This volume is the best available tool to compare and appraise the different approaches of today's biology and their conceptual frameworks, serving as a springboard for new research on a clarified conceptual basis. It is expected to constitute a key reference work for biologists and philosophers of biology, as well as for all scientists interested in understanding what is at stake in the present transformations of biological models and theories. The volume is distinguished by including, for the first time, self-reflections and exchanges of views on practice and theoretical attitudes by important participants in recent biological debates. The questions of how biological models and theories are constructed, how concepts are chosen and how different models can be articulated, are asked. Then the book explores some of these convergences between different models or theoretical frameworks. Confronting views on adaptive complexity are investigated, as well as the role of self-organizationin evolution; niche construction meets developmental biology; the promises of the emergent field of ecological-evolutionary-development are examined. In sum, this book is a marvellous account of the dynamism of today's theoretical biology.
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From the reviews: "This book includes an interesting collection of papers written by a group of first-rate philosophers and biologists. ... This book is a success as it contains worthy contributions. ... very valuable for the serious student of biology." (Davide Vecchi, Metapsychology Online Reviews, February, 2010) "This book attempts a challenging integration of recent theoretical concepts in the fields of ecological-evolutionary-development. ... the appeal of this book will be mostly to biological philosophers and ... systems scientists." (A. J. J. Lynch, Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 17, June, 2010)