DOCSLIB.ORG

Under the Skin Nathaniel Comfort Wonders at the Enduring Trend of Misrepresenting Race

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Under the Skin Nathaniel Comfort Wonders at the Enduring Trend of Misrepresenting Race AUTUMN BOOKS GENETICS Under the skin Nathaniel Comfort wonders at the enduring trend of misrepresenting race. s race biologically real? A clutch of books A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race at stake in this debate: human social equality. published this year argue the question. and Human History Race is certainly real — ask any African All miss the point. NICHOLAS WADE American. It originated long before the Penguin: 2014. IMichael Yudell’s Race Unmasked and science of genetics, as sets of phenotypes Robert Sussman’s The Myth of Race can be and stereotypes. These correlate with haplo­ read as inadvertent retorts to former New Race Unmasked: Biology and Race in the types, clusters of genetic variation. In this York Times journalist Nicholas Wade’s A 20th Century sense, race is genetically ‘real’. But those cor­ Troublesome Inheritance, published while the MICHAEL YUDELL relations depend on judgement calls. Wade former were in the press. Wade’s book is by far Columbia University Press: 2014. cites population-genetics studies that identify HOPES DARREN BY ILLUSTRATIONS the most insidious, but all three are polemics three principal races: caucasian, African and that become mired in proving (in Wade’s case) The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence East Asian. Elsewhere he cites five, adding or disproving (in the others’) whether race is of an Unscientific Idea Australasian and Native American; or seven, biological and therefore ‘real’. This question is ROBERT WALD SUSSMAN splitting caucasians into people from Europe, a dead end, a distraction from what is really Harvard University Press: 2014. the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. 306 | NATURE | VOL 513 | 18 SEPTEMBER 2014 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved AUTUMN BOOKS COMMENT A study in Scientific Reports this year iden­ By contrast, the ‘race realist’ and ‘human inflected “talented tenth” campaign, which tified 19 “ancestral components”, including biodiversity’ (HBD) groups are delighted sought to identify the “best of this [black] Mozabites, Kalash and Uygurs (D. Shriner with Wade’s book. For example, Jared race”. Not all eugenics is racist, and most rac­ et al. Sci. Rep. 4, 6055; 2014). Palaeo­geneticist Taylor, editor of the HBD magazine Ameri- ism is not — or not principally — eugenic. Svante Pääbo and others have revealed the can Renaissance, applauds Wade’s argument For both Yudell and Sussman, the anti­ underlying human genetic variation to be that (in Taylor’s paraphrase), “foreign aid is dote to eugenic hereditarianism was cultural a series of gradients. Whether and how one probably wasted because poor countries are anthropology, developed by Franz Boas and parses that variation depends on one’s train­ not genetically prepared for the institutions his students in the late nineteenth and early ing, inclination and acculturation. So: race necessary for wealth”. Other pillars of the twentieth centuries. Boas coined the word is real and race is genetic, but that does not race-realist movement, such as the website culture in its modern sense, and became per­ mean that race is ‘really’ genetic. haps the greatest opponent of the biological The completion of the draft human- concept of race. He and his students studied genome sequence in 2000 led some opti­ human societies through an entirely cultural mists to forecast the end of race (one of them, definition of human difference. Boas found, Craig Venter, wrote the foreword to Yudell’s for example, that cranial characteristics that book), but use of the term in the biomedical DEBATES OVER THE had been claimed to be innately racial were literature has actually increased since then. the result of differences in nutrition and For clinicians, race is a matter of pragma­ GENETIC overall health. Sussman and Yudell insist that tism. Although each of us is genetically and Boasian anthropology scientifically proved epi­genetically unique, our ancestry leaves REALITY that race is not genetic. footprints in our genomes. Consequently, Their arguments then diverge. Sussman clinicians use familiar racial categories such OF RACE ARE NOT becomes, if possible, more polemical, as ‘black’ or ‘Ashkenazi Jewish’ as crude mark­ whereas Yudell grows slowly less so. The ers of genotypes, in a step towards individual­ MAINLY former returns to the history of scientific ized medicine. For them, the reality of race is racism, providing a passionate account of the immaterial; diagnosis and treatment are what SCIENTIFIC continuing influence of the Pioneer Fund. count (see page 301). BUT Yudell’s late chapters, by contrast, trace the Debates over the genetic reality of race, struggle to strip racism from race science. then, are not mainly scientific, but social. Yudell offers a rich analysis of the state­ They deploy the cultural authority of science SOCIAL. ments on race by the United Nations Educa­ — considered society’s most objective way of tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization understanding the world — as a fig leaf for (UNESCO) — a string of contentious multi­ positions motivated explicitly or implicitly by disciplinary reports that sought to document ideology. All three of these books argue that scientific knowledge on race while denounc­ if the proof or disproof of race is scientific, it Stormfront and the writer John Derbyshire, ing racism, starting in 1950. The project’s must be true. The author must be right. More gave Wade’s book glowing reviews. myriad authors split into two factions. importantly, his opponents must be wrong. For both Yudell, a historian of public health, One, led by Boas’s student Ashley Montagu, For Wade, science proves that race is and Sussman, a cultural anthropologist, sci­ wanted to call race a fiction, a product of cul­ genetic. Much like Richard Herrnstein and ence proves that race is cultural. In making ture. The other insisted that genetics showed Charles Murray’s The Bell Curve (Free Press, this case, both devote considerable space to that race was real. Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1994), his book moves smoothly through eugenics, the science and social movement a brilliant population geneticist, was intel­ seemingly reasonable arguments that humans concerned with human hereditary improve­ lectually invested in the genetic concept of are still evolving, to end up at the retrograde ment. The eugenics movement — particularly race, yet morally invested in anti-racism. conclusion that Europeans have become the in the United States in the early twentieth “Dobzhansky’s paradox”, in Yudell’s phrase, world’s richest and most powerful people century and in Nazi Germany — offers a was how to save biological race theory with­ mainly because they are genetically the most cornucopia of evidence of scientific racism. out sounding racist. He never did — and nor open, curious, innovative and hard-working. But, in focusing on the US movement’s most have we, Yudell concludes poignantly. Also like The Bell Curve, Wade’s book draws egregious leaders, such as Charles Davenport, A full-throated, intellectually rigorous anti- heavily on a long tradition of what histori­ Madison Grant and Henry Fairfield Osborn, racism must critically assess both biological ans refer to as scientific racism, particularly both Yudell and Sussman over-simplify. and cultural evidence about race. It must research connected to the Pioneer Fund, Eugenics was about much more than just acknowledge that no work on race science chartered in 1937 in part to “support study race. Recent scholarship has documented the can be free of ideology — and, precisely for and research into the problems of hered­ pervasiveness and adaptability of the US and that reason, it must not place historical actors ity and eugenics” and, as Sussman shows, UK eugenic creed and the complicated ways before a moral green screen showing an image still deeply involved in eugenic and racial it mingled with race, public health and femi­ of contemporary values. Rather, it must set research. Despite such transparently politi­ nism. Sussman and Yudell both, for exam­ the stage for each scene with meticulous, cal sources, Wade insists that his argument is ple, discuss the efforts of the distinguished empathetic historical detail. Such work would based on ideology-free science. On 8 August, black leader W. E. B. Du Bois against white- allow the scientific study of ‘racial superior­ 139 population geneticists — including sev­ supremacist eugenics in the early twentieth ity’ — inherently grounded in subjectivity and eral on whose work Wade based his argu­ century. But both fail to mention his concern bias — to fall on its own sword. ■ ments — signed a letter to The New York over black “dysgenics” and his eugenically Times declaiming his use of their results. Now Nathaniel Comfort is at the Institute of that those whose work he once categorized as DIVERSITY the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins “scientific” instead of “ideological” have come A Nature and Scientific American University in Baltimore, Maryland. His latest out against the book, Wade has denounced special issue nature.com/diversity book is The Science of Human Perfection. them, too, as being motivated by politics. e-mail: [email protected] 18 SEPTEMBER 2014 | VOL 513 | NATURE | 307 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Troublesome Inheritance': Nicholas Wadeâ•Žs Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution
    Wayne State University Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints WSU Press 9-4-2014 A Troublesome Inheritance': Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution Agustin Fuentes Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, [email protected] Recommended Citation Fuentes, Agustin, "A Troublesome Inheritance': Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution" (2014). Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints. Paper 64. http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol_preprints/64 This Open Access Preprint is brought to you for free and open access by the WSU Press at DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. A Troublesome Inheritance: Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution Agustín Fuentes A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, by Nicholas Wade. New York: Penguin Press, 2013. x + 278 pp. 978-1-5942-0446-3 (hardcover). US $27.95. Humans are still evolving, genetic sequences are important, and populations of humans differ from one another in many ways, including patterns of allelic variation. These facts are not debatable; they are true—but none of them are accurately discussed or represented in Nicholas Wade’s book A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History. Wade argues that there are definable and genetically identifiable groups we can describe and label as biological races in humans today. He does not provide a consistent definition for what he means by “race” or a specific number of races that we have (he indicates three, five, and seven as options).
