Evolution and the Diversity of Life: Selected Essays

this book collects a large number of relatively short papers on evolution and genetic diversity from the '50's and '60's by ernst mayr, a population geneticist, who trained in germany and new guinea and taught at harvard for about fifty years. the papers cover a large number of topics in speciation and the history of biology. i have not read more than half of them, but my favorite, so far, is #7, "from molecules to organic diversity". in it, he concedes the importance of modern molecular biology, but he shows clearly that evolution acts on the organism and not on the gene itself, as some modern geneticists would have it. evolutionary pressure acts on the organism through the fitness of the whole organism for the environment in which it finds itself. in the process of explaining the evolution of organisms, he proposes his theory of "emergent phenomena" which i find to be a useful way of thinking about unexpected consequences of complex (biological) processes (such as brain function). he does not insist on this theory, but he finds support for it in various disciplines and from scientists, including nils bohr. these writings were collected and published in 1976. the collection has been reprinted several times since then. while it has been out of print for several years, there are many used copies available. mayr has numerous (shorter) books on evolution, but the variety of argument and experience introduced in these essays is unique. from his training in the philosophy of science in germany, to his field work in new guinea, to his years of research and writing on population genetics, elements of all of these unique experiences can be found here, clearly and cogently presented.

While many people would find this book a tedious read. Anyone interested in the study of ecology, evolution or taxonomy could not help to find something useful. It is arranged as a series off essays, grouped by topic. This enables the reader to proceed at his or her own pace and find the information most valuable. It is among my most favorite bed time reads.