Unifying Biology

by Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis

Unifying Biology offers a historical reconstruction of one of the most important yet elusive episodes in the history of modern science: the evolutionary synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s. For more than seventy years after Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, it was hotly debated by biological scientists. It was not until the 1930s that opposing theories were finally refuted and a unified Darwinian evolutionary theory came to be widely accepted by biologists. Using methods gleaned from a variety of disciplines, Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis argues that the evolutionary synthesis was part of the larger process of unifying the biological sciences.


At the same time that scientists were working toward a synthesis between Darwinian selection theory and modern genetics, they were, according to the author, also working together to establish an autonomous community of evolutionists. Smocovitis suggests that the drive to unify the sciences of evolution and biology was part of a global philosophical movement toward unifying knowledge. In developing her argument, she pays close attention to the problems inherent in writing the history of evolutionary science by offering historiographical reflections on the practice of history and the practice of science. Drawing from some of the most exciting recent approaches in science studies and cultural studies, she argues that science is a culture, complete with language, rituals, texts, and practices. Unifying Biology offers not only its own new synthesis of the history of modern evolution, but also a new way of "doing history."

230 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 1996

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as helpful as other books about the modern synthesis I've read. It doesn't deal with the history of the synthesis itself so much as its implications and problems and what evolutionary biology has done since. The focus tends to be too much on who said what and when, not actually giving a good overview of what was going on. I suppose it would be useful if I were writing a different sort of paper, but as it stands, I'm not and this wasn't the best resource.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapters 2 and 5 give a somewhat interesting look at the constitution of the evolutionary synthesis, if nothing especially novel. The epilogue launches into what seems to me a completely unnecessary attack on multiculturalism and rehabilitation of positivism from those pesky postmodernists (and then says the reader will interpret it however they want, essentially abdicating responsibility... )

[Betsy Karas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty sophisticated for the average reader, but a great introduction to an important subject. Has good bibliography for someone interested in reading more.