    [Show full text]
  • Book Review: Rob Desalle and Ian Tattersall, Troublesome Science: the Misuse of Genetics and Genomics in Understanding Race
    Graves Jr. Evo Edu Outreach (2019) 12:10 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-019-0102-5 Evolution: Education and Outreach BOOK REVIEW Open Access Book Review: Rob Desalle and Ian Tattersall, Troublesome science: the misuse of genetics and genomics in understanding race, (New York: Columbia University Press), 2018 Joseph L. Graves Jr.* Keeping the scientifc high ground 10, 2014 (Why this book on race and genetics is a prob- Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evo- lem, https ://evolu tion-insti tute.org/book-revie w-great lution. Dobzhansky’s dictum has been employed to solve -are-wades -error s-in-a-troub lesom e-inher itanc e-genes some of the most difcult problems in biology includ- -race/; and Letters: a troublesome inheritance. https :// ing why aging, altruism, and sex exist. I have argued www.nytim es.com/2014/08/10/books /revie w/lette rs-a- that one of evolution’s greatest triumphs (and failures) is troub lesom e-inher itanc e.html?modul e=inlin e. Accessed how it helps us to understand human biological diversity 10 Aug 2014). (Graves 2005a, b). Te triumph is that evolutionary biol- Yet and still we don’t accept things because the major- ogy is the only way to make sense of both the origin and ity of scientists say that something is true. Desalle and maintenance of our species genetic diversity, the failure is Tattersall’s Troublesome Science presents solid reasons that we have not explained how evolution does this well grounded in evolutionary science to reject the claims to scholars and laypersons outside of our discipline.
    [Show full text]
  • Extravagant Results of Nature's Arms Race
    Extravagant Results of Nature’s Arms Race - NYTimes.com 3/24/09 5:12 PM This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation- ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the "Reprints" tool that appears next to any article. Visit www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. Order a reprint of this article now. March 24, 2009 Extravagant Results of Nature’s Arms Race By NICHOLAS WADE Nature is reputed to be red in tooth and claw, but many arms races across the animal kingdom are characterized by restraint rather than carnage. Competition among males is often expressed in the form of elaborate weapons made of bone, horn or chitin. The weapons often start off small and then, under the pressure of competition, may evolve to attain gigantic proportions. The Irish elk, now extinct, had antlers with a span of 12 feet. The drawback of this magnificent adornment, though, was that the poor beast had to carry more than 80 pounds of bone on its head. In a new review of sexual selection, a special form of natural selection that leads to outlandish armament and decoration, Douglas J. Emlen, a biologist at the University of Montana, has assembled ideas on the evolutionary forces that have made animal weapons so diverse. Sexual selection was Darwin’s solution to a problem posed by the cumbersome weapons sported by many species, and the baroque ornaments developed by others. They seemed positive handicaps in the struggle for survival, and therefore contrary to his theory of natural selection.
