SEWALL WRIGHT AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY William B. Provine. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986. 561 pp., illus. $30. Sewall Wright has long despaired at being associated with an overly narrow view of the evolutionary process, one that attributes extreme importance to chance factors and neglects the role of natural se lection. His archrival, R.A. Fisher, contributed in no small way to this caricature. Even among those who get Wright's views on evolution straight there are those who minimize the breadth and depth of his researches. This fine biography of Wright goes a long way toward correcting this tendency. Wright, who is now 96 years old, was much more than just an evolutionary biologist. He was a student of the physiology of gene action, and Provine brings that work to life. He devotes a chapter to another considerable chunk of Wright's work, the development and application of the method of path ...
...More Than an Evolutionary Theorist
SEWALL WRIGHT AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY William B. Provine. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986. 561 pp., illus. $30. Sewall Wright has long despaired at being associated with an overly narrow view of the evolutionary process, one that attributes extreme importance to chance factors and neglects the role of natural se lection. His archrival, R.A. Fisher, contributed in no small way to this caricature. Even among those who get Wright's views on evolution straight there are those who minimi
Written byJohn Beatty
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