The Concept of the Gene in Development and Evolution

Reviews / Votes

"The Concept of the Gene in Development and Evolution is a Guide for the Perplexed. The articles contributed illuminate the distance separating popular thought from the difficult and complex questions of the nature and function of "genes." The present volume offers a unique guide to the meanings of the term gene." American Scientist "The Concept of the Gene in Development and Evolution does an excellent job of bringing together philosophers, historians, and biologists to answer the question, What is a gene?...a solid contribution to the history and philosophy of biology." Metapsychology "In this collection, the outcome of two workshops at Berlin's Max Plank Institute for the History of Science, some well-known philosophers and historians of genetics develop analyses of the gene concept found in their earlier work, and others offer new proposals. Several authors also reflect on what it means to study the concept of the gene. The resulting volume is both an excellent introduction to recent work in this field and a valuable contribution in its own right. ...This is a rich volume,...I have only briefly touched on the contents of some fascinating and important chapters. It is hard to imagine a philosopher of biology who would knot find material of interest in this collection of essays. The volume appears in the Cambridge series Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biology, edited by Michael Ruse, and maintains the impressive standard achieved by that series since its inception." Paul E. Griffiths, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh "This is a very strong collection of essays on a crucial topic and deserves to be widely read. Historians, philosophers, and biologists will all find interesting material here, some of it quite novel." Jrnl of the History of Biology