    [Show full text]
  • John Vandermeer
    JOHN VANDERMEER - THE DIALECTICS OF ECOLOGY: BIOLOGICAL, HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL INTERSECTIONS PUBLICATIONS OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 1 GERALD SMITH, Editor LINDA GARCIA, Managing Editor ELIZABETH WASON AND KATHERINE LOUGHNEY, Proofreaders GORDON FITCH AND MACKENZIE SCHONDLEMAYER, Cover graphics The publications of the Museum of Zoology, The University of Michigan, consist primarily of two series—the Miscellaneous Publications and the Occasional Papers. Both series were founded by Dr. Bryant Walker, Mr. Bradshaw H. Swales, and Dr. W. W. Newcomb. Occasionally the Museum publishes contributions outside of these series. Beginning in 1990 these are titled Special Publications and Circulars and each are sequentially numbered. All submitted manuscripts to any of the Museum’s publications receive external peer review. The Occasional Papers, begun in 1913, serve as a medium for original studies based principally upon the collections in the Museum. They are issued separately. When a sufficient number of pages has been printed to make a volume, a title page, table of contents, and an index are supplied to libraries and individuals on the mailing list for the series. The Miscellaneous Publications, initiated in 1916, include monographic studies, papers on field and museum techniques, and other contributions not within the scope of the Occasional Papers, and are published separately. Each number has a title page and, when necessary, a table of contents. A complete list of publications on Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fishes, Insects, Mollusks, and other topics is available. Address inquiries to Publications, Museum of Zoology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109–1079.
    [Show full text]
  • Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior
    NYT, March 20, 2007 Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior By NICHOLAS WADE Some animals are surprisingly sensitive to the plight of others. Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days. Biologists argue that these and other social behaviors are the precursors of human morality. They further believe that if morality grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution, it is for biologists, not philosophers or theologians, to say what these rules are. Moral philosophers do not take very seriously the biologists’ bid to annex their subject, but they find much of interest in what the biologists say and have started an academic conversation with them. The original call to battle was sounded by the biologist Edward O. Wilson more than 30 years ago, when he suggested in his 1975 book “Sociobiology” that “the time has come for ethics to be removed temporarily from the hands of the philosophers and biologicized.” He may have jumped the gun about the time having come, but in the intervening decades biologists have made considerable progress. Last year Marc Hauser, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, proposed in his book “Moral Minds” that the brain has a genetically shaped mechanism for acquiring moral rules, a universal moral grammar similar to the neural machinery for learning language. In another recent book, “Primates and Philosophers,” the primatologist Frans de Waal defends against philosopher critics his view that the roots of morality can be seen in the social behavior of monkeys and apes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Natures of Universal Moralities, 75 Brook
    Brooklyn Law Review Volume 75 Issue 2 SYMPOSIUM: Article 4 Is Morality Universal, and Should the Law Care? 2009 The aN tures of Universal Moralities Bailey Kuklin Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr Recommended Citation Bailey Kuklin, The Natures of Universal Moralities, 75 Brook. L. Rev. (2009). Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr/vol75/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at BrooklynWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Brooklyn Law Review by an authorized editor of BrooklynWorks. The Natures of Universal Moralities Bailey Kuklin† One of the abiding lessons from postmodernism is that reason does not go all the way down.1 In the context of this symposium, one cannot deductively derive a universal morality from incontestible moral primitives,2 or practical reason alone.3 Instead, even reasoned moral systems must ultimately be grounded on intuition,4 a sense of justice. The question then † Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School. I wish to thank the presenters and participants of the Brooklyn Law School Symposium entitled “Is Morality Universal, and Should the Law Care?” and those at the Tenth SEAL Scholarship Conference. Further thanks go to Brooklyn Law School for supporting this project with a summer research stipend. 1 “Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.” JEAN-FRANCOIS LYOTARD, THE POSTMODERN CONDITION: A REPORT ON KNOWLEDGE xxiv (Geoff Bennington & Brian Massumi trans., 1984). “If modernity is viewed with Weberian optimism as the project of rationalisation of the life-world, an era of material progress, social emancipation and scientific innovation, the postmodern is derided as chaotic, catastrophic, nihilistic, the end of good order.” COSTAS DOUZINAS ET AL., POSTMODERN JURISPRUDENCE 16 (1991).
