Modularity in Development and Evolution

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226738558
Total Pages : 610 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Modularity in Development and Evolution by : Gerhard Schlosser

Download or read book Modularity in Development and Evolution written by Gerhard Schlosser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2004-07 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modularity in Development and Evolution offers the first sustained exploration of modules from developmental and evolutionary perspectives. Contributors discuss what modularity is, how it can be identified and modeled, how it originated and evolved, and its biological significance. Covering modules at levels ranging from genes to colonies, the book focuses on their roles not just in structures but also in processes such as gene regulation. Among many exciting findings, the contributors demonstrate how modules can highlight key constraints on evolutionary processes. A timely synthesis of a crucial topic, Modularity in Development and Evolution shows the invaluable insights modules can give into both developmental complexities and their evolutionary origins.

Modularity in Development and Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226738536
Total Pages : 614 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (385 download)

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Book Synopsis Modularity in Development and Evolution by : Gerhard Schlosser

Download or read book Modularity in Development and Evolution written by Gerhard Schlosser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2004-07 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modularity in Development and Evolution offers the first sustained exploration of modules from developmental and evolutionary perspectives. Contributors discuss what modularity is, how it can be identified and modeled, how it originated and evolved, and its biological significance. Covering modules at levels ranging from genes to colonies, the book focuses on their roles not just in structures but also in processes such as gene regulation. Among many exciting findings, the contributors demonstrate how modules can highlight key constraints on evolutionary processes. A timely synthesis of a crucial topic, Modularity in Development and Evolution shows the invaluable insights modules can give into both developmental complexities and their evolutionary origins.

Modularity

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262033268
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (332 download)

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Book Synopsis Modularity by : Werner Callebaut

Download or read book Modularity written by Werner Callebaut and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modularity—the attempt to understand systems as integrations of partially independent and interacting units—is today a dominant theme in the life sciences, cognitive science, and computer science. The concept goes back at least implicitly to the Scientific (or Copernican) Revolution, and can be found behind later theories of phrenology, physiology, and genetics; moreover, art, engineering, and mathematics rely on modular design principles. This collection broadens the scientific discussion of modularity by bringing together experts from a variety of disciplines, including artificial life, cognitive science, economics, evolutionary computation, developmental and evolutionary biology, linguistics, mathematics, morphology, paleontology, physics, theoretical chemistry, philosophy, and the arts. The contributors debate and compare the uses of modularity, discussing the different disciplinary contexts of "modular thinking" in general (including hierarchical organization, near-decomposability, quasi-independence, and recursion) or of more specialized concepts (including character complex, gene family, encapsulation, and mosaic evolution); what modules are, why and how they develop and evolve, and the implication for the research agenda in the disciplines involved; and how to bring about useful cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer on the topic. The book includes a foreword by the late Herbert A. Simon addressing the role of near-decomposability in understanding complex systems. Contributors: Lee Altenberg, Lauren W. Ancel-Meyers, Carl Anderson, Robert B. Brandon, Angela D. Buscalioni, Raffaele Calabretta, Werner Callebaut, Anne De Joan, Rafael Delgado-Buscalioni, Gunther J. Eble, Walter Fontana, Fernand Gobet, Alicia de la Iglesia, Slavik V. Jablan, Luigi Marengo, Daniel W. McShea, Jason Mezey, D. Kimbrough Oller, Domenico Parisi, Corrado Pasquali, Diego Rasskin-Gutman, Gerhard Schlosser, Herbert A. Simon, Roger D. K. Thomas, Marco Valente, Boris M. Velichkovsky, Gunter P. Wagner, Rasmus G. Winter Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology

Morphological Integration

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226629056
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Morphological Integration by : Everett C. Olson

Download or read book Morphological Integration written by Everett C. Olson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1999-10 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite recent advances in genetics, development, anatomy, systematics, and morphometrics, the synthesis of ideas and research agenda put forth in the classic Morphological Integration remains remarkably fresh, timely, and relevant. Pioneers in reexamining morphology, Everett Olson and Robert Miller were among the first to explore the concept of the integrated organism in both living and extinct populations. In a new foreword and afterword, biologists Barry Chernoff and Paul Magwene summarize the landmark achievements made by Olson and Miller and bring matters discussed in the book up to date, suggest new methods, and accentuate the importance of continued research in morphological integration. Everett C. Olson was a professor at the University of Chicago and at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a former president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Robert L. Miller was associate professor of geology at the University of Chicago, associate scientist in marine geology at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and a member of the board of editors of the Journal of Geology.

