Application of the Darwinian Theory to Flowers and the Insects which Visit Them

1871 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 271-297 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Darwinian Theory

Siren canora: the mermaid and the mythical in late nineteenth-century science

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. BRINK-ROBY
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
British Association ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Century Science

This paper argues that, for a number of naturalists and lay commentators in the second half of the nineteenth century, evolutionary – especially Darwinian – theory gave new authority to mythical creatures. These writers drew on specific elements of evolutionary theory to assert the existence of mermaids, dragons and other fabulous beasts. But mythological creatures also performed a second, often contrapositive, argumentative function; commentators who rejected evolution regularly did so by dismissing these creatures. Such critics agreed that Darwin's theory legitimized the mythological animal, but they employed this legitimization to undermine the theory itself. The mermaid, in particular, was a focus of attention in this mytho-evolutionary debate, which ranged from the pages of Punch to the lecture halls of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Crossing social boundaries and taking advantage of a range of venues, this debate arose in response to the indeterminate challenge of evolutionary theory. In its discussions of mermaids and dragons, centaurs and satyrs, this discourse helped define that challenge, construing and constructing the meanings and implications of evolutionary theory in the decades following Darwin's publication.

Introduction: Challenging the Modern Synthesis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis M. Walsh ◽  
Philippe Huneman
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Modern Synthesis ◽  
Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Comparative Biology ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

The modern evolutionary synthesis arose out of the conjunction of the Mendelian theory of inheritance and the neo-Darwinian theory of population change early in the 20th century.1 In the nearly 100 years since its inception, the modern evolutionary synthesis has grown to encompass practically all fields of comparative biology—ecology, ethology, paleontology, systematics, cell biology, physiology, genetics, development. Theodosius Dobzhansky’s dictum—“nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” (...

scholarly journals Was Adam Smith an evolutionary economist?: Smith’s study of botany and Charles Darwin’s theory of morality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsuo Taka
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Nutritional Value ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Experiential Knowledge ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Wealth Of Nations ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

AbstractThis paper aims to extend and provide a new understanding of Adam Smith’s thoughts by focusing on some revisions in the 4th edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Smith 1774), “the nutritional value theory of corn” in the Wealth of Nations, and then comparing Smith’s discourses on the formation of morality with C. Darwin’s. Smith’s understanding of human nature extended and deepened with the study of botany and other sciences at Kirkcaldy after spending 2 years in France as Duke Buccleugh’s tutor. He began to understand human nature not only as a composite of self-love and benevolence, but also of instinctual and experiential knowledge. Thus, Smith’s system transitioned to an evolutionary one, and he became an unconscious forerunner of the Darwinian theory of morality formation.

scholarly journals A Semiotic Modern Synthesis: Conducting Quantitative Studies in Zoosemiotics and Interpreting Existing Ethological Studies through a Semiotic Framework

Biosemiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Modern Synthesis ◽  
Tripartite Model ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Behavioural Analysis ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Numerous Test

AbstractIn this paper, I present an argument that quantitative behavioural analysis can be used in zoosemiotic studies to advance the field of biosemiotics. The premise is that signs and signals form patterns in space and time, which can be measured and analysed mathematically. Whole organism sign processing is an important component of the semiosphere, with individual organisms in their Umwelten deriving signs from, and contributing to, the semiosphere, and vice versa. Moreover, there is a wealth of data available in the traditional ethology literature which can be reinterpreted semiotically and drawn together to make a cohesive biosemiotic whole. For example, isolated signals, such as structural elements of birdsong, are attributed meaning by an interpreter, thus generating new ideas and hypotheses in both biology and semiotics. Furthermore, animal behaviour science has developed numerous test paradigms that with careful adaptation, could be suitable for use within a Peircean tripartite model, and thus give valuable insights into Umwelten of other species. In my conclusion, I suggest that by bringing together traditional ethology and biosemiotics, it is possible to use the Modern Synthesis to provide context to biosemiosis, thus pragmatic meaning to animal signals. On this basis, I propose updating the Modern Synthesis to a Semiotic Modern Synthesis, which focuses on whole-organism signals and their contexts, the latter being derived from neo-Darwinian theory and the ‘Umwelt’. Thus, there need be no dichotomy; the Modern Synthesis can successfully be integrated with biosemiotics.

