The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic examines the statistical tools and concepts of chance which underlie their applications in natural selection and game theory. The book analyzes the newly recognized relationship between our theoretical apparatus for understanding biological populations and the biological world itself. Over the history of evolutionary biology, including the period from Darwin's early notebooks in 1830 and the publication of R. A. Fisher's Genetical Theory of Natural Selection in 1930, the basis of evolutionary theory has transformed to require considerations of mathematics, statistics and chance.
This book charts the development of evolutionary theory from its beginnings to today's advanced knowledge of the primary role of chance in biological processes, making it an ideal resource for evolutionary biologists, researchers and academics in evolution and biological statistics.
- Analyzes research and assesses how and why these "foundational” conclusions were reached by original evolutionary biologists, including Darwin, Galton, Pearson, and more
- Describes the journey of the role of chance in evolutionary theory and its contemporary understanding
- Includes assessments of the nature vs. nurture theory and Provine's history of population genetics
Charles H. Pence is Chargé de cours (Assistant Professor) at the Institut supérieur de philosophie, and director of the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society (CEFISES) at the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Previously, he was Assistant Professor and Director of the LSU Ethics Institute at Louisiana State University. He is the author of 2 books and over 20 articles and book chapters on the philosophy and history of evolutionary theory. His work centers on the integrated philosophy and history of biology, with a particular focus on the introduction and contemporary use of concepts of chance and methods of statistics in evolutionary theory.