Evolution and the Levels of Selection

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Publisher : Clarendon Press
ISBN 13 : 0191533211
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution and the Levels of Selection by : Samir Okasha

Download or read book Evolution and the Levels of Selection written by Samir Okasha and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 2006-11-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does natural selection act primarily on individual organisms, on groups, on genes, or on whole species? Samir Okasha provides a comprehensive analysis of the debate in evolutionary biology over the levels of selection, focusing on conceptual, philosophical and foundational questions. A systematic framework is developed for thinking about natural selection acting at multiple levels of the biological hierarchy; the framework is then used to help resolve outstanding issues. Considerable attention is paid to the concept of causality as it relates to the levels of selection, in particular the idea that natural selection at one hierarchical level can have effects that 'filter' up or down to other levels. Unlike previous work in this area by philosophers of science, full account is taken of the recent biological literature on 'major evolutionary transitions' and the recent resurgence of interest in multi-level selection theory among biologists. Other biological topics discussed include Price's equation, kin and group selection, the gene's eye view, evolutionary game theory, outlaws and selfish genetic elements, species and clade selection, and the evolution of individuality. Philosophical topics discussed include reductionism and holism, causation and correlation, the nature of hierarchical organization, and realism and pluralism.

The Selfish Gene

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 9780192860927
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (69 download)

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Book Synopsis The Selfish Gene by : Richard Dawkins

Download or read book The Selfish Gene written by Richard Dawkins and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1989 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science need not be dull and bogged down by jargon, as Richard Dawkins proves in this entertaining look at evolution. The themes he takes up are the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour; the genetical definition of selfish interest; the evolution of aggressive behaviour; kinshiptheory; sex ratio theory; reciprocal altruism; deceit; and the natural selection of sex differences. 'Should be read, can be read by almost anyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution.' W.D. Hamilton, Science

Units of Selection

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1009276433
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis Units of Selection by : Javier Suárez

Download or read book Units of Selection written by Javier Suárez and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-09-30 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Unit of selection' is a polysemic expression, meaning interactor, replicator/reproducer or manifestor of adaptation/type-1 agent in today's biological research. This Element presents each of these concepts and demonstrates the necessity of their isolation.

Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection

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Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191609552
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection by : Peter Godfrey-Smith

Download or read book Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection written by Peter Godfrey-Smith and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1859 Darwin described a deceptively simple mechanism that he called "natural selection," a combination of variation, inheritance, and reproductive success. He argued that this mechanism was the key to explaining the most puzzling features of the natural world, and science and philosophy were changed forever as a result. The exact nature of the Darwinian process has been controversial ever since, however. Godfrey-Smith draws on new developments in biology, philosophy of science, and other fields to give a new analysis and extension of Darwin's idea. The central concept used is that of a "Darwinian population," a collection of things with the capacity to undergo change by natural selection. From this starting point, new analyses of the role of genes in evolution, the application of Darwinian ideas to cultural change, and "evolutionary transitions" that produce complex organisms and societies are developed. Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection will be essential reading for anyone interested in evolutionary theory

Levels of Selection in Evolution

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691007045
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Levels of Selection in Evolution by : Laurent Keller

Download or read book Levels of Selection in Evolution written by Laurent Keller and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1999-10-24 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolutionary biologists have recognised that natural selection operates for the good of lower-level units (the individual, the cell, even the gene) rather than the good of the group. In this volume, 12 scientists discuss why this should be the case.

The Extended Phenotype

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198788916
Total Pages : 486 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

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Book Synopsis The Extended Phenotype by : Richard Dawkins

Download or read book The Extended Phenotype written by Richard Dawkins and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins crystallized the gene's eye view of evolution developed by W.D. Hamilton and others. The book provoked widespread and heated debate. Written in part as a response, The Extended Phenotype gave a deeper clarification of the central concept of the gene as the unit of selection; but it did much more besides. In it, Dawkins extended the gene's eye view to argue that the genes that sit within an organism have an influence that reaches out beyond the visible traits in that body - the phenotype - to the wider environment, which can include other individuals. So, for instance, the genes of the beaver drive it to gather twigs to produce the substantial physical structure of a dam; and the genes of the cuckoo chick produce effects that manipulate the behaviour of the host bird, making it nurture the intruder as one of its own. This notion of the extended phenotype has proved to be highly influential in the way we understand evolution and the natural world. It represents a key scientific contribution to evolutionary biology, and it continues to play an important role in research in the life sciences. The Extended Phenotype is a conceptually deep book that forms important reading for biologists and students. But Dawkins' clear exposition is accessible to all who are prepared to put in a little effort. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.

