The Third Synthesis of Biology: Deep Structure Studies I

ISBN-13: 9781466442252 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 124 str.

Winpen Hann

Opis

Darwinian biology is actually two directions. One is the well-known modern synthesis, which has an enlarged and revised evolutionary model combining the new genetics. Another is derived from the modern synthesis by introducing intraspecific adaptation comparison to microphysiology, creatively explained intraspecies variations, and life-history variations (e.g., adjusted seed size, varied offspring, adjusted reproductive timing, diversified sizes of individuals, adjusted sex determination or sex ratio, altered shape or behavior, regulated life history, transformed organ structures, etc.). This new biology developed very rapidly and is having an intense impact on the whole of life science. This super-synthesis is the third after evolutionism and the modern synthesis. This book makes a systematic summary on the developments of new biology for recent forty years, and provides richful consulation for biologists to select and grasp the future mainstream of life science. Hann has been active in leading the charge toward a synthesis of evolutionary biology and functional biology. In this book, he presents the background leading up to this synthesis. Starting with interspecies comparative studies-from which modern evolutionary biology has been built-Hann illustrates the advantages offered by approaching these subjects via intraspecies studies. Various case studies are offered as an aid. The book is focused primarily around two themes: First, the extensive evidence that the intraspecific comparison system has brought to bear on both traditional functional biology and traditional evolutionary biology theories; second, the fault that lies between these two primary areas-functional emphasizes the quantifiable, evolutionary the qualitative. ... This central section deals with the motivation behind the aforementioned synthesis-a bridging of the fault, as it were. Neo-adaptationism attempts to bridge this fault and show how deep structure is at the root of all studies on adaptation. Hann finishes the book with an exploration of the work of Lorenz and his idea-which Hann terms "Lorenz's Conjecture"-that manages to realize a new understanding of biology via a reducible unified unit named "biological vitastate." An important addition to the study of evolutionary biology and its synthesis with functional biology, which will be of interest to many for the issues it raises and the new directions it offers. - Kirkus Indie Reviews More than 150 years after Charles Darwin wrote "On the Origin of Species," research into evolutionary biology has stagnated as molecular and cell biology, with its focus on recombinant DNA, has captured widespread attention. This new book, however, summarizes a new approach to evolutionary biology that may reinvigorate the field. This new method of research moves away from the gene-centered view of evolution to focus on the adaptive features of an organism's phenotype. It looks at adaptations within species, from seed size to offspring variation to reproductive timing to symbiotic gut micro-organisms. Now that the entire human genome has been sequenced, scientists have latched on to the fact that the same genes express themselves differently in different environments. This evolutionary biology textbook expands on this new insight to survey the diversity of physical adaptations within a species as an expression of that genetic diversity. This timely book captures the latest trends in the field at a time when evolutionary biology is coming to an important turning point. -From PRNewsChannel http: //www.prnewschannel.com/2012/03/08/scientist-surveys-cutting-edge-of-biology-in-new-textbook/

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