What Makes Biology Unique: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline.ERNST MAYR Ernst Walter Mayr (July 5, 1904, Kempten, Germany – February 3, 2005, Bedford, Massachusetts U.S.), was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist. AS his 100th birthday approaches, Mayr offers this "survey of controversial concepts" in biology and evolutionary thought. Some of these essay have been revised from earlier publications. Others are new. In all, one of the world's most accomplished evolutionary biologists critiques the field from several angles. One topic is whether the science of biology is philosophically autonomous from the physical sciences. Mayr also considers the nature of natural selection and problems in learning how species form. He reviews his disagreement with reductionism reductionism(rē·dukˑ·sh  ·niˑ·z . The author discusses Darwin's theory of evolution as five separate theories, each with its own history, development, and impact. For instance, the theory of natural selection is separate from the theories of common descent A group of organisms is said to have common descent if they have a common ancestor. In modern biology, it is generally accepted that all living organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral gene pool. and geographic speciation speciationFormation of new and distinct species, whereby a single evolutionary line splits into two or more genetically independent ones. One of the fundamental processes of evolution, speciation may occur in many ways. . Finally, Mayr considers the nature of scientific revolutions and details his ideas of how a "chimpanzee-like ancestor in the rain forest evolved into Homo sapiens Homo sapiens (Latin; “wise man”) Species to which all modern human beings belong. The oldest known fossil remains date to c. 120,000 years ago—or much earlier (c. ." CUP, 2004, 232 p., hardcover, $30.00. |
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