Conceptual Change in Biology

This volume explores questions about conceptual change from both scientific and philosophical viewpoints by analyzing the recent history of evolutionary developmental biology. It features revised papers that originated from the workshop "Conceptual Change in Biological Science: Evolutionary Developmental Biology, 1981-2011" held at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin in July 2010. The Preface has been written by Ron Amundson.

In these papers, philosophers and biologists compare and contrast key concepts in evolutionary developmental biology and their development since the original, seminal Dahlem conference on evolution and development held in Berlin in 1981. Many of the original scientific participants from the 1981 conference are also contributors to this new volume and, in conjunction with other expert biologists and philosophers specializing on these topics, provide an authoritative, comprehensive view on the subject.

Taken together, the papers supply novel perspectives on how and why the conceptual landscape has shifted and stabilized in particular ways, yielding insights into the dynamic epistemic changes that have occurred over the past three decades. This volume will appeal to philosophers of biology studying conceptual change, evolutionary developmental biologists focused on comprehending the genesis of their field and evaluating its future directions, and historians of biology examining this period when the intersection of ev

• Allometry
• Biological Concepts
• Biomechanics
• Development and Evolution
• Developmental Constraint
• Evolutionary Developmental Biology
• Evolvability
• Heterochrony
• Hierarchy
• Homology
• Homoplasy
• Integration
• Interdisciplinarity
• Modern Synthesis
• Modularity
• Novelty
• Phenotypic Plasticity
• Philosophy of Biology/Science

“Conceptual Change in Biology presents and excellent collection of papers, written by some of the most central researchers and philosophers in the field, that situate original biological research in historical context in an engaging and accessible manner. In addition, thanks to the narrative and personal style of various authors the edition allows the reader approaching the current theoretical shift in biology and the conceptual transformations at the intersection between development and evolution, respectively, in a unique and lively fashion.” (Jan Baedke, Acta Biotheoretica, Vol. 64, 2016)

“This book does a very good job of showing how around 1980 scientists from fields as different as paleontology and molecular embryology came together to found EvoDevo. … The book is nicely produced and most chapters well illustrated. … The book is also well bound and will withstand intense use in libraries, labs, and offices. … recommended to both research workers and advanced students ofhistory and philosophy of biology, as well as to evolutionary biologists.” (Lennart Olsson, Biological Theory, Vol. 11, 2016)

“The book is the product of a 2010 workshop commemorating the influential 1981 Dahlem conference that inspired the research program now known as evolutionary developmental biology, or Evo-devo. … theorists who take the time to digest this collection’s offerings will find it a resource worth consuming. … The book’s essays give conceptual and historical context to current debates such as the one over dinosaur integument.” (Leonard Finkelman, Metascience, Vol. 24, 2015)

“This book offers an excellent set of examples of the large extent to which an individual researcher can modify targets, approaches, and eventually interpretations of nature along his or her career … .” (Alessandro Minelli, Science and Education, Vol. 24, 2015)

• Department of Philosophy, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

  Alan C. Love

Policies and ethics