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of Genetics and Race in the Social Sciences Philip N. Cohen Subsequently Published As
    How Troubling is our Inheritance? A review of genetics and race in the social sciences Philip N. Cohen Subsequently published as “How troubling is our inheritance? A review of genetics and race in the social sciences.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 661(September):65-84. DOI: 10.1177/0002716215587673. University of Maryland Department of Sociology 2112 Art-Sociology Building College Park, MD 20472 email: [email protected] Abstract This article addresses the argument that there is variation between races in the biological basis for social behavior. The article uses Nicholas Wade’s popular book, A Troublesome Inheritance, as the point of departure for a discussion of attendant issues, including the extent to which human races can be definitively demarcated biologically, the extent to which genetics is related to contemporary definitions of race, and the role of natural selection as a possible mechanism for change in modern societies. My critical review of the theory and evidence for an evolutionary view of racial determinism finds that genetics does not explain the relative status and well-being of today’s racially identified groups or their broader societies 1 Most social scientists who study race discount the possibility that racial biology plays a major role in the determination of social behavior and inequality. However, the foundation for this consensus may be weak. There is no firm evidence to support the importance of racial biology, and the notion is widely associated with racism, which makes the question of whether racial biology influences social behavior and inequality seem both tangential and tainted by stigma.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Voices: the Leap to Language July 15, 2003 by Nicholas Wade, F1
    New York Times . Early Voices: The Leap to Language July 15, 2003 by Nicholas Wade, F1. Bower birds are artists, leaf-cutting ants practice agriculture, crows use tools, chimpanzees form coalitions against rivals. The only major talent unique to humans is language, the ability to transmit encoded thoughts from the mind of one individual to another. Because of language's central role in human nature and sociality, its evolutionary origins have long been of interest to almost everyone, with the curious exception of linguists. As far back as 1866, the Linguistic Society of Paris famously declared that it wanted no more speculative articles about the origin of language. More recently, many linguists have avoided the subject because of the influence of Noam Chomsky, a founder of modern linguistics and still its best-known practitioner, who has been largely silent on the question. Dr. Chomsky's position has ''only served to discourage interest in the topic among theoretical linguists,'' writes Dr. Frederick J. Newmeyer, last year's president of the Linguistic Society of America, in ''Language Evolution,'' a book of essays being published this month by Oxford University Press in England. In defense of the linguists' tepid interest, there have until recently been few firm facts to go on. Experts offered conflicting views on whether Neanderthals could speak. Sustained attempts to teach apes language generated more controversy than illumination. But new research is eroding the idea that the origins of language are hopelessly lost in the mists of time. New clues have started to emerge from archaeology, genetics and human behavioral ecology, and even linguists have grudgingly begun to join in the discussion before other specialists eat their lunch.
    [Show full text]
  • A Troublesome Inheritance: Nicholas Wadeâ•Žs Botched Interpretation Of
    Human Biology Volume 86 | Issue 3 Article 5 2014 A Troublesome Inheritance: Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution Agustín Fuentes University of Notre Dame, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol Recommended Citation Fuentes, Agustín (2014) "A Troublesome Inheritance: Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution," Human Biology: Vol. 86: Iss. 3, Article 5. Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol86/iss3/5 A Troublesome Inheritance: Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution Abstract Review of A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, by Nicholas Wade. New York: Penguin Press, 2013. x + 278 pp. 978-1-5942-0446-3 (hardcover). US $27.95. Keywords . This open access article is available in Human Biology: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol86/iss3/5 book review A Troublesome Inheritance: Nicholas Wade’s Botched Interpretation of Human Genetics, History, and Evolution Agustín Fuentes1 A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, by Nicholas Wade. New York: Penguin Press, 2014. x + 278 pp. 978-1-5942-0446-3 (hardcover). US $27.95. umans are still evolving, genetic sequences evolutionary biology (see Marks 1995, 2010). Rather are important, and populations of humans than actually acknowledging the copious, and cur- Hdifffer from one another in many ways, rent, scientifijic research on human genetic variation including patterns of allelic variation. These facts that contradicts his assertions, Wade reviews, and are not debatable; they are true—but none of them rejects, only the protests of Jared Diamond and are accurately discussed or represented in Nicholas assertions by Richard Lewontin.
