(Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology) revised edition
by Eva Jablonka (Author), Marion J Lamb (Author), Anna Zeligowski (Illustrator)
A pioneering proposal for a pluralistic extension of evolutionary theory, now updated to reflect the most recent research.
This new edition of the widely read Evolution in Four Dimensions
has been revised to reflect the spate of new discoveries in biology
since the book was first published in 2005, offering corrections, an
updated bibliography, and a substantial new chapter. Eva Jablonka and
Marion Lamb's pioneering argument proposes that there is more to
heredity than genes. They describe four “dimensions” in heredity―four
inheritance systems that play a role in evolution: genetic, epigenetic
(or non-DNA cellular transmission of traits), behavioral, and symbolic
(transmission through language and other forms of symbolic
communication). These systems, they argue, can all provide variations on
which natural selection can act.
Jablonka and Lamb present a
richer, more complex view of evolution than that offered by the
gene-based Modern Synthesis, arguing that induced and acquired changes
also play a role. Their lucid and accessible text is accompanied by
artist-physician Anna Zeligowski's lively drawings, which humorously and
effectively illustrate the authors' points. Each chapter ends with a
dialogue in which the authors refine their arguments against the
vigorous skepticism of the fictional “I.M.” (for Ipcha Mistabra―Aramaic
for “the opposite conjecture”). The extensive new chapter, presented
engagingly as a dialogue with I.M., updates the information on each of
the four dimensions―with special attention to the epigenetic, where
there has been an explosion of new research.
Praise for the first edition
“With
courage and verve, and in a style accessible to general readers,
Jablonka and Lamb lay out some of the exciting new pathways of Darwinian
evolution that have been uncovered by contemporary research.”
―Evelyn Fox Keller, MIT, author of Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines
“In
their beautifully written and impressively argued new book, Jablonka
and Lamb show that the evidence from more than fifty years of molecular,
behavioral and linguistic studies forces us to reevaluate our inherited
understanding of evolution.”
―Oren Harman, The New Republic
“It
is not only an enjoyable read, replete with ideas and facts of interest
but it does the most valuable thing a book can do―it makes you think
and reexamine your premises and long-held conclusions.”
―Adam Wilkins, BioEssays
