Mutation, Randomness, and Evolution - Arlin Stoltzfus

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Mutation, Randomness, and Evolution

By: Arlin Stoltzfus

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Hardcover | 22 April 2021

At a Glance

Hardcover
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 25.4 x 1.9

Hardcover

$281.75

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What does it mean to say that mutation is random? How does mutation influence evolution? Are mutations merely the raw material for selection to shape adaptations?

The author draws on a detailed knowledge of mutational mechanisms to argue that the randomness doctrine is best understood, not as a fact-based conclusion, but as the premise of a neo-Darwinian research program focused on selection. The successes of this research program created a blind spot - in mathematical models and verbal theories of causation - that has stymied efforts to re-think the role of variation. However, recent theoretical and empirical work shows that mutational biases can and do influence the course of evolution, including adaptive evolution, through a first come, first served mechanism.

This thought-provoking book cuts through the conceptual tangle at the intersection of mutation, randomness, and evolution, offering a fresh, far-reaching, and testable view of the role of variation as a dispositional evolutionary factor. The arguments will be accessible to philosophers and historians with a serious interest in evolution, as well as to researchers and advanced students of evolution focused on molecules, microbes, evo-devo, and population genetics.

Industry Reviews

An insightful and comprehensive critique of neo Darwinian narratives about the role of mutation in evolution, proposing a view that embraces the capacity for mutation bias to influence the course of evolution. Potentially polarizing and thoroughly thought-provoking, Stoltzfus's volume makes a substantial contribution to evolutionary theory and discourse. * The Quarterly Review of Biology *

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