Eternal ephemera : adaptation and the origin of species, from the nineteenth century through punctuated equilibria and beyond
Niles Eldredge (Author)
One of evolution's fundamental questions is how the skein of life on Earth remains unbroken yet is constantly renewed by new species. What accounts for the scientific paradox that all organisms and species are ephemeral, and yet life endures, yielding more advanced players in nature's eternal play? In this riveting work, renowned scientist Niles Eldredge presents a magisterial account of leading thinkers as they wrestle with this paradox over a span of two hundred years. Eldredge begins in France with Jean Baptiste Lamarck, who in 1802 first framed the overarching question about new species
eBook, English, 2015
Columbia University Press, New York, 2015