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Evolution as Natural History: A Philosophical Analysis (Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence)
Wim J. van der Steen
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
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ASIN: 0275968707 |
Book Description
Wim van der Steen charts conceptual foundations of evolutionary biology and, on the basis of this, he evaluates applications of evolutionary theory outside biology. Philosophical analysis shows that key notions of the theory such as fitness, adaptation, selection, and optimality are empty place-holder concepts that call for context-dependent specifications of meaning. For example, as he points out, the notion of optimality is empty without a specification of constraints. Hence, the controversial thesis that animals perform optimal behaviors as a result of natural selection is meaningless rather than true or false. Analysis shows that many other controversies in evolutionary biology are spurious. Thus, the thesis of genic selectionism, which puts genes at center stage in evolutionary theory, is best reconstructed as an arbitrary conceptualization without substance. Disagreements over the thesis are futile. They reflect preferences for different conceptualizations which are ultimately equivalent. As concepts are properly specified, van der Steen asserts evolutionary theory turns out to be a body of interesting natural history at a low level of generality. General laws of evolution do not exist. Hence, evolutionary approaches do not allow sweeping claims about human nature. Unfortunately, in disciplines outside biology such claims are often defended with evolutionary approaches. Evolutionary theory also cannot serve as a foundation for normative views in ethics or epistemology. This is an important and controversial work for scholars and advanced researchers in biology and the philosophy of biology.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Metaphysics, published by Philosophy Education Society, Inc. on June 1, 2001. The length of the article is 619 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Evolution as Natural History: a Philosophical Analysis. (book review)
Author: Richard J. Blackwell
Publication:
The Review of Metaphysics (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2001
Publisher: Philosophy Education Society, Inc.
Volume: 54
Issue: 4
Page: 950(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Non-Radical Polymerisation (Comprehensive Chemical Kinetics)
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
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ASIN: 0444412522 |
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- Frolov and Novikov's Black Hole Physics
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Black Hole Physics - Basic Concepts and New Developments (Fundamental Theories of Physics)
V. Frolov , and
I. Novikov
Manufacturer: Springer
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The Quantum Theory of Fields
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Modern Cosmology
ASIN: 0792351460 |
Book Description
This volume on black holes can be seen as a sequel to Physics of Black Holes, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1989. The authors are recognised experts in their field, and have many years' experience in teaching courses on general relativity and black holes.
Customer Reviews:
Frolov and Novikov's Black Hole Physics.......2000-04-09
I referenced these authors and also Klapdor-Kleingrothaus and Zuber (see my review of their book) in my paper on Quantum Gravity delivered before Professor Kursunoglu's Orbis Scientiae Quantum Gravity conference in December, 1999 (see my review of Kursunoglu). The Editor has summarized the book in his usual excellent way, and here I should just add that there is much material in this book not covered in others, including relationships with 2+1 dimensional quantum gravity (see my review of Carlip, black holes inside monopoles, dilatons, quantum hair, etc. Everyone should buy this book and, if necessary, hire a consultant or tutor to translate it into more simple English.
Book Description
Einstein's general theory of relativity is introduced in this advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level textbook. Topics include special relativity in the formalism of Minkowski's four-dimensional space-time, the principle of equivalence, Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis, Einstein's field equation and cosmology. The author presents the subject from the very beginning with an emphasis on physical examples and simple applications without the full tensor apparatus. One first learns how to describe curved spacetime. At this mathematically more accessible level, the reader can already study the many interesting phenomena such as gravitational lensing, precession of Mercury's perihelion, black holes, as well as cosmology. The full tensor formulation is presented later, when the Einstein equation is solved for a few symmetric cases. Many modern topics in cosmology are discussed in this book: from inflation and cosmic microwave anisotropy to the "dark energy" that propels an accelerating universe. Mathematical accessibility, together with the various pedagogical devices (e.g., worked-out solutions of chapter-end problems), make it practical for interested readers to use the book to study general relativity, gravitation and cosmology on their own.
Customer Reviews:
This book is a gem.......2007-07-06
Intermediate level, with clear presentation, lots of graphics and exercises, ideal for self-study. In one word, excellent.
Excellent Material to begin with and test yourself........2005-02-25
I'm a second year astrophysics student from Ireland.
Recently I've tried to learn the Mathematics of General Relativity in detail, outside of my course and have bought numerous books in the process.
In my opinion this book and "A First Course in General Relativity by Bernard F. Schutz" are perfect complementary texts to learn the main basis of General Relativity on your own.
The author has provided an unbelievable amount of questions and not a single one of them is pointless exercise.
The book is Divided into three sections:
Part 1: Metric description of Space-Time
Very well written intro to General Relativity which delves into Black Holes and Mercury's Orbit, without the full on Field Equation and Tensors.
Part 2: Cosmology
Still keeping to the metric description of space-time, cosmology is introduced. The mathematics of concepts like the closed and open universes are explained really well.
Part 3: Full Tensor Formulism
I was able to learn Tensors from this, using Chapter 3 from Schutz's book as a companion.
