Evolution by Example

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Springer - Publisher Connector Evo Edu Outreach (2008) 1:165–171 DOI 10.1007/s12052-008-0045-8 BOOK REVIEW Evolution by Example Adam M. Goldstein Published online: 20 February 2008 © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Keywords Evolution · Bibliography · Case study · must furnish particular instances of their applica- History of evolution tion” (Strunk and White 2000, 22). A number of books on evolutionary biology are written in a manner conforming to this advice: The central device their Introduction authors use to explain general principles about evolution is an example. For this reason, I call the genre William Strunk and E. B. White, in their famous book evolution by example. Myaiminthisessayistodescribe The Elements of Style, suggest, in rule 16 (one of the nature of this genre, to point readers to some the “Elementary Principles of Composition”) that a exemplary works in it, and to argue for its importance. writer ought to always “use definite, specific, concrete, language.” Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the What is Evolution by Example? vague, the concrete to the abstract....Thegreatest writers—Homer, Dante, Shakespeare—are effec- The defining characteristic of works of evolution by tive largely because they deal in particulars and example is that they aim to bring their readers to report the details that matter. Their words call up an understanding of the general by way of an exten- pictures. If the experiences of Walter Mitty, of sive account of the specific: They build their central Molly Bloom, of Rabbit Angstrom have seemed explanatory scheme around a case study. This strat- for the moment real to countless readers. it is egy, rather than a particular topic within evolutionary because the details used are definite, the terms biology, is what distinguishes evolution by example concrete....[A]ll the significant details are given, from other types of writing about evolution. As will and with such accuracy and vigor that readers, become evident below when some touchstones of the in imagination, can project themselves into the genre are pointed out, such case studies may be clas- scene (Strunk and White 2000, 21–22). sified in a variety of ways, and there is probably no one correct way to group the works of evolution by Strunk and White believe that this advice is not example: Some case studies concern the evolution of limited to literary writing, extending it to “exposi- a particular species, evolution in a particular locale or tionand...argument,”inwhich“thewritermustlike- kind of environment, or the evolution of a striking trait. wise never lose hold of the concrete,” adding that Although the strategy of explanation of evolution by “even when dealing with general principles, the writer example is its stylistic hallmark, these works have an aim that transcends the particular: They aim at explain- B ing general characteristics of processes (mechanisms) of A. M. Goldstein ( ) evolution that are central to the theory of evolution. Department of Philosophy, Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801, USA On the one hand, “evolution” is sometimes used to e-mail: [email protected] describe the history of life, as in “One of the most 166 Evo Edu Outreach (2008) 1:165–171 important events in evolution was the extinction of entire discipline—“evo-devo,” the study of the evolu- the dinosaurs” or “The move to land by vertebrates tion of developmental processes—treats examples in a represented a key point in their diversification.” On cursory manner, in contrast with how they are treated the other hand, the theory of evolution describes kinds in works of evolution by example. The central problems of processes of evolution, or, to use another term motivating evo-devo and the way in which its general for “processes,” mechanisms. These processes (mech- principles and methods are used to solve those prob- anisms) include (but are not limited to) mutation, lems are central to Carroll’s work; examples illustrate natural selection, random drift, sexual selection, and the progress that evo-devo has made, but are not in- speciation. “Theory” here is not intended to suggest tended to provide an initial intellectual point of access uncertainty or lack of confidence. Rather, like “theory to its central principles. Stanley’s New Evolutionary of gravitation,” “theory of evolution” is intended here Timetable (Stanley 1981) and Eldredge’s Time Frames to indicate the set of natural laws and well-established (Eldredge 1985) should be viewed similarly. They aim facts that describe and explain why and how the history to explain and provide evidence for a general theory, of life has occurred as it in fact did and predict how it punctuated equilibrium, adducing examples for proof will occur in the future. rather than taking them as a primary explanatory de- Works of evolution by example may be contrasted vice. with textbooks such as Futuyma’s classic Evolution- Case studies offer