The Epistemology of Development, Evolution, and Genetics

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Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521545280
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (452 download)

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Book Synopsis The Epistemology of Development, Evolution, and Genetics by : Richard Burian

Download or read book The Epistemology of Development, Evolution, and Genetics written by Richard Burian and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays examine the developments in three fundamental biological disciplines--embryology, evolutionary biology, and genetics. These disciplines were in conflict for much of the 20th century and the essays in this collection examine key methodological problems within these disciplines and the difficulties faced in overcoming the conflicts between them. Burian skillfully weaves together historical appreciation of the settings within which scientists work, substantial knowledge of the biological problems at stake and the methodological and philosophical issues faced in integrating biological knowledge drawn from disparate sources.

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198028563
Total Pages : 815 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Developmental Plasticity and Evolution by : Mary Jane West-Eberhard

Download or read book Developmental Plasticity and Evolution written by Mary Jane West-Eberhard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-03-13 with total page 815 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive synthesis on development and evolution: it applies to all aspects of development, at all levels of organization and in all organisms, taking advantage of modern findings on behavior, genetics, endocrinology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory and phylogenetics to show the connections between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary change. This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by "regulatory genes," but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.

Old Questions and Young Approaches to Animal Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030182029
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis Old Questions and Young Approaches to Animal Evolution by : José M. Martín-Durán

Download or read book Old Questions and Young Approaches to Animal Evolution written by José M. Martín-Durán and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-22 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animal evolution has always been at the core of Biology, but even today many fundamental questions remain open. The field of animal ‘evo-devo’ is leveraging recent technical and conceptual advances in development, paleontology, genomics and transcriptomics to propose radically different answers to traditional evolutionary controversies. This book is divided into four parts, each of which approaches animal evolution from a different perspective. The first part (chapters 2 and 3) investigates how new sources of evidence have changed conventional views of animal origins, while the second (chapters 4–8) addresses the connection between embryogenesis and evolution, and the genesis of cellular, tissue and morphological diversity. The third part (chapters 9 and 10) investigates how big data in molecular biology is transforming our understanding of the mechanisms governing morphological change in animals. In closing, the fourth part (chapters 11–13) explores new theoretical and conceptual approaches to animal evolution. ‘Old questions and young approaches to animal evolution’ offers a comprehensive and updated view of animal evolutionary biology that will serve both as a first step into this fascinating field for students and university educators, and as a review of complementary approaches for researchers.

Keywords and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674022409
Total Pages : 506 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (224 download)

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Book Synopsis Keywords and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology by : Brian K. Hall

Download or read book Keywords and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology written by Brian K. Hall and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006-09 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering more than 50 central terms and concepts in entries written by leading experts, this book offers an overview of this new subdiscipline of biology, providing the core insights and ideas that show how embryonic development relates to life-history evolution, adaptation, and responses to and integration with environmental factors.

Phenotypic Integration

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195160436
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis Phenotypic Integration by : Massimo Pigliucci

Download or read book Phenotypic Integration written by Massimo Pigliucci and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2004 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The interface of evolution and development has attracted the attention of evolutionary and developmental biologists, geneticists, and organismal biologists. Pigliucci (ecology, evolutionary biology, University of Tennessee) and Preston (botany, Standford University) bring together work by experts in the field of phenotype integration, shedding ligh.

