The Paradox of Evolution: The Strange Relationship between Natural Selection and Reproduction - Softcover

Rothman, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1633880729 ISBN 13: 9781633880726

Verlag: Prometheus Books, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

This book examines a little-noted contradiction inherent in the two essential elements of Darwin's theory of biological evolution--natural selection and reproduction. Physiologist Stephen Rothman makes the revolutionary claim that the evolution of life's complex and diverse reproductive mechanisms is not the consequence of natural selection. In so doing, he exposes the deepest question possible about life's nature--its reason for being.

In meticulously detailed but accessible terms he lays out the crux of the paradox and offers an intriguing solution within a naturalistic framework. In an ostensibly purposeless universe, somehow purposeful life has evolved. For all living things there are two overarching purposes: survival and the creation of new life. Natural selection is about the survival of existing life, but has no interest in life's future, about whether it persists or perishes. By contrast, reproduction is only about the future of life, and has no interest in existing life except as a means to that end.

Where do these purposes come from? As Rothman demonstrates, at every level life is wired to react to danger. Counterintuitively, without the danger to its existence, life would not have come into being. As for reproduction, nature's destructive forces drive the creation of new life.

Written with great clarity and informed by deep learning, this elegant, thoughtful work tackles some of the most challenging questions raised by the theory of evolution, while calling to mind Darwin's famous words from the conclusion of On the Origin of Species: "There is a grandeur in this view of life."

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Stephen Rothman, PhD, is professor emeritus in physiology, cell and tissue biology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is the author of seven previous books, including Life Beyond Molecules and Genes and Lessons from the Living Cell.

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The Paradox of Evolution

The Strange Relationship between Natural Selection and Reproduction

By Stephen Rothman

Prometheus Books

Copyright © 2015 Stephen Rothman
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-63388-072-6

Contents

Preface, 11, 
Prologue, 13, 
SECTION I — DARWIN'S THEORY, 
Chapter 1. Two Mysteries — A Story of Nature and Science, 19, 
Chapter 2. A Most Extraordinary Theory — The Remarkable Impact of a Scientific Theory on Society, 25, 
Chapter 3. A Look inside Darwin's Theory — Is the Theory of Evolution by Means of Natural Selection Internally Consistent?, 31, 
Chapter 4. The Meaning of Natural Selection — Defining Natural Selection, 39, 
SECTION II — REPRODUCTION, 
Chapter 5. One for All — Did Natural Selection Produce the Mechanisms of Reproduction?, 53, 
Chapter 6. The Other Beginning — The Reproduction of Cells, 61, 
Chapter 7. Beyond Replicating Molecules and Reproducing Cells — Natural Selection and the Evolution of the Reproductive Mechanisms of Life, 67, 
SECTION III — SEXUAL SELECTION, 
Chapter 8. Iridescent Brilliance — Darwin Worries about Peacocks and Finds Sexual Selection, 83, 
Chapter 9. On the Importance of Small Differences — The Basis of Sexual Attraction, 91, 
Chapter 10. In the Eyes of the Beholder — Utility and Beauty in Sexual Attraction, 99, 
SECTION IV — PURPOSE, 
Chapter 11. A Great Contradiction — Teleology Rears Its Ugly Head, 115, 
Chapter 12. Purpose — Teleology Cannot Be Denied, 123, 
Chapter 13. Darwin's Teleology of Survival — A Scientific Basis for Purpose in Life, 129, 
Chapter 14. The Laws of Nature — Purpose from Physical Law, 143, 
SECTION V — PURPOSE AND REPRODUCTION, 
Chapter 15. The Purposes of Reproduction — Why Reproduction?, 159, 
Chapter 16. The Means — The Agency of Reproductive Selection, 167, 
Chapter 17. The Final Cause of Reproduction — What Caused Reproductive Evolution?, 181, 
Chapter 18. "For the Sake of Which ...", 189, 
Chapter 19. On Chairs and Carob Trees, 195, 
Coda, 201, 
Notes and Selected Readings, 221, 
Index, 237, 

CHAPTER 1

TWO MYSTERIES

A Story of Nature and Science

False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm; and when this is done, one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened.

Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1871

This is a book about two mysteries, one of nature, another of science. A mystery of nature is of course something that we do not understand about nature. A mystery of science is something unknown or unrevealed about the thinking and methods of its practitioners. Both mysteries have to do with Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection and its relationship to the reproductive mechanisms of life.

The mystery of nature is how reproductive mechanisms evolved. The mystery of science is why there has been so little discussion of the basis for the widespread belief that natural selection is responsible. When so much about Darwin's theory has been and continues to be the subject of far-reaching discussion and vigorous debate in both the scientific and popular literature, why has such an important topic been overlooked? One would have expected it not just to be present but to be prominent. Yet, as best I can tell, it has never been seriously considered, let alone in any depth.

NO DISCUSSION?

But before we go running off to look for an explanation, am I correct? Has the subject really been overlooked? Is there a genuine mystery here or am I simply mistaken? At first glance I appear to be incorrect and in no small measure at that. Without doubt, reproduction has been the subject of discussion in the scientific literature on evolution — substantial discussion. Indeed whole fields have been devoted to it.

As Darwin described evolution, it is a play with two equally important and interdependent acts. In the first, individual organisms, alone or in groups, face environmental threats of all sorts. Some survive the challenge, while others succumb. This is survival of the fittest (or fitter) and it is the work of the nonreproductive or somatic features of life. As act one unfolds, we see natural selection working its will, determining the fate of organisms and species.

As dramatic as this is, it is merely the prologue to the second act. In it, we learn of sex and love, of generations to come. It is not about survival of the fittest but the fecundity of the fittest, about the work of reproduction. And so evolution, indeed life itself, is comprised of two key elements — survival and reproduction or, we might say, food and sex. Evolution requires that organisms both survive to sexual maturity and then reproduce. Natural selection is only the agent of evolution if reproduction produces the next generation. It does not stand on its own. If an organism does not have progeny, it plays no role in evolution. This understanding is central to Darwin's theory and has been considered at some length, and in this sense it can be fairly said that not only has there been a discussion of reproduction; there has been an unmistakable appreciation of its central role in evolution. It has hardly been absent.

It is also understood that the role of reproduction in evolution is not just procreative. Even though Darwin did not know of Mendel's genetic ideas, from his knowledge of animal domestication he understood that reproduction was a critical source of the variety needed for natural selection to work its wonders. In this case, too, its role has not been ignored. To the contrary, it has been a critical concern of both classical and modern genetics. Perhaps the most relevant aspect of genetics has been population or evolutionary genetics, a primarily mathematical pursuit that considers the relationship between sex and evolution in populations of organisms. We will take a brief look at this from the standpoint of natural selection in chapter 4.

Beyond this, there is a distinctive selection that is associated with reproduction whose purpose is to obtain or choose a mate. Not only did organisms have to survive life's challenges, that is, not only did they have to survive natural selection, but if they did and reached sexual maturity, they became subject to another kind of selection, a sexual selection. As said, if an individual is to play a role in evolution, it has to successfully mate. This is described in Darwin's theory of sexual selection. Although until recently this theory has been widely ignored, a consideration of the manifold ways and byways of obtaining and choosing mates certainly has not.

NATURAL SELECTION AS THE AGENT OF REPRODUCTIVE EVOLUTION

Why then do I say that the subject has been given short shrift? The reason is that nothing I have said is about how the structures, mechanisms, processes, and adaptations of reproduction came into being, how they evolved. A knowledgeable reader might grumble that this has also been considered, at least to the degree necessary. In view of the fact that the theory of evolution by means of natural selection has been the focus of extensive, not to say enduring, discussion, reproductive traits, a subset of life's features, have inescapably been...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Prometheus Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1633880729
• ISBN 13: 9781633880726
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 248
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV, GPSR Europäische Union; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; Utrecht; 3584 AA; Niederlande