Evolutionary Restraints
The Contentious History of Group Selection
Much of the history of the evolutionary debate since Darwin has focused on the level at which natural selection occurs. Most biologists acknowledge multiple levels of selection – from the gene, the trait, and the organism, to the family, the group, and the species. However, it is the debate about group selection that Mark E. Borrello focuses on in "Evolutionary Restraints".
Tracing the history of biological attempts to determine whether selection could lead to the evolution of fitter groups, Borrello takes as his focus the British naturalist V. C. Wynne-Edwards, who proposed that animals could regulate their own population levels and thereby avoid overexploitation of their food and other resources. By the mid-twentieth century, Wynne-Edwards became the primary advocate for group selection theory, and precipitated a debate that engaged the most significant evolutionary biologists including Ernst Mayr, John Maynard Smith, G. C. Williams and Richard Dawkins. The resultant interpretations and arguments bled out into broader conversations about population regulation, environmental crises, and the evolution of human and animal social behavior".Evolutionary Restraints" illuminates both the process of science and the role of controversy in the process. From its origins in Darwin's own thinking, this debate, Borrello reminds us, remains relevant and alive to this day.
About the Author
Mark E. Borrello is associate professor of the history of science in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota.
Reviews
"This superb book traces the history of the debate over the levels at which natural selection operates. Evolutionists, knowing that the secrets of the present are to be explained by the past, will welcome this work for the great insights that it throws on contemporary debates" – Michael Ruse, Florida State University
"Few issues in biological theory have excited political commentators and the educated public as much as group selection. Whether nature teaches a liberal or a conservative view of human society once seemed to turn on this question. This readable but scholarly history of the debate debunks some myths and reveals how biologists at the center of the controversy were influenced by their fieldwork, by the developing theoretical context, and by the social issues of the day. It will be fascinating reading for biologists, as well as historians of science and a wide audience in the humanities and social sciences" – Paul E. Griffiths, University of Sydney
"Mark Borrello has filled a much-needed gap in the literature on the issue of group selection, by focusing on one of the subject's earliest and most vociferous advocates, V. C. Wynne-Edwards. A philosopher of science who writes good history, and a historian of science who writes clear and comprehensible philosophy, Borrello takes the reader carefully through the history of group selectionist ideas, starting with Darwin, through Wynne-Edwards's formulation of the idea, especially in his 1962 book, 'Animal Dispersion', and reactions to it. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of a highly controversial, and little studied, aspect of the evolutionary synthesis" – Garland E. Allen, Washington University in St. Louis
"Philosophers have expended tremendous energy immersed in controversies about the levels at which natural selection acts, often acting as if this were a theoretical problem to be solved philosophically. In this delightfully accessible volume, Borrello very effectively places in clear historical context the contributions of the leading group selectionist Wynne-Edwards and his interactions with contemporaries. Borrello makes an important contribution to the ongoing discussions about selection, and provides an outstanding example of what is gained by joining first-rate history and philosophy of science" – Jane Maienschein, Arizona State University
"A fascinating study... Recommended" – Choice
