Thanks for the recommendation. I will plan on checking it out.
Having little time for ‘labels’ I have never bothered with such labels as ‘Darwinism’, ‘Neo-Darwinism’ etc etc, but after reading this book, I found that my position is mostly that of ‘Darwinism’ anyway. (Some relief, I think, whatever ‘Darwinism’ may mean).
A good summary of ‘Darwinism’ is provided (p86):
1) non-constancy of species
2) descent from common ancestor
3) gradualness (but see also below for semantical distinction with punctuationism)
4) diversity (by species multiplication)
5) natural selection (but see also Baldwin Effect below).These basic tenants have been thrown around and debated for over a century, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that most variants of these ideas amongst evolutionary debates, do not, in fact contradict these basic principles (eg punctuated equilibrium-page 270-”punctuated equilibria, which at first sight, seem to support saltationism and discontinuity, are in fact strictly populational phenomenon, and therefore gradual”). I'm not sure I agree with this point, although I can see the contention is at least partly semantical.
To get some flavour from the book, rather than from me, some veritable gems include:
“sweeping generalisations are rarely correct in evolutionary biology” p271.
“there is no justification in the widespread assumption that consciousness is a unique human property”
p282.
“Selection seems able to to recruit genes in new developmental processes that previously had seemed to have other functions” p113.
“Species are groups of interbredding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups” p166.
“An organism has to be well adapted as a whole, but it also must be able at all times to cope with its ancestral genome” p154.
“There is alot of structure in the genotype that cannot be discovered and explained by a purely reductionist approach” p145.
“Surely when a population suddenly encounters an extremely adverse situation, the more genetically diverse it is, the greater the chance that it contains genotypes that can better cope with the environmental demands” p105.
“some groups speciate profusely, whereas in others speciation seems to be a rare event” p271.
“most of the variation of genotypes available for natural selection in a population is a result of recombination, not of mutations” p280.
“biological causes and natural selection are dominant in background extinction, whereas physical factors and chance are dominant in mass extinction” p203.
“most new evolutionary lineages arise by budding rather than by splitting” p191.
“rate of speciation is apparently primarily determined by ecological factors” p186.
“Any behaviour that turns out to be of evolutionary significance is likely to be reinforced by the selection of genetic determinants for such behaviour” (eg the Baldwin Effect p137-a very important concept).And my favourite-”the phenotype of the individual as a whole ..is the actual unit of selection” p126.