The Philosophy of Zoology Before Darwin

This long-overdue survey eschews Darwin and follows the work of naturalists of many nationalities who used paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology in order to establish a linear continuity of evolving life though the long span of geological time.

Jean Octave Edmond Perrier was a French zoologist who lived through the tumult of British Darwinism and Lyellism, and reminds us in this revealing account that French scientists had much to contribute to such perennial topics as evolution, catastrophism and creationism. While very much a product of the Third Republic, Perrier's account also aimed to outline timeless issues and permanent advances in taxonomic and developmental biology since classical Greece and Rome. In this aim he succeeds with surprisingly modern perspectives for a book first published in 1884. Perrier was born May 9, 1844 at Tulle, the son of the principal of a school which now bears his name, Lycée Edmond Perrier. In 1864 he was accepted to the École Normale Supérieure, where he was strongly influenced by Louis Pasteur and Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers. After working for three years at a high school in Agen, he obtained a post of naturalist-aid at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (1868), advancing in that institution to Chair of Natural History of Molluscs, Worms and Corals (18761903) and then Director of the museum (19001919) and Chair of Comparative Anatomy (19031921). Previous directors of the museum included many of the scientists he discusses in this book: George Cuvier (18221823, 18261827, 18301831), Isidore Geoffrey St Hilaire (1860 1861), and Alphonse Milne-Edwards (18911900). Perrier's own research on echinoderms and earthworms took him on several expeditions in 1880-1885, mostly to Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, but also to the Caribbean.

Thorough historical survey of the development of the concept of evolution before the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species Providing an alternative view of the recent literature and journal articles commemorating Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of publication of On the Origin of Species Richly annotated with up to date information and explanations of the changing concepts and terminology as well as featuring an extensive Glossary and Biographical index

Autorentext

Alex McBirney, a retired professor of Geology at the University of Oregon is the author of several books on the history of science, as well as his many studies on volcanology and igneous petrology. He developed an interest in Darwin while working in the Galapagos Islands and learned about Perrier's long-overlooked book through his friend, Philippe Janvier, at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. He saw that it was a very scholarly book of broad interest, but after reading few pages he realized why it had been almost totally ignored. Much of the text is very convoluted and almost incomprehensible, even to native French speakers. Enlisting the help of two colleagues, Gregory Retallack, a paleontologist, and Stanton Cook, a biologist, he undertook the task of translating it into a more readable form, so that it would be available to wide audience. The text has been annotated to take into account more recent work, and an extensive Glossary and Biographical Index have been added to provide a ready reference to the technical terms and persons cited in the text.

Klappentext

This long-overlooked survey of the development of evolutionary theory is by far the most thorough and balanced account of its kind. Unlike most of the recent Anglo-centric literature that tends to focus almost exclusively on Darwin and natural selection, it follows the work of naturalists of many nationalities who used paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology in order to establish a linear continuity of evolving life though the long span of geological time. Thorough historical survey of the development of the concept of evolution before the publication of Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'. Providing an alternative view of the recent literature and journal articles commemorating Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of publication of 'The Origin of Species'. Richly annotated with up to date information and explanations of the changing concepts and terminology as well as featuring an extensive Glossary and Biographical index.

Inhalt
Aristotle.- The Roman Period.- The Middle Ages and Renaissance.- Evolution of the Concept of Species.- Philosophers of the XVIIIth Century.- Buffon.- Lamarck.- Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.- Georges Cuvier.- Debate between Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.- Goethe.- Dugès.- The German Natural Philosophers.- The Theory of the Organic Types and its Consequences.- Louis Agassiz.- The Lower Animals.- Cell Theory and the Constitution of the Individual.- Embryology.- Species and their Modifications.