Description
Book SynopsisJohn Tyler Bonner, one of our most distinguished and insightful biologists, here challenges a central tenet of evolutionary biology. In this concise, elegantly written book, he makes the bold and provocative claim that some biological diversity may be explained by something other than natural selection. With his customary wit and accessible style,
Trade Review"[I]ncredibly useful ... refreshingly honest ... witty and engaging."--Tiffany Taylor, Times Higher Education "[F]orthright, informal, and humorous. His reminder that not every trait has a biologically adaptive function is a welcome lesson, as is his self-deprecating description of his ideas as just another 'just-so' story... [A] call to the biologists who take over from him to do more research to confirm or to refute the often surprising ideas here."--Rob Hardy, Commercial Dispatch "[Bonner] provides a well-written, well-documented collection of evidence suggesting randomness as a primary engine behind natural selection... This is an excellent essay, valuable to a wide audience. Evolution is an important, timely topic, making Bonner's work a worthy contribution."--Choice "[T]he book provides a careful analysis of the relationship between randomness and size in evolution and makes a good case for neutral morphologies."--James Bradley, Quarterly Review of Biology "The main strength of this provocative book is that it undoubtedly provides a successful argument against the widespread tendency to give an adaptive explanation for any biological trait, and, above all, it opens the door to a fruitful way to reconsider the traditional view of evolution as mainly driven by natural selection."--Francesca Merlin, Biol Theory
Table of ContentsIllustrations vii Preface ix 1 Life and the Riddle of Randomness 1 2 Time, Size, and Complexity 17 3 Small Organisms and Neutral Morphologies 40 4 The Evolution of the Decrease of Randomness 63 5 An Exception: Where Small Organisms Suppress Randomness 93 6 The Division of Labor: Two Cases of the Return of Randomness in Higher Forms 101 7 Envoi 118 Acknowledgments 121 Bibliography 125 Index 131