The Major Transitions in Evolution

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019850294X
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis The Major Transitions in Evolution by : John Maynard Smith

Download or read book The Major Transitions in Evolution written by John Maynard Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1997-10-30 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies. This is the first book to discuss all these major transitions and their implications for our understanding of evolution.Clearly written and illustrated with many original diagrams, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.

Resource Selection by Animals

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 0306481510
Total Pages : 222 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (64 download)

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Book Synopsis Resource Selection by Animals by : B.F. Manly

Download or read book Resource Selection by Animals written by B.F. Manly and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-05-08 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We have written this book as a guide to the design and analysis of field studies of resource selection, concentrating primarily on statistical aspects of the comparison of the use and availability of resources of different types. Our intended audience is field ecologists in general and, in particular, wildlife and fisheries biologists who are attempting to measure the extent to which real animal populations are selective in their choice of food and habitat. As such, we have made no attempt to address those aspects of theoretical ecology that are concerned with how animals might choose their resources if they acted in an optimal manner. The book is based on the concept of a resource selection function (RSF), where this is a function of characteristics measured on resourceunits such that its value for a unit is proportional to the probability of that unit being used. We argue that this concept leads to a unified theory for the analysis and interpretation of data on resource selection and can replace many ad hoc statistical methods that have been used in the past.

The Evolution of Cooperation

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Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 0786734884
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (867 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Cooperation by : Robert Axelrod

Download or read book The Evolution of Cooperation written by Robert Axelrod and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2009-04-29 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A famed political scientist's classic argument for a more cooperative world We assume that, in a world ruled by natural selection, selfishness pays. So why cooperate? In The Evolution of Cooperation, political scientist Robert Axelrod seeks to answer this question. In 1980, he organized the famed Computer Prisoners Dilemma Tournament, which sought to find the optimal strategy for survival in a particular game. Over and over, the simplest strategy, a cooperative program called Tit for Tat, shut out the competition. In other words, cooperation, not unfettered competition, turns out to be our best chance for survival. A vital book for leaders and decision makers, The Evolution of Cooperation reveals how cooperative principles help us think better about everything from military strategy, to political elections, to family dynamics.

Facts, Conventions, and the Levels of Selection

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108889360
Total Pages : 100 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Facts, Conventions, and the Levels of Selection by : Pierrick Bourrat

Download or read book Facts, Conventions, and the Levels of Selection written by Pierrick Bourrat and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-23 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debates concerning the units and levels of selection have persisted for over fifty years. One major question in this literature is whether units and levels of selection are genuine, in the sense that they are objective features of the world, or merely reflect the interests and goals of an observer. Scientists and philosophers have proposed a range of answers to this question. This Element introduces this literature and proposes a novel contribution. It defends a realist stance and offers a way of delineating genuine levels of selection by invoking the notion of a functional unit.

Biological Individuality

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022644659X
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis Biological Individuality by : Scott Lidgard

Download or read book Biological Individuality written by Scott Lidgard and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-05-24 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Individuals are things that everybody knows—or thinks they do. Yet even scholars who practice or analyze the biological sciences often cannot agree on what an individual is and why. One reason for this disagreement is that the many important biological individuality concepts serve very different purposes—defining, classifying, or explaining living structure, function, interaction, persistence, or evolution. Indeed, as the contributors to Biological Individuality reveal, nature is too messy for simple definitions of this concept, organisms too quirky in the diverse ways they reproduce, function, and interact, and human ideas about individuality too fraught with philosophical and historical meaning. Bringing together biologists, historians, and philosophers, this book provides a multifaceted exploration of biological individuality that identifies leading and less familiar perceptions of individuality both past and present, what they are good for, and in what contexts. Biological practice and theory recognize individuals at myriad levels of organization, from genes to organisms to symbiotic systems. We depend on these notions of individuality to address theoretical questions about multilevel natural selection and Darwinian fitness; to illuminate empirical questions about development, function, and ecology; to ground philosophical questions about the nature of organisms and causation; and to probe historical and cultural circumstances that resonate with parallel questions about the nature of society. Charting an interdisciplinary research agenda that broadens the frameworks in which biological individuality is discussed, this book makes clear that in the realm of the individual, there is not and should not be a direct path from biological paradigms based on model organisms through to philosophical generalization and historical reification.

Model Selection and Multimodel Inference

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 0387224564
Total Pages : 488 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (872 download)

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Book Synopsis Model Selection and Multimodel Inference by : Kenneth P. Burnham

Download or read book Model Selection and Multimodel Inference written by Kenneth P. Burnham and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-05-28 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique and comprehensive text on the philosophy of model-based data analysis and strategy for the analysis of empirical data. The book introduces information theoretic approaches and focuses critical attention on a priori modeling and the selection of a good approximating model that best represents the inference supported by the data. It contains several new approaches to estimating model selection uncertainty and incorporating selection uncertainty into estimates of precision. An array of examples is given to illustrate various technical issues. The text has been written for biologists and statisticians using models for making inferences from empirical data.

