Search Results

Eternal ephemera : adaptation and the origin of species, from the nineteenth century through punctuated equilibria and beyond

Author

Eldredge, Niles, author.

Title

Eternal ephemera : adaptation and the origin of species, from the nineteenth century through punctuated equilibria and beyond / Niles Eldredge.

Format

E-Book

Published

New York : Columbia University Press, [2015] ©2015

Description

1 online resource (xix, 376 pages) : illustrations, maps, portraits

URL

Access for [All campuses] - (Available on campus and off campus with authorized logon)

Portion of title

Adaptation and the origin of species, from the nineteenth century through punctuated equilibria and beyond

Notes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-366) and index.

Contents

• Introduction : approaching adaptation and the origin of species
• Part I. Birth of modern evolutionary theory. 1 The advent of the modern fauna : on the births and deaths of species, 1801-1831 ; 2. Darwin and the Beagle : experimenting with transmutation, 1831-1836 ; 3. Enter adaptation, and the conflict between isolation and gradual adaptive change, 1836-1859
• Part II. Rebellion and reinvention : the taxic perspective, 1935-. 4. Species and speciation reconsidered, 1935- ; 5. Punctuated equilibria : speciation and stasis in paleontology, 1968- ; 6. Speciation and adaptation : large-scale patterns in the evolution of life, 1972-.

Summary

One of evolution's fundamental questions is how the skein of life on Earth remains unbroken yet is constantly renewed by new species. What accounts for the scientific paradox that all organisms and species are ephemeral, and yet life endures, yielding more advanced players in nature's eternal play? In this riveting work, renowned scientist Niles Eldredge presents a magisterial account of leading thinkers as they wrestle with this paradox over a span of two hundred years. Eldredge begins in France with Jean Baptiste Lamarck, who in 1802 first framed the overarching question about new species.

Subject headings

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882. On the origin of species. Punctuated equilibrium (Evolution) Evolution (Biology)--Philosophy. Emergence (Philosophy) Darwin, Charles, -- 1809-1882. -- On the origin of species. Emergence (Philosophy). Evolution (Biology) -- Philosophy. Punctuated equilibrium (Evolution).

ISBN

9780231526753 electronic bk. 023152675X electronic bk. 9780231153164 0231153163