Evolution as a pachinko history: what is 'random'?

W e discussed a Japanese pachinko machine in an earlier post , a pinball machine, as an example of the difference between randomness and det...

adaptationchanceevolutionnatural selectionpachinko machines

Darwin the Newtonian. Part V. A spectrum, not a dogma

O ur previous installments on genetic drift (a form of chance) vs natural selection (a deterministic force-like phenomenon) and the degree t...

darwinismevolutiongenetic driftnatural selectionphenogenetic drift

Darwin the Newtonian. Part IV. What is 'natural selection'?

I f, as I suggested yesterday , genetic drift is a rather unprovable or even metaphysical notion, then what is the epistemological standing ...

causationevolutiongenetic driftnatural selectionphilosophy of science

Darwin the Newtonian. Part II. Is life really 'Newtonian'?

I n yesterday's  post  I suggested that Darwin had a Newtonian view of the world, that is, he repeatedly and clearly described the organ...

Darwindarwinismdriftevolutionmutationnatural selectionNewtonNewton's laws

Darwin the Newtonian. Part I. The Darwinian worldview

H istory shows that, even in science, things that everyone has long taken for granted may not be true.  Thinking in ways more carefully cons...

Darwinevolutionnatural selectionNewtonscience

They were all my future specimens. And they died.

Without skeletal collections we'd struggle to do much evolutionary biology, especially when it comes to studying fossils. We'd hate ...

adaptationbioarchaeologyevolutionevolutionary anthropologyfitnessholly dunsworthnatural selectionosteological paradoxosteologyskeletal samples

If mutations can go viral, adaptationism is less annoying.

Feb. 9, 2016: I have edited the paragraph beginning with "Exciting..." to remove details of mutation rates because my initial post...

de novo mutationsevolutiongenetic driftholly dunsworthmicrocephalymutationmutation ratesnatural selectionvirusviruseszikazika virus