    [Show full text]
  • Prevalence in News Media of Two Competing Hypotheses About COVID-19 Origins
    social sciences $€ £ ¥ Communication Prevalence in News Media of Two Competing Hypotheses about COVID-19 Origins David Rozado Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; [email protected] Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most disruptive and painful phenomena of the last few decades. As of July 2021, the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the outbreak remain a mystery. This work analyzes the prevalence in news media articles of two popular hypotheses about SARS-CoV-2 virus origins: the natural emergence and the lab-leak hypotheses. Our results show that for most of 2020, the natural emergence hypothesis was favored in news media content while the lab-leak hypothesis was largely absent. However, something changed around May 2021 that caused the prevalence of the lab-leak hypothesis to substantially increase in news media discourse. This shift has not been uniformed across media organizations but instead has manifested itself more acutely in some outlets than others. Our structural break analysis of daily news media usage of terms related to the laboratory escape hypothesis provides hints about potential sources for this sudden shift in the prevalence of the lab-leak hypothesis in prestigious news media. Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; lab-leak; news media 1. Introduction Citation: Rozado, David. 2021. Prevalence in News Media of Two The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous amounts of human suffering world- Competing Hypotheses about wide. As of July 2021, the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the outbreak remain COVID-19 Origins.
    [Show full text]
  • 2-Web Lecture Notes 2013-3-5
    Lecture Notes for Biology 101: An Introduction to Science and Biology for Non-Majors Instructor David L. Alles Course Outline The organization of this course has been driven by the goal of providing non-majors with a coherent picture of modern biological knowledge. To accomplish this goal it’s necessary that each student gains an appreciation of the nature of science and is introduced to the integrated view of our world that modern science has produced. To facilitate this the course is divided into four parts. Part One: The Nature of Science There are three elements in defining science: 1) the values of science, 2) science as a profession, and 3) the product of science—scientific knowledge. Using this definition, the goal of Part One is to introduce the fundamental nature of the scientific enterprise. Major Units: Defining Science The Epistemic Values of Science The Origin of Modern Science Science as a Profession Part Two: The Conceptual Framework of Biology The goal of Part Two is to introduce the conceptual framework of modern biology. Evolution and historical systems provide the conceptual framework or paradigm for understanding modern biology. But a basic understanding and appreciation of molecular biology is also necessary before we can begin to integrate all of biological knowledge. Major Units: Cosmological Evolution Natural Levels of Organization in the Physical World Biological Evolution Life as a Chemical Function—Biochemistry & Genetics The Modern Synthesis—Darwin and Mendel Part Three: The Integration of Biological Knowledge The purpose of Part Three is to show how biological knowledge can be integrated into a coherent picture of life on Earth.
    [Show full text]
  • Nicholas Wade. the Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures
    Nicholas Wade. The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures. New York: Penguin, 2009 Reviewed by Brian Jackson eople of faith may not warm to the view that the mind’s receptiv- Pity to religion has been shaped by evolution,” writes Nicholas Wade, science writer for the New York Times, in his new book The Faith Instinct (5). If religion evolves with cultural circumstances, then it loses some of its immutable, supernatural qualities. On the other hand, atheists “may not embrace the idea that religious behavior evolved because it con- ferred essential benefits on ancient societies and their successors” (5). If we accept the proposition that faith endures because cultures select it (perhaps unconsciously) as a necessary attribute of their survival, then we have to accept the proposition that religion is good—even necessary—for the survival of the species. Though Wade’s book will not delight the deeply religious or the defiantly irreligious, it provides an eloquent tour of evolu- tionary biology’s adventure with faith. Like Robert Wright’s popular book The Evolution of God, published in 2009, The Faith Instinctis a journalist’s attempt to articulate, in accessible prose for the nonexpert, the salutary nature of religion as a natural phenomenon of group selection. This expla- nation works well if religions are considered merely cultural or social institutions. However, Wade ultimately cannot account for the essence of religion as we experience it—as a vital, orienting, and motivating force for personal growth. With The Faith Instinct, Wade wades into troubled waters. Evolution continues to divide the public, even though it has long been accepted as fact by the scientific community.
    [Show full text]