Así es la biología

by Ernst W. Mayr

At the age of 93, Ernst Mayr has forgotten more about biology than most people ever learn. Mayr has been more than just an eyewitness to the amazing advances in biological theory and understanding over the century; he was an active participant as well, helping to formulate the combination of Darwinian thought and modern genetics that is the bedrock of today's standard theory of evolution. But biology has always been something of a poor relation to the other physical sciences--subjects such as physics or chemistry that have strict rules of cause and effect and a certain predictability. Biology, on the other hand, is based on a muddle of combined causes, pure chance, and evidence drawn from unrelated areas, yet it is the one science that addresses those aspects of nature that can't be reduced to mere laws of chemistry or physics. In his book This Is Biology, Ernst Mayr sets out to show us how and why.

Though biology is a relatively young science, born in the 19th century, its roots go back to the days of Aristotle; Mayr traces its development from the ancient Greeks to the advent of modern molecular techniques. Woven throughout this history of the science is an explanation of its relation to other sciences and to the humanities, particularly history and ethics. This Is Biology was written with great thought and care and requires the same from its readers; for those interested in the science of life as well as one great man's life in science, this book is the natural selection.

Genres: Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Evolution, Philosophy, History Of Science, Popular Science

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

For the computer scientist, see Ernst Wilhelm Meyr

Ernst Walter Mayr (July 5, 1904 – February 3, 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, and historian of science. His work contributed to the conceptual revolution that led to the modern evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics, systematics, and Darwinian evolution, and to the development of the biological species concept.

Although Charles Darwin and others posited that multiple species could evolve from a single common ancestor, the mechanism by which this occurred was not understood, creating the species problem. Ernst Mayr approached the problem with a new definition for the concept of species. In his book Systematics and the Origin of Species (1942) he wrote that a species is not just a group of morphologically similar individuals, but a group that can breed only among themselves, excluding all others. When populations within a species become isolated by geography, feeding strategy, mate selection, or other means, they may start to differ from other populations through genetic drift and natural selection, and over time may evolve into new species. The most significant and rapid genetic reorganization occurs in extremely small populations that have been isolated (as on islands).

His theory of peripatric speciation (a more precise form of allopatric speciation which he advanced), based on his work on birds, is still considered a leading mode of speciation, and was the theoretical underpinning for the theory of punctuated equilibrium, proposed by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould. Mayr is sometimes credited with inventing modern philosophy of biology, particularly the part related to evolutionary biology, which he distinguished from physics due to its introduction of (natural) history into science.

Reviews

[Eddie B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

كان الأدق أن يكون العنوان: هذا هو تاريخ علم البيولوجيا، من وجهة نظري.
لم يتعرض الكتاب لموضوعات بحث البيولوجيا قدر ما تعرض لتاريخ العلم، وللدفاع عنه أمام محتقريه من علماء الفيزياء والكيمياء، وللدفاع عن التطور أمام مهاجميه من مؤيدي الخلق المباشر.
قد يكون الكتاب مهمًا في مجاله، لكن العنوان والناشر جعلاني أتوقع من الكتاب أكثر مما قدّم.
وسنناقش هذا الكتاب بإذن الله اليوم الخميس 27 يوليو في نادي كتاب مكتبة الإسكندرية، في تمام الخامسة مساء بمركز مؤتمرات مكتبة الإسكندرية. والدعوة مفتوحة لكل من اهتم بالحضور سواء قرأ الكتاب أم لا.

أحمد الديب
يوليو 2017

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mayr played a major role in establishing the evolutionary synthesis in the mid-late 20th century and it's a pleasure to read his late-life reflections on the nature of the discipline to which he devoted his life. His major argument is that most of the approaches to science which became dogma in the late 20th century were based on an over-valuation of physics and the associated search for fundamental "laws." As Mayr argues, very little of that applies well to biology, which places a fundamental value on individual difference and variation within populations. His discussions of the aspects of biology that answer different types of questions--"what" (the "descriptive" fields that descended from naturalism; "how," exemplified by embryology; and "why," which he connects primarily with evolution--is particularly valuable. His discussion of the tension between proximate and evolutionary causes--the source of much confusion in numerous fields--is fundamental.

At times, Mayr spends more time than I would have liked on insider arguments, especially concerning the philosophy of science. And I'm not terribly impressed with his discussion of the ethical implications of evolution--he's a smart non-specialist claiming a bit too much authority in a field he's not deeply grounded in. But that's relatively trivial. As good a place to start if you're looking for a basic grounding in biology as any book I'm aware of.

