Paleontology - A Philosophical Introduction

Informationen zum Autor Derek Turner is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Connecticut College. His previous publications include Making Prehistory: Historical Science and the Scientific Realism Debate (Cambridge University Press, 2007), as well as a number of articles on the philosophy of paleontology. Klappentext Explores the far-reaching philosophical questions of paleontology! discussing diverse issues such as punctuated equilibrium and species selection. Zusammenfassung In the wake of the paleobiological revolution of the 1970s and 1980s! paleontologists continue to investigate far-reaching questions about how evolution works. Derek Turner introduces the reader to exciting recent work in the philosophy of paleontology and the diverse issues such as punctuated equilibrium and species selection. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Paleontology and evolutionary theory; 2. A new way of looking at the fossil record; 3. Punctuated equilibria: provocations and problems; 4. The emergence of a hierarchical evolutionary theory; 5. The case for species selection; 6. Real trends; 7. The dynamics of evolutionary trends; 8. Is evolution contingent?; 9. Diversity and disparity; 10. Are genes the new fossils?

Product details

• Authors: Derek Turner, Derek (Connecticut College) Turner
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.04.2011
• EAN: 9780521133326
• ISBN: 978-0-521-13332-6
• No. of pages: 240
• Series: Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Biology; Cambridge Introductions to Phi; Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Biology
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > Miscellaneous; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general)