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A pioneering proposal for a pluralistic extension of evolutionary theory, now updated to reflect the most recent research. This new edition of the widely read Evolution in Four Dimensions has been revised to reflect the spate of new discoveries in biology since the book was first published in 2005, offering corrections, an updated bibliography, and a substantial new chapter. Eva Jablonka and Marion Lamb's pioneering argument proposes that there is more to heredity than genes. They describe four “dimensions” in heredity—four inheritance systems that play a role in evolution: genetic, epigenetic (or non-DNA cellular transmission of traits), behavioral, and symbolic (transmission through ...
A new theory about the origins of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the evolutionary transition to basic consciousness. What marked the evolutionary transition from organisms that lacked consciousness to those with consciousness—to minimal subjective experiencing, or, as Aristotle described it, “the sensitive soul”? In this book, Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka propose a new theory about the origin of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the transition to basic consciousness. Using a methodology similar to that used by scientists when they identified the transition from non-life to life, Ginsburg and Jablonka suggest a set of criteria...
Does the inheritance of acquired characteristics play a significant role in evolution? In this book, Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb attempt to answer that question with an original, provocative exploration of the nature and origin of hereditary variations. Starting with a historical account of Lamarck's ideas and the reasons they have fallen in disrepute, the authors go on to challenge the prevailing assumption that all heritable variation is random and the result of variation in DNA base sequences. They also detail recent breakthroughs in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying inheritance--including several pathways not envisioned by classical population genetics--and arg...
A reappraisal of Lamarckism--its historical impact and contemporary significance.
In this volume scholars from diverse strands of research have contributed their perspectives on a process of mathematisation, which renders social, economical or political relationships increasingly formal. At the same time, mathematical skills lose their importance as they become replaced by diverse technological tools; a process of demathematisation takes place. The computerization of financial transactions, calculation of taxes and fees, comparison of prices as well as orientation by means of GPS, visualisation of complex data and electronic voting systems—all these mathematical technologies increasingly penetrate the lifestyle of consumers. What are the perils and promises of this deve...
Since its origin in the early 20th century, the Modern Synthesis theory of evolution has grown to become the orthodox view on the process of organic evolution. Its central defining feature is the prominence it accords to genes in the explanation of evolutionary dynamics. Since the advent of the 21st century, however, the Modern Synthesis has been subject to repeated and sustained challenges. These are largely empirically driven. In the last two decades, evolutionary biology has witnessed unprecedented growth in the understanding of those processes that underwrite the development of organisms and the inheritance of characters. The empirical advances usher in challenges to the conceptual found...
Ground-breaking yet non-technical analysis of the analogy that technological artefacts 'evolve' like biological organisms.
This book examines the toxicological and health implications of environmental epigenetics and provides knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach. Included in this volume are chapters outlining various environmental risk factors such as phthalates and dietary components, life states such as pregnancy and ageing, hormonal and metabolic considerations and specific disease risks such as cancer cardiovascular diseases and other non-communicable diseases. Environmental Epigenetics imparts integrative knowledge of the science of epigenetics and the issues raised in environmental epidemiology. This book is intended to serve both as a reference compendium on environmental epigenetics for scientists in academia, industry and laboratories and as a textbook for graduate level environmental health courses. Environmental Epigenetics imparts integrative knowledge of the science of epigenetics and the issues raised in environmental epidemiology. This book is intended to serve both as a reference compendium on environmental epigenetics for scientists in academia, industry and laboratories and as a textbook for graduate level environmental health courses.
In this book, the reader is invited to enter a strange world in which you can tell the age of the captain by counting the animals on his ship, where runners do not get tired, and where water gets hotter when you add it to other water. It is the world of a curious genre, known as "word problems" or "story problems". It originated in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, and India, and is the subject of daily rituals among students and teachers in mathematics classrooms all around the world. An international group of scholars with a shared interest in this phenomenon explore multiple aspects of this world from multiple perspectives. These discussions take us deep into philosophical issues of the relationships between words, mathematical systems, and the physical and social worlds we all inhabit. Empirical investigations are reported that throw light on how students and their teachers experience and interpret this activity, raising profound questions about the nature and purposes of mathematics teaching/learning in general and how it could be improved.
Broad perspective on collectivity in the life sciences, from microorganisms to human consensus, and the theoretical and empirical opportunities and challenges. Many researchers and scholars in the life sciences have become increasingly critical of the traditional methodological focus on the individual. This volume counters such methodological individualism by exploring recent and influential work in the life sciences that utilizes notions of collectivity, sociality, rich interactions, and emergent phenomena as essential explanatory tools to handle numerous persistent scientific questions in the life sciences. The contributors consider case studies of collectivity that range from microorganis...