Evolution by Association A History of Symbiosis [Paperback]

In this comprehensive history of symbiosis theory--the first to be written--Jan Sapp masterfully traces its development from modest beginnings in the late nineteenth century to its current status as one of the key conceptual frameworks for the life sciences. The symbiotic perspective on evolution, which argues that higher species have evolved from a merger of two or more different kinds of organisms living together, is now clearly established with definitive molecular evidence demonstrating that mitochondria and chloroplasts have evolved from symbiotic bacteria. In telling the exciting story of an evolutionary biology tradition that has effectively challenged many key tenets of classical neo-Darwinism, Sapp sheds light on the phenomena, movements, doctrines, and controversies that have shaped attitudes about the scope and significance of symbiosis. Engaging and insightful,Evolution by Associationwill be avidly read by students and researchers across the life sciences.

1. Symbiosis: Evolution in Action
2. The Messages of Mutualism
3. Socially Constructing the Individual
4. The Mystical Foundations of Symbiogenesis in Russia
5. Gaia and WWI British Genesis Stories
6. Germ Theory and Les Symbiotes in France
7. The Pasteurization of Les Symbiotes
8. Les Symbiotes Revisited
9. Illusory Anthropomorphism and Verbal Phantoms
10. Organismic Boundaries and Disciplinary Demarcation
11. Molecular Reconstruction
12. The Dull Edge of Ockham's Razor
13. Is Nature Really Motherly?
Concluding Remarks

Sapp provides some interesting thoughts on what could constitute acceptable 'proof' in biology with respect to 'origin stories,' which seek scientifically to describe nonrepeatable one-time events such as the emergence of eukaryotes in the Precambrian. We might add that this applies equally well to evolutionary and ecological phenomena, most of which are equally unsusceptible to repeatable experiments. --Douglas R. WeinerlÃ