Overview

In this broad inquiry, Robert Wesson proposes an approach to evolution that is more in harmony with modern science that Darwinism or neo-Darwinism. He emphasizes the importance for evolution of inner direction and the self-organizing capacities of life, a view that is better able to account for the chaotic nature of the evolutionary process and the inherent propensity of complex dynamic systems to grow more complex with time. Many examples of plants and animals support this idea, and Wesson includes both carefully documented facts and intriguing anecdotes about the odd aberrations in natural selection.

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Reviews

In many ways, this book is akin to a primer on current evolutionary theory. Yet, Wesson picks his points carefully as he builds the case that chaos theory offers a way of understanding order and pattern in evolution ... a coherent presentation of many contemporary evolutionary conundrums as they might be addressed through a chaos framework. --Science Books & Films

Every biologist should read this sweeping vision of the character and meaning of the evolutionary process. Wesson s work can be compared to Richard Dawkins The Blind Watchmaker; however, Wesson rides home a different philosophy. It is a less familiar one but more contemporary and more important. He is opening a new avenue that will have an impact on the thinking of a significant number of people. John H. Campbell , University of California, Los Angeles In many ways, this book is akin to a primer on current evolutionary theory. Yet, Wesson picks his points carefully as he builds the case that chaos theory offers a way of understanding order and pattern in evolution... a coherent presentation of many contemporary evolutionary conundrums as they might be addressed through a chaos framework. Science Books & Films

Author Information

Robert Wesson, a political scientist who has undergone ecdysis, is Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford, California.

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