The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic

Author:   Charles H. Pence (Chargé de cours, Institut supérieur de philosophie, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)
Publisher:   Elsevier Science & Technology
ISBN:  

9780323912914


Pages:   190
Publication Date:   26 November 2021
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic


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Author:   Charles H. Pence (Chargé de cours, Institut supérieur de philosophie, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)
Publisher:   Elsevier Science & Technology
Imprint:   Academic Press Inc
Weight:   0.410kg
ISBN:  

9780323912914


ISBN 10:   0323912915
Pages:   190
Publication Date:   26 November 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

1. Chance governs the descent of a farthing: Charles Darwin 2. The wonderful form of cosmic order: Francis Galton 3. The only ultimate test of the theory of natural selection: The Early Years of Biometry 4. Here is the true gospel: Biometry After Mendelism 5. Reconciling the biometrical conclusions: Evolution from 1906 to 1918 6. What natural selection must be doing: R. A. Fisher’s Early Synthesis 7. Conclusions, historiographical and philosophical Index

Reviews

"""…Charles Pence’s excellent new book provides a rich and detailed history that carefully inspects the traditional account of biometrics, plotting the emergence of statistical thinking in evolutionary theory. The author argues that Darwin informally made room for chance by conceptualizing natural selection not as a law but as a tendency, but a tendency that constrained sources of chance that might otherwise affect evolutionary outcomes. For Pence there is a tension here, which prevented a full commitment to a probabilistic theory, due to the deterministic philosophies of science in which Darwin was schooled. Nonetheless, Darwin created"" --The Quarterly Review of Biology"


...Charles Pence's excellent new book provides a rich and detailed history that carefully inspects the traditional account of biometrics, plotting the emergence of statistical thinking in evolutionary theory. The author argues that Darwin informally made room for chance by conceptualizing natural selection not as a law but as a tendency, but a tendency that constrained sources of chance that might otherwise affect evolutionary outcomes. For Pence there is a tension here, which prevented a full commitment to a probabilistic theory, due to the deterministic philosophies of science in which Darwin was schooled. Nonetheless, Darwin created --The Quarterly Review of Biology


Author Information

Charles H. Pence is Chargé de cours (Assistant Professor) at the Institut supérieur de philosophie, and director of the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society (CEFISES) at the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Previously, he was Assistant Professor and Director of the LSU Ethics Institute at Louisiana State University. He is the author of 2 books and over 20 articles and book chapters on the philosophy and history of evolutionary theory. His work centers on the integrated philosophy and history of biology, with a particular focus on the introduction and contemporary use of concepts of chance and methods of statistics in evolutionary theory.

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