Assembled in this valuable and timely collection is a cornucopia of offerings on the theme of developmental variation in evolution. An international panel of contributors illuminates the rich history and philosophy of what the editors call Lamarckian problematics, and shows how a developmental perspective informs much of today's cutting-edge research. Throughout, Gissis and Jablonka integrate the many papers with impressively comprehensive interventions.
Susan Oyama, Professor Emeritus, John Jay College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Ever since Darwin and the neo-Darwinians came to dominate the interpretation of evolutionary theory and its history, Lamarck has been ignored, misrepresented and stereotyped. The same was about to happen in the year of Darwin's bicentennial, but thanks to Snait Gissis and Eva Jablonka, Lamarck has finally received the serious attention his work deserves. The editors have assembled a group of world-class scholars—historians, philosophers, and evolutionary developmental biologists—to produce a far more accurate, comprehensive, and exciting portrait of Lamarck as one of the most sophisticated, knowledgeable, and influential naturalists of his day. The series of essays in this volume are an interdisciplinary tour de force.
Garland Allen, Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis
The reemergence of Lamarckian themes is one of the most striking developments in modern biology. This book unites the work of historians and scientists to throw light on the legacy of Lamarck's theory, its eclipse in the twentieth century, and its triumphant return to center stage in the twenty-first. It marks a transformation of biology itself but also of how we write the history of evolutionism.
Peter Bowler, Queen's University Belfast
This book is long overdue. Lamarck and Lamarckian ideas were not only ignored but actively ridiculed during the second half of the 20th century. As the subtitle of this book indicates, some of the most cogent reasons for reassessing those ideas come from within the citadel of molecular biology itself. A great strength of the book is that it does not seek to reintroduce Lamarckian ideas as they were originally formulated; rather, the Lamarckian perspective is used to assess where the modern synthesis needs extending or even replacing. For any serious student of evolutionary biology, this work will be a bible for many years to come.
Denis Noble, FRS, Oxford University, author of The Music of Life