The Shape of Life

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022625657X
Total Pages : 545 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (262 download)

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Book Synopsis The Shape of Life by : Rudolf A. Raff

Download or read book The Shape of Life written by Rudolf A. Raff and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-12-14 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Raff is recognized as a pioneer in evolutionary developmental biology. In their 1983 book, Embryos, Genes, and Evolution, Raff and co-author Thomas Kaufman proposed a synthesis of developmental and evolutionary biology. In The Shape of Life, Raff analyzes the rise of this new experimental discipline and lays out new research questions, hypotheses, and approaches to guide its development. Raff uses the evolution of animal body plans to exemplify the interplay between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary patterns. Animal body plans emerged half a billion years ago. Evolution within these body plans during this span of time has resulted in the tremendous diversity of living animal forms. Raff argues for an integrated approach to the study of the intertwined roles of development and evolution involving phylogenetic, comparative, and functional biology. This new synthesis will interest not only scientists working in these areas, but also paleontologists, zoologists, morphologists, molecular biologists, and geneticists.

Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470047216
Total Pages : 720 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory by : Alan R. Templeton

Download or read book Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory written by Alan R. Templeton and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2006-09-29 with total page 720 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The advances made possible by the development of molecular techniques have in recent years revolutionized quantitative genetics and its relevance for population genetics. Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory takes a modern approach to population genetics, incorporating modern molecular biology, species-level evolutionary biology, and a thorough acknowledgment of quantitative genetics as the theoretical basis for population genetics. Logically organized into three main sections on population structure and history, genotype-phenotype interactions, and selection/adaptation Extensive use of real examples to illustrate concepts Written in a clear and accessible manner and devoid of complex mathematical equations Includes the author's introduction to background material as well as a conclusion for a handy overview of the field and its modern applications Each chapter ends with a set of review questions and answers Offers helpful general references and Internet links

Evolutionary Systems Biology

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1461435676
Total Pages : 459 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (614 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Systems Biology by : Orkun S. Soyer

Download or read book Evolutionary Systems Biology written by Orkun S. Soyer and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-07-23 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book aims to introduce the reader to the emerging field of Evolutionary Systems Biology, which approaches classical systems biology questions within an evolutionary framework. An evolutionary approach might allow understanding the significance of observed diversity, uncover “evolutionary design principles” and extend predictions made in model organisms to others. In addition, evolutionary systems biology can generate new insights into the adaptive landscape by combining molecular systems biology models and evolutionary simulations. This insight can enable the development of more detailed mechanistic evolutionary hypotheses.

Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400849381
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems by : Andreas Wagner

Download or read book Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems written by Andreas Wagner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All living things are remarkably complex, yet their DNA is unstable, undergoing countless random mutations over generations. Despite this instability, most animals do not grow two heads or die, plants continue to thrive, and bacteria continue to divide. Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems tackles this perplexing paradox. The book explores why genetic changes do not cause organisms to fail catastrophically and how evolution shapes organisms' robustness. Andreas Wagner looks at this problem from the ground up, starting with the alphabet of DNA, the genetic code, RNA, and protein molecules, moving on to genetic networks and embryonic development, and working his way up to whole organisms. He then develops an evolutionary explanation for robustness. Wagner shows how evolution by natural selection preferentially finds and favors robust solutions to the problems organisms face in surviving and reproducing. Such robustness, he argues, also enhances the potential for future evolutionary innovation. Wagner also argues that robustness has less to do with organisms having plenty of spare parts (the redundancy theory that has been popular) and more to do with the reality that mutations can change organisms in ways that do not substantively affect their fitness. Unparalleled in its field, this book offers the most detailed analysis available of all facets of robustness within organisms. It will appeal not only to biologists but also to engineers interested in the design of robust systems and to social scientists concerned with robustness in human communities and populations.

