Dov Ospovat

The Development of Darwin's Theory

Natural History, Natural Theology, and Natural Selection,1838-1859

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The period examined is that between 1838, by which time Darwin had formulated his theory of evolution by natural selection, and 1859, when the Origin of Species was published. Ospovat examines this period in detail and shows that Darwin's views changed quite radically from initially believing that animals and plants were perfectly adapted to their environments, and that evolution only occurred when the environment changed, to believing that living things were not perfectly adapted, were in constant competition with each other, and hence were continually evolving.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. April 1995
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 19mm
• Gewicht: 522g
• ISBN-13: 9780521469401
• ISBN-10: 0521469406
• Artikelnr.: 21178221

Inhaltsangabe

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Note on manuscript citations
Introduction: Darwin and his fellow naturalists
1. Darwin and the biology of the 1830s: some parallels
2. Darwin before Malthus
3. Natural selection and perfect adaptation, 1838-1844
4. Part II of Darwin's work on species
5. Natural history after Cuvier: the branching conception of nature
6. Darwin and the branching conception
7. Classification and the 'principle of divergence'
8. The principle of divergence and the transformation of Darwin's theory
9. Natural selection and 'natural improvement'
Conclusion: the development of Darwin's theory as a social progress
Notes
Bibliography
Index.