonomic diversity, speciation, macroevolution, and philosophy of science as it is affected by evolutionary thought. The book's organization is reminiscent of similar compilations by Stephen Jay Gould (e.g., The Flamingo's Smile , LJ 9/15/86), but most of these essays require more sophistication from the reader. The book is vintage Mayrshowing him, as ever, a cogent, critical, and remarkably well-read biologist, historian, and philosopher. For informed readers and scholars. Margery C. Coombs, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Los Angeles Times : It is a pleasure to be in the company of a mind so vibrant and still exploring the boundary between the circle of what is known and the vast expanse of what isn't.
--Lee Dembart
Nature : Mayr's power to discern biological connections and also to identify the telling example should excite unqualified admiration...
Toward a New Philosophy of Biology is a book to be developed, to be argued with, a book whose margins should be filled with exciting scribblings.
--Philip Kitcher
New Scientist : Mayr is the greatest living commentator on biology; and if biology is what you do, as a researcher, teacher, writer, or as amateur, then this is a book you should own.
--Colin Tudge
Bloomsbury Review : Ernst Mayr is one of a handful of the greatest scientific minds humankind has yet produced...This beautifully presented collection of twenty-eight articles and essays, elegantly introduced and filled with important neologisms all contributing to clarity, is so close to competing with Darwin's
Origin of Species that I would not be surprised if history were to judge that Evolutionism in our century also has a Prophet...In short, this is one great classic.
--Dick Duman
BioScience : Never too far below the surface of Mayr the philosopher or historian lies Mayr the combative scientific streetfighter. It is in this capacity that he has been most creative, informative, and downright entertaining throughout his career; and this book is no exception...If you are at all interested in evolution--as a historian, a philosopher, or, above all, as a practicing biologist--you really should read this book.
--Niles Eldredge
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