creators of works of evolution by ary Biology (Futuyma 1986), Roughgarden’s The- example a range of excellent opportunities not afforded ory of Population Genetics and Evolutionary Ecology to creators of general works. In the hands of a skilled (Roughgarden 1979), and Gillespie’s Population Ge- and imaginative writer, accounts of the people, places, netics: A Concise Guide (Gillespie 2004). Although discovery, and confirmation of facts and principles their explanatory aim is much the same as that of about their subjects can be parlayed into a compelling works of evolution by example—to explain the theory story in which the “resolution” of the “plot” is the of evolution—their strategy is different: They present discovery and elaboration of general principles of evo- general claims, recruiting examples only occasionally, lution that pertain to the example. In the great tradition and treating them in far less detail than they would of Darwin’s own Journal of Researches (Darwin 1845) be treated by a work of evolution by example. Indeed, (“Voyage of the Beagle”), many works of evolution by evolution textbooks seem to share a common pool of example present particular locales as central themes. three or four stock examples: variation in alcohol dehy- These locales are typically exotic, rugged, and beau- drogenase genes; human blood types, in general and in tiful, including (among others) the Galápagos Islands, the case of sickle-cell anemia, and, of course, Mendel’s Lake Victoria, and the Australian Outback. They often pea plants. These serve as work for students and as a also concern the early generations of evolutionists. The demonstration of the direct application of theoretical voyages of these scientists around the globe and the principles. reader’s imagined voyages in time to the late nineteenth Many trade paperbacks about evolution that are or early twentieth century form the backdrop of an directed at a general audience may also be contrasted intellectual voyage. The scientist-protagonist struggles with evolution by example. For instance, consider with the elements and distance from home; but most Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene (Dawkins 1989), of all with the subtleties of new kinds of arguments, The Extended Phenotype (Dawkins 1982), and The new kinds of evidence, and the understanding of new Blind Watchmaker (Dawkins 1987). The aim of these truths about biological diversity. Often, the scientists’ books is to explain and argue for the importance of struggles in the academy run parallel to their ocean general notions: the selfish gene, the extended pheno- voyages and cross-country treks. The seminar room, type, and the idea that complexity does not require a the vaulted halls of museums in Europe, Britain, and designer. The function of examples in these works is America, and the international scientific literature cre- to show that these general claims are not completely ate the ideal setting for which what Michael Ruse aptly empty of real-world content. They do not establish the terms “science red in tooth and claw” (Ruse 1999). utility of these notions for observation and experiment Works of evolution by example are primarily pub- or even for further theorizing. This work is left to others lished as trade books, even those published by uni- who, Dawkins hopes, are able to grasp them sufficiently versity presses. For instance, Harvard University Press to use them in their own work. published Elisabeth Lloyd’s Case of the Female Orgasm Similarly, a book such as Sean Carroll’s Endless (Lloyd 2005). This book, subtitled “bias in the science Forms Most Beautiful (Carroll 2005), which is about an of evolution,” surveys competing explanations for the Evo Edu Outreach (2008) 1:165–171 167 female orgasm as a means of investigating the nature have lasting value. As science does move on (if not and applicability of explanations invoking natural se- progress), explanations presented by narrators, his- lection. Lloyd’s book is shelved on thefirst floor of torical personages, or today’s scientists in works of the Mid-Manhattan branch of the New York Public evolution by example will inevitably be modified, dis- Library, among popular recent works about women’s placed, or even discarded in light of new discoveries sexuality: The first floor stacks are for those on a lunch and conceptual changes in science. Nonetheless, I an- break or on their way home from work to browse, in ticipate that works of evolution by example will hold contrast with the higher floors, where scholarly mono- the interest of the reading public for a long time. The graphs are kept. Some works of the genre are recog- specificity and richness in detail that distinguishes them nized as exemplary works of general interest: Jonathan from other science writing results provides them with Wiener’s The Beak of the Finch (Weiner 1994) won the an internal coherence and robustness in much the same 1995 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.

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