[Moneim · Rating 3 out of 5]

دسم أوي :/

[Yazan Haddad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biology had changed a lot since the writing of this book. However, the historic record here is really thorough. I mostly enjoyed the classification chapter.

[الشناوي محمد جبر · Rating 1 out of 5]

كعادة كتب عالم المعرفة، أكاديمية جدا، متخصصة جدا، القليل منها يناسبني للقراءة والمتعة.
هذاالكتاب يتحدث عن علم البيولوجيا ونواحي من تاريخه، وبعض مشكلات التصنيف العلمي للكائنات الحية
وقضايا أخري في هذا العلم.
الكتاب صعب وممل

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha parecido aburrido y demasiado técnico.

[CM · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars or up if I could understand more.

The blurb goes like this, "it's a life-history of the field for the professionals and general readers alike" . It's mostly correct. Written by a biologist-turned-philosopher, it presents an erudite, post-secondary level introduction to the field, with chapters on the history and recent progress on the philosophical (the meaning of life, the difference between the life science and other science, the scientific method and progress related to biology, human ethics with reference to evolution) and the scientific(evolution, developmental biology, ecology, systematics). I doubt anyone can find a more comprehensive take on the field with such sophistication.


But for the last four words of the blurb, "for general readers alike"... I am not so certain how it holds for another reader but I can say there is about a quarter in the scientific chapters that I couldn't follow after much effort (And I used to give private tuition on high school biology). It also doesn't help that the author decided not to use any diagram or chart, and he didn't note which words were in his glossary.

The last chapter on ethics may not be as strong and well-presented as the other chapters but it doesn't hurt the book as an insightful and structured sharing of a distinguished scholar.

[Rami Farhan · Rating 1 out of 5]

ممل ، او الافضل اقول انه خيب ظني. كنت اتوقع نمط آخر ، وإذا به اشبه بما يكون عرض فلسفي. عرض لتاريخ التفكير في البيولوجيا والمدارس الأولية ، حسناتها ومآخذها ، والصعاب التي واجهت البيولوجيا في طريق الإعتراف به كعلم ، وغيره مما لم اكن اتوقعه او أود قراءته!

[Erman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bazı bölümleri günümüzde güncelliğini yitirmiş olsa da, biyolojinin dünden bu güne gelişimine tanıklık etmek açısından önemli bir eser. Ancak akıl almaz yanlışlarla dolu ve okumayı zorlaştıran çevirisi yüzünden hiç huyum olmamasına rağmen atlayarak okudum. İnternet üzerinden ulaşılabilecek orijinalinin -gerekirse google translate yardımıyla- okunmasını şiddetle öneriyorum.

Çeviriden bir alıntı:
T.H. Morgan'a göre eşeysel dimorfizm**
** Çift cinsiyete sahip olma. (Çev. n.)

Bu hatayı yapan bir biyoloğun yüksek lisans programlarına bile alınmaması gerekirken ülkenin en önemli biyoloji bölümlerinden birinde profesörlük yapabiliyor olması, popüler bilim kitapları çevirmesinden daha büyük bir sorun tabii.

[Manuel Baraja · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandono.

No era lo que me esperaba. No es un libro sobre Biología sino más bien sobre la Biología como tal disciplina, un libro de historia o filosofía de la ciencia.

Demasiados nombres, fechas, teorías y demás.

[Žiga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ought to be required reading.

[Kanishka]

Mm

[Johannes Solano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind-blowing and fascinating read from start to finish. This is one of the best if not the best book on Evolutionary Biology.

[Passant Muhammad · Rating 1 out of 5]

وحش جدا وفيه افكار إلحادية

[Suat Aydin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yabanıl insanlar konusunda bütün bildiklerimiz ya da tarihlerini tamamen unutmuş olan bugünkü sakinlerin geleneklerinden ve eski yapılardan cikarabildigimiz sonuçların tumu, başarılı olan kabilelerin, çok eski zamanlardan beri, öteki kabilelerin yerlerini ellerinden almış olduklarını göstermektedir ( Darwin, 1871: 160).

[Farzin Souri · Rating 5 out of 5]

یه کتاب کامل.

کتاب از حیات چیست شروع می کنه و به علم چیست می رسه و بعد به زیست شناسی چیست و فلسفه ی علم زیست شناسی چیست... هیچ چیزی رو تقریباً جا نمی دازه.

ارنست میر جدای از زیست شناس بودن نویسنده ی خیلی خوبی هم هست

در حال خوندن فصل سوم.

[Cian O'donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wide ranging and deep.

[özge mö · Rating 5 out of 5]

Başucu kitabı !