?Slim and readable ... the aficionado of evolutionary theory and the intense debate it engenders would do well to read Dawkins
vs. Gould.? Nature, on the first edition
An international bestseller when originally published, this brand-new and completely revised edition updates the story of one of science?s most vigorous arguments.
Science has seen its fair share of punch-ups over the years, but one debate, in the field of biology, has become notorious for its intensity. Over the last twenty years, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould have engaged in a savage battle over evolution, which continues to rage even after Gould?s death in 2002.
Kim Sterelny moves beyond caricature to expose the real
differences between the conceptions of evolution of these two
leading scientists. He shows that the conflict extends beyond
evolution to their very beliefs in science itself; and, in Gould?s case,
to domains in which science plays no role at all.
Kim Sterenly is the author of several books, including Sex and Death (University of Chicago Press, 1999) and Thought in a Hostile World (Blackwell, 2003). He works in the philosophy departments at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and the Australian National University, Canberra. In addition to philosophy, Kim's interests include eating curries, drinking red wine, bushwalking and birdwatching.
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