The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory : A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic

__The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory__: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic explores a pivotal conceptual moment in the history of evolutionary theory: the development of its extensive reliance on a wide array of concepts of chance. It tells the history of a methodological and conceptual development that reshaped our approach to natural selection over a century, ranging from Darwin’s earliest notebooks in the 1830s to the early years of the Modern Synthesis in the 1930s. Far from being a “pompous parade of arithmetic,” as one early critic argued, evolution transformed during this period to make these conceptual and technical tools indispensable. This book charts the role of chance in evolutionary theory from its beginnings to the earliest days of modern evolutionary theory, making it an ideal resource for evolutionary biologists, historians, philosophers, and researchers in science studies or biological statistics. Front Cover The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chance governs the descent of a farthing: Charles Darwin Darwin before the Origin Chance in the Origin of Species Chance after the Origin Chance, contained References Chapter 2 The wonderful form of cosmic order: Francis Galton Early sojourns Galton’s early theory of heredity Toward a novel theory Galton’s opus magnum Particulate inheritance Of chances and causes Natural selection, or supposed to be Why Galton? References Chapter 3 The only ultimate test of the theory of natural selection: The early years of biometry Pearson before biometry The collaboration in earnest: The crab papers Developing a controversy: Weldon and Bateson Natural selection without (and then with) adaptation A settled research program References Chapter 4 Here is the true gospel: Biometry after Mendelism New ports in new storms From Mendel to inheritance Of elements and chromosomes Taking stock Whither biometry? References Chapter 5 Reconciling the biometrical conclusions: Evolution from 1906 to 1918 Where not to look The late Pearson The late Bateson Statistics without a statistical theory of inheritance A mathematical theory of inheritance without statistics: The American school The speed of selection: R. C. Punnett Statistical inheritance in populations without selection The exception to the rule: George Udny Yule The view from the textbooks Robert Heath Lock’s Recent Progress in the Study of Variation, Heredity, and Evolution (1906) J. Arthur Thomson’s Heredity (1908) Edwin S. Goodrich’s The Evolution of Living Organisms (1912) Textbooks to syntheses References Chapter 6 What natural selection must be doing: R. A. Fisher’s early synthesis Fisher’s sources The early years Interlude: Fisher at Rothamsted The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection Indeterminism, creativity, and physics in evolution: Fisher’s philosophy of science Revisionist history Abstraction and statistical physics Hypothetical populations and empirical evidence Causation and indeterminism References Chapter 7 Conclusions, historiographical and philosophical A quick look back A comparative interlude: Gayon & Depew and Weber Looking outward References Index Back Cover The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic explores a pivotal conceptual moment in the history of evolutionary theory: the development of its extensive reliance on a wide array of concepts of chance. It tells the history of a methodological and conceptual development that reshaped our approach to natural selection over a century, ranging from Darwin's earliest notebooks in the 1830s to the early years of the Modern Synthesis in the 1930s. Far from being a “pompous parade of arithmetic,” as one early critic argued, evolution transformed during this period to make these conceptual and technical tools indispensable. This book charts the role of chance in evolutionary theory from its beginnings to the earliest days of modern evolutionary theory, making it an ideal resource for evolutionary biologists, historians, philosophers, and researchers in science studies or biological statistics. Analyzes contributions of key historical figures and assesses how and why these “foundational” conclusions were reached by original evolutionary biologists, including Darwin, Galton, Pearson, and more Describes the journey of the role of chance in evolutionary theory and illuminates our contemporary understanding Presents the historical narrative in a non-technical way, focusing on the conceptual structure of evolutionary theory