Darwinian populations and natural selection /

This book on evolutionary theory authored by a philosopher, Godfrey-Smith (Harvard; Theory and Reality, 2003; Complexity and the Function of Mind and Nature, 1996), is mainly (but not exclusively) for philosophers. It is well written, pithy, and eminently accessible to biologists interested in modern Darwinian theory. Chapter 1 gives an admirable overview not only of the aims but also of the author's stand on subjects developed in the following chapters. Godfrey-Smith covers in detail issues related to natural selection and its representations, variation and selection, origins, reproduction, and the various views of "individuality." The work is particularly enlightening in its discussions of levels of transitions, the proposed issues of germ lines, and "the gene's eye view." Cultural evolution receives detailed treatment, making it of some interest to anthropologists. The book should be valuable to those in science (or teaching science) and philosophers concerned about science and its conceptual methodology (not its techniques, as the two are often confused). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above in evolutionary biology, philosophy, and/or anthropology. F. S. Szalay University of New Mexico