History and Philosophy of the Relations between Evolutionary and Developmental Biology

进化与发育生物学之间关系的历史和哲学

• 批准号: 0135451
• 负责人: Ronald Amundson
• 金额: $ 9.16万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii at Hilo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-08-15 至 2004-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0135451&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: History; Philosophy; Relations; between; Evolutionary

Project AbstractSES Proposal 0135451History and Philosophy of the Relations between Evolutionary andDevelopmental BiologyRonald Amundson, University of HawaiiEvolutionary developmental biology is a fast growing new field, stimulated by the rapid advances in molecular developmental genetics during the 1990s. Professional excitement is evident in the appearance of new professional organizations, journals, textbooks, granting programs, and even a new nickname, Evo Devo. But the relations between evolutionary and developmental biology are anything but new. They began in the 1860s with Darwin's earliest followers in evolutionary morphology. Their scientific program ran into difficulties, and was abandoned during the 1890s. Evolutionary biology itself was in a period of flux and controversy until the Evolutionary Synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s. The Evolutionary Synthesis unified many areas of biology, but did not include development as a relevant factor for evolutionary understanding. A lively debate about the importance of development arose again around 1980 with equally fierce arguments from both defenders of the Synthesis and iconoclastic advocates of development. The current scientific excitement about Evo Devo comes not from the resolution of the methodological issues but from the promise of increasingly rich progress in developmental genetics. In this project, Dr. Amundson examines the history of the debates about the relevance of development to evolution. He compares points of contention and the ways in which scientific disputes are settled. Among the key questions are these: In what ways are today's issues about development in biology similar to those of past debates in the 19th or mid-20th centuries? To what extent do the debates depend on empirical discoveries, and to what extent on differences in scientific method? Will the methodological differences that still persist between Evo Devo and the mainstream evolutionary theory be a barrier to an integrated theory of evolution? The project suggests the importance of philosophy and methodology in scientific debate and the significance of history in understanding contemporary science.

项目摘要提案0135451历史与夏威夷大学发展生物学发展生物学发展生物学之间关系的历史和哲学，这是一个快速发展的新领域，受到1990年代分子发育遗传学的快速发展的刺激。 专业的兴奋在新的专业组织，期刊，教科书，授予程序，甚至是新的昵称Evo Devo的外观中很明显。但是，进化和发展生物学之间的关系并不是什么新鲜事物。他们始于1860年代，达尔文最早的进化形态追随者。 他们的科学计划遇到了困难，并在1890年代被废弃。进化生物学本身一直处于泛滥和争议时期，直到1930年代和1940年代的进化综合。进化综合统一了生物学的许多领域，但并未将发展作为进化理解的相关因素。关于发展的重要性的一场激烈的辩论在1980年左右再次引起，其合成和偶像碎屑倡导者的捍卫者的争论同样激烈。当前对EVO Devo的科学兴奋不是来自方法论问题的解决，而是源于发展遗传学进展日益丰富的希望。 在这个项目中，Amundson博士研究了有关发展与进化的相关性的辩论历史。他比较了争论点和解决科学纠纷的方式。其中的关键问题是：今天，关于生物学发展的问题与19世纪或20世纪中期的辩论类似？ 辩论在多大程度上取决于经验发现，以及科学方法的差异在多大程度上？ Evo Devo和主流进化论之间仍然存在的方法论差异是否会成为进化综合理论的障碍？ 该项目表明哲学和方法论在科学辩论中的重要性以及历史在理解当代科学方面的重要性。