America's Darwin: Darwinian Theory and U.S. Literary Culture

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 936-937
Author(s):  
J. Bruni
Keyword(s):  
Literary Culture ◽  
Darwinian Theory

Language and kinship: We need some Darwinian theory here

2010 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 389-390
Author(s):  
Chris Knight
Keyword(s):  
Human Cognition ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
Testable Model

AbstractCommon to language and kinship is digital format. This is a discovery, not an innate feature of human cognition. But to produce a testable model, we need Darwinian behavioural ecology.

scholarly journals Constructor theory of life

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (104) ◽  
pp. 20141226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Marletto
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Evolution Theory ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Gene Replication ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
Living Organisms

Neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory explains how the appearance of purposive design in the adaptations of living organisms can have come about without their intentionally being designed. The explanation relies crucially on the possibility of certain physical processes : mainly, gene replication and natural selection . In this paper, I show that for those processes to be possible without the design of biological adaptations being encoded in the laws of physics, those laws must have certain other properties. The theory of what these properties are is not part of evolution theory proper, yet without it the neo-Darwinian theory does not fully achieve its purpose of explaining the appearance of design. To this end, I apply constructor theory's new mode of explanation to express exactly within physics the appearance of design, no-design laws, and the logic of self-reproduction and natural selection. I conclude that self-reproduction, replication and natural selection are possible under no-design laws, the only non-trivial condition being that they allow digital information to be physically instantiated. This has an exact characterization in the constructor theory of information. I also show that under no-design laws an accurate replicator requires the existence of a ‘vehicle’ constituting, together with the replicator, a self-reproducer.

scholarly journals A STUDY OF RELENTLESS SEARCH OF UTOPIA IN THOMAS HARDY’S TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES USING JACQUES DERRIDA’S THEORY OF DECONSTRUCTION.

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-17
Author(s):  
Milind Solanki
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Tess Of The D'urbervilles

This paper aims to read Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urberviless in the light of Jacques Derrida’s Theory of Deconstruction, Darwinian Theory of Evolution in his book on the Origin of Species and each character’s search of Utopia in the entire novel. All the major characters have been taken in the novel as well as some of the minor characters also to study the novel in a better in a detailed manner.

scholarly journals Intrinsic Noise and the Design of the Genetic Machinery

1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
DC Reanney ◽  
DG MacPhee ◽  
J Pressing
Keyword(s):  
Life Style ◽  
Selection Pressure ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Intrinsic Noise ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Transmission Of Information ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms ◽  
Translational Mechanisms

Darwinian theory envisages 'selection pressure' as a stress imposed on the genotype by the environment. However, noise in the replicative and translational mechanisms in itself imposes a significant 'pressure' on the adaptive fitness of the organism. We propose that the biosphere has been shaped by both extrinsic (environmental) and intrinsic (noise-generated) factors. Because noise has been a remorseless and ever-present background to the evolutionary process, adaptations to this intrinsic pressure include not only a variety of familiar genetic mechanisms but also many anatomical and life-style characteristics that focus on the transmission of information between generations.

scholarly journals Sources of Scientific Innovation: A Meta-Analytic Approach (Commentary on Simonton, 2009)

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 455-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank J. Sulloway
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Puerperal Fever ◽  
Predisposing Factors ◽  
Analytic Approach ◽  
Scientific Achievement ◽  
Darwinian Theory ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Scientific Innovation

Innovations in science can be divided into at least four major types: radical revolutions (such as Copernican and Darwinian theory), technical revolutions (led by scientists such as Newton, Lavoisier, and Einstein), controversial innovations (for example, Semmelweis's theory of puerperal fever), and conservative innovations (eugenics and various vitalistic doctrines). Biographical predictors of support for scientific innovations are distinctly different depending on the type of innovation, as are the predictors of who initially engineers such innovations. A meta-analytic approach assessing each new scientific theory according to its salient features (including epistemological, ideological, and technical attributes) is required to make sense out of the varied predisposing factors associated with the origins of these innovations. These predisposing factors are not neatly classifiable in terms of Simonton's (2009, this issue) hierarchical model of domain-specific dispositions, although this model is applicable under some conditions. Instead, the principal sources of scientific achievement are largely a product of person-by-situation interaction effects that are dictated by the nature of the particular innovation.

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