Genes, Organisms, Populations

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Publisher : Bradford Books
ISBN 13 : 9780262521154
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (211 download)

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Book Synopsis Genes, Organisms, Populations by : Robert N. Brandon

Download or read book Genes, Organisms, Populations written by Robert N. Brandon and published by Bradford Books. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology collects some of the most important papers on what is believed to bethe major force in evolution, natural selection. An issue of great consequence in the philosophy ofbiology concerns the levels at which, and the units upon which selection acts. In recent years,biologists and philosophers have published a large number of papers bearing on this subject. Thepapers selected for inclusion in this book are divided into three main sections covering the historyof the subject, explaining its conceptual foundations, and focusing on kin and group selection andhigher levels of selection.One of the book's interesting features is that it draws together materialfrom the biological and philosophical literatures. The philosophical literature, having thoroughlyabsorbed the biological material, now offers conceptual tools suitable for the reworking of thebiological arguments. Although a full symbiosis has yet to develop, this anthology offers a uniqueresource for students in both biology and philosophy.Robert N. Brandon is Professor in thePhilosophy Department, Duke University. Richard M. Burian is Professor of Philosophy and DepartmentChairman, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.A Bradford Book.

Concepts of Biology

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789888407453
Total Pages : 618 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Concepts of Biology by : Samantha Fowler

Download or read book Concepts of Biology written by Samantha Fowler and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-07 with total page 618 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concepts of Biology is designed for the single-semester introduction to biology course for non-science majors, which for many students is their only college-level science course. As such, this course represents an important opportunity for students to develop the necessary knowledge, tools, and skills to make informed decisions as they continue with their lives. Rather than being mired down with facts and vocabulary, the typical non-science major student needs information presented in a way that is easy to read and understand. Even more importantly, the content should be meaningful. Students do much better when they understand why biology is relevant to their everyday lives. For these reasons, Concepts of Biology is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand.We also strive to show the interconnectedness of topics within this extremely broad discipline. In order to meet the needs of today's instructors and students, we maintain the overall organization and coverage found in most syllabi for this course. A strength of Concepts of Biology is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Concepts of Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand--and apply--key concepts.

The Units of Evolution

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262050449
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (54 download)

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Book Synopsis The Units of Evolution by : Marc Ereshefsky

Download or read book The Units of Evolution written by Marc Ereshefsky and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fundamentals series introduces students to the principles of the law by way of clear text combined with visual aids, tools and diagrams to enable an easy understanding of the subject without sacrificing the detail that is required for proper comprehension. Each title assumes no level of prior knowledge, allowing the book to be used for those new to the subject and for distance learning. Criminal Law - The Fundamentals includes full coverage of all topics likely to be studied on Criminal Law courses and it includes summaries of the key Law Commission's proposals for reform where relevant.

Adaptation and Natural Selection

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691185506
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Adaptation and Natural Selection by : George Christopher Williams

Download or read book Adaptation and Natural Selection written by George Christopher Williams and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological evolution is a fact—but the many conflicting theories of evolution remain controversial even today. When Adaptation and Natural Selection was first published in 1966, it struck a powerful blow against those who argued for the concept of group selection—the idea that evolution acts to select entire species rather than individuals. Williams’s famous work in favor of simple Darwinism over group selection has become a classic of science literature, valued for its thorough and convincing argument and its relevance to many fields outside of biology. Now with a new foreword by Richard Dawkins, Adaptation and Natural Selection is an essential text for understanding the nature of scientific debate.

Evolution Without Selection

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Publisher : Elsevier Publishing Company
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 408 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (318 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution Without Selection by : A. Lima-de-Faria

Download or read book Evolution Without Selection written by A. Lima-de-Faria and published by Elsevier Publishing Company. This book was released on 1988 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The interpretation of evolution is in a state of upheaval: the rapid advancement of Molecular Biology has led into question many of the tenets of Darwinism and neo-Darwinism which, although valuable approaches at the time they were formulated, never fulfilled the criteria demanded by real scientific theories. In this lucidly written new book, now available in paperback, the author presents and discusses the rapid developments in particle physics, crystallography and molecular biology, and formulates a radically different approach to biological evolution. This treatise is not offered as one more new theory but a radically different approach. In the author's opinion, no real theory of evolution can be formulated at present. Selection is not the mechanism of evolution for the simple reason that it cannot be weighed on a balance, poured into a vial, or measured in specific units. Only a material component can be the mechanism of evolution, and this must be searched for in the strict physico-chemical processes.