The Evolution of Adaptive Systems

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0080542468
Total Pages : 657 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Adaptive Systems by : James Patrick Brock

Download or read book The Evolution of Adaptive Systems written by James Patrick Brock and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2000-07-12 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The data of evolutionary biology have changed in a very radical way in recent years, the most significant input to this revolution being the advances made in developmental genetics. Another recent development is a noticeable shift away from extreme specialization in evolutionary biology. In this, we are perhaps to be reminded of George Gaylord Simpson's comments: "evolution is an incredibly complex but at the same time integrated and unitary process." The main objective of this book is to illustrate how natural adaptive systems evolve as a unity--with the particular objective of identifying and merging several special theories of evolution within the framework of a single general theory. The Evolution of Adaptive Systems provides an interdisciplinary overview of the general theory of evolution from the standpoint of the dynamic behavior of natural adaptive systems. The approach leads to a radically new fusion of the diverse disciplines of evolutionary biology, serving to resolve the considerable degree of conflict existing between different schools of contemporary thought. The book is a timely volume written by a natural historian with a broad view of biology The author draws examples from a large range of organisms from many different habitats and niches where interesting adaptations have evolved Probes deeply into mechanisms of evolution such as developmental genetics, morphogenesis, chromosome structure, and cladogenesis Clear definition of terms, with illustrations visualizing the main theoretical structures, and point-by-point summaries clearly stating the principal conclusions

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199880735
Total Pages : 815 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis Developmental Plasticity and Evolution by : Mary Jane West-Eberhard

Download or read book Developmental Plasticity and Evolution written by Mary Jane West-Eberhard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-03-13 with total page 815 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive synthesis on development and evolution: it applies to all aspects of development, at all levels of organization and in all organisms, taking advantage of modern findings on behavior, genetics, endocrinology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory and phylogenetics to show the connections between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary change. This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by "regulatory genes," but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.

The Plausibility of Life

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Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300128673
Total Pages : 330 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis The Plausibility of Life by : Marc W. Kirschner

Download or read book The Plausibility of Life written by Marc W. Kirschner and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2005-10-19 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two biologists tackle the unresolved question in the field of evolution: how have living organisms on Earth developed with such variety and complexity? In the 150 years since Darwin, the field of evolutionary biology has left a glaring gap in understanding how animals developed their astounding variety and complexity. The standard answer has been that small genetic mutations accumulate over time to produce wondrous innovations such as eyes and wings. Drawing on cutting-edge research across the spectrum of modern biology, Marc Kirschner and John Gerhart demonstrate how this stock answer is woefully inadequate. Rather they offer an original solution to the longstanding puzzle of how small random genetic change can be converted into complex, useful innovations. In a new theory they call “facilitated variation,” Kirschner and Gerhart elevate the individual organism from a passive target of natural selection to a central player in the 3-billion-year history of evolution. In clear, accessible language, the authors invite every reader to contemplate daring new ideas about evolution. By closing the major gap in Darwin’s theory Kirschner and Gerhart also provide a timely scientific rebuttal to modern critics of evolution who champion “intelligent design.” “Makes for informative and enjoyable reading, and the issues the authors raise are worthy of attention.”—American Scientist “Thought-provoking and lucidly written…The Plausibility of Life will help readers understand not just the plausibility of evolution, but its remarkable, inventive powers.”—Sean Carroll, author of Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo

Beyond Modularity

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262611145
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (111 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond Modularity by : Annette Karmiloff-Smith

Download or read book Beyond Modularity written by Annette Karmiloff-Smith and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1995-09-25 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking a stand midway between Piaget's constructivism and Fodor's nativism, Annette Karmiloff-Smith offers an exciting new theory of developmental change that embraces both approaches. She shows how each can enrich the other and how both are necessary to a fundamental theory of human cognition. Karmiloff-Smith shifts the focus from what cognitive science can offer the study of development to what a developmental perspective can offer cognitive science. In Beyond Modularity she treats cognitive development as a serious theoretical tool, presenting a coherent portrait of the flexibility and creativity of the human mind as it develops from infancy to middle childhood. Language, physics, mathematics, commonsense psychology, drawing, and writing are explored in terms of the relationship between the innate capacities of the human mind and subsequent representational change which allows for such flexibility and creativity. Karmiloff-Smith also takes up the issue of the extent to which development involves domain-specific versus domain-general processes. She concludes with discussions of nativism and domain specificity in relation to Piagetian theory and connectionism, and shows how a developmental perspective can pinpoint what is missing from connectionist models of the mind.