Darwin's Corals A New Model of Evolution and the Tradition of Natural History |
|
| Author:
| Bredekamp, Horst |
| ISBN: | 978-3-11-064334-3 |
| Publication Date: | Sep 2019 |
| Publisher: | Walter de Gruyter GmbH
|
| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | AUD $48.50 |
Book Description:
|
To this day Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory of the "survival of the fittest" has been visualized with the universal model of a tree of life. But early on in Darwin's thinking the coral provided a fascinating alternative to the tree as a depiction of the evolution of the species.
Horst Bredekamp shows how Darwin, a coral enthusiast and collector, found in it a more adequate illustration of evolution through natural selection: It grows anarchically in all directions and no...
More Description
To this day Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory of the "survival of the fittest" has been visualized with the universal model of a tree of life. But early on in Darwin's thinking the coral provided a fascinating alternative to the tree as a depiction of the evolution of the species.
Horst Bredekamp shows how Darwin, a coral enthusiast and collector, found in it a more adequate illustration of evolution through natural selection: It grows anarchically in all directions and no longer upholds mankind as the "crown of creation." Using this example Darwin is proving himself to be both a destroyer and consummator of traditional natural philosophy. Since antiquity the coral had been a symbol of nature as a whole.