From Embryology to Evo-Devo

by Laubichler, Manfred Dietrich; Maienschein, Jane

• ISBN13: 9780262513340
• ISBN10: 026251334X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-30
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2007. Although we now know that ontogeny (individual development) does not actually recapitulate phylogeny (evolutionary transformation), contrary to Ernst Haeckel's famous dictum, the relationship between embryological development and evolution remains the subject of intense scientific interest. In the 1990s a new field, evolutionary developmental biology (or Evo-Devo), was hailed as the synthesis of developmental and evolutionary biology. In From Embryology to Evo-Devo,historians, philosophers, sociologists, and biologists offer diverse perspectives on the history of efforts to understand the links between development and evolution. After examining events in the history of early twentieth-century embryology and developmental genetics-including the fate of Haeckel's law and its various reformulations, the ideas of William Bateson, and Richard Goldschmidt's idiosyncratic synthesis of ontogeny and phylogeny-the contributors explore additional topics ranging from the history of comparative embryology in America to a philosophical-historical analysis of different research styles. Finally, three major figures in theoretical biology-Brian Hall, Gerd Muller, and Gunter Wagner-reflect on the past and future of Evo-Devo, particularly on the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The sum is an exciting interdisciplinary exploration of developmental evolution. Contributors: Garland Allen, Fred Churchill, Elihu Gerson, Scott Gilbert, James Griesemer, Brian K. Hall, Manfred D. Laubichler, Alan C. Love, Jane Maienschein, Gerd B. Muller, Stuart A. Newman, Marsha L. Richmond, Gunter P. Wagner, William C. Wimsatt, and John Wourms Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Does History Recapitulate Itself?	p. 13
Epistemological Reflections on the Origins of Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Ontogeny and Phylogeny in Early Twentieth-Century Biology	p. 35
Living with the Biogenetic Law	p. 37
A Reappraisal
William Bateson's Physicalist Ideas	p. 83
To Evo-Devo Through Cells, Embryos, and Morphogenesis	p. 109
A Century of Evo-Devo	p. 123
The Dialectics of Analysis and Synthesis in Twentieth-Century Life Science
The Cell as the Basis for Heredity, Development, and Evolution	p. 169
Richard Goldschmidt's Program of Physiological Genetics
Roots and Problems of Evolutionary Developmental Biology	p. 213
The Relations Between Comparative Embryology, Morphology, and Systematics	p. 215
An American Perspective
Morphological and Paleontological Perspectives for a History of Evo-Devo	p. 267
Echoes of Haeckel?	p. 309
Reentrenching Development in Evolution
Fate Maps, Gene Expression Maps, and the Evidentiary Structure of Evolutionary Developmental Biology	p. 357
Tracking Organic Processes	p. 375
Representations and Research Style s in Classical Embryology and Genetics
The Juncture of Evolutionary and Developmental Biology	p. 435
Reflections	p. 465
Tapping Many Sources	p. 467
The Adventitious Roots of Evo-Devo in the Nineteenth Century
Six Memos for Evo-Devo	p. 499
The Current State and the Future of Developmental Evolution	p. 525
About the Authors	p. 547
Index	p. 551
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