The questions at the end of each chapter really test your knowledge and after reading this you will be able to manipulate the field equation for simple cases and move onto more advanced books if you wish.
Book Description
Using a clear, non-technical style, Professor Rohrlich discusses the two major theories of twentieth-century physics: relativity and quantum mechanics. Discussed conceptually and philosophically, rather than using mathematics, the philosophical issues raised show how new discoveries forced physicists to accept often strange and unconventional notions. He aims to remove the mystery and misrepresentation that often surround the ideas of modern physics and to show how modern scientists construct theories, so that the reader can appreciate their successes and failures and understand problems that are as yet unresolved.
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- After buying this book I stopped buying GR textbooks
- A SOLID, WELL-DONE TEXTBOOK FOR STUDENTS OF PHYSICS.
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Basic Relativity
Richard A. Mould
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity
ASIN: 0387952101 |
Book Description
This is a comprehensive textbook for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in physics or astrophysics, developing both the formalism and the physical ideas of special and general relativity in a logical and coherent way. The book is in two parts. Part one focuses on the special theory and begins with the study of relativistic kinematics from three points of view: the physical (the classic gedanken experiments), the algebraic (the Lorentz transformations), and the graphic (the Minkowski diagrams). Part one concludes with chapters on relativistic dynamics and electrodynamics. Part two begins with a chapter introducing differential geometry to set the mathematical background for general relativity. The physical basis for the theory is begun in the chapter on uniform accelerations. Subsequent chapters cover rotation, the electromagnetic field, and material media. A second chapter on differential geometry provides the background for Einstein's gravitational-field equation and Schwarzschild's solution. The physical significance of this solution is examined together with the challenges to the theory that have been successfully met inside the solar system. Other applications follow in the final chapters on astronomy and cosmology: These include black holes, quasars, and gravity waves as well as the relativistic features of an expanding universe ¿ including a section on the inflationary model.
Customer Reviews:
After buying this book I stopped buying GR textbooks.......2001-06-13
As a non-physicist with interest for General Relativity I read a lot of popular science books about General Relativity. Unfortunately most books stop just before it is getting interesting. This book teaches you the necessary maths and the physical ideas of Special and General Relativity. I know this book is not the most complete GR textbook available, but it is certainly very readable from beginning to the end.
Professor Mould did a great job.
A SOLID, WELL-DONE TEXTBOOK FOR STUDENTS OF PHYSICS........1998-10-15
Am teaching 8 weeks of Special Relativity out of PART I of this book--for the third time. This book is well-suited for juniors and seniors in Physics. It is a balanced, careful treatment which contains everything I look for in a text on SR: a dollop of 19th century history, gedanken experiments, lorentz algebra, Minkowski diagrams, mechanics, AND electromagnetism (which is hard to find in lower-level treatments.)--all in less than 175 pages!
The math is kept as simple as possible --Euclidean metric--by stratagem of using imaginary 4th- components in 4-vectors. The Lorentz transform reduces to the familiar orthogonal transform.
But teachers, students, and mathematical purists, BEWARE!! The notation, Physics style, can be very casual and often slow or difficult to write or word-process, or even downright misleading. I need to give my students several pages of improved notations so that we can express ourselves and communicate easily. Some things needing help: proper time, 3-vectors,4-vectors, their components, as well as matrices, and their transposes or inverses. But, once this is cleared up, the book is enlightening and worth the effort. An excellent selection of exercises is provided at backs of chapters--do as many as you have time for.
Even an afficionado of the subject will have to sweat some. I very much doubt that a complete novice in relativity should attempt this book.
I have no comments on the PART II of the book, which covers general relativity.
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Basic Concepts in Relativity
Robert Resnick , and
David Halliday
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0023993456 |
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Good self-study book.......2000-03-27
It is a shame that this book is out of print. If you want to learn the special theory of relativity but can't or don't have the time to take a course in it, then this is a very good book to consult. Just about everything in here is easy to follow. I picked up concepts very quickly using this book, when I used it for self study a few years back. The only part that I would change, is that I would add on a section on electrodynamics and relativity.
Ray Jensen
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Inside Time: Innovations in the Basic Concepts of Physics and Mathematics
Ray Romar
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 075960911X |
Customer Reviews:
An incredible thinker.......2001-11-27
Ray's work is one of the most thoughtful and intelligent works on the topic of mathematics that I have ever read.
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MISTRESS WILDING
Manufacturer: McClelland & Stewart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GSG7OY |
Average customer rating:
- Not Captain Blood, but still good
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Mistress Wilding
Rafael Sabatini
Manufacturer: Hard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Black Swan
ASIN: 1406946281
Release Date: 2006-11-03 |
Book Description
1924. After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the 1890s, and his first novel came out in 1902. It took Sabatini roughly a quarter of century of hard work before he attained success with Scaramouche in 1921. This brilliant novel of the French Revolution became an international bestseller. It was followed by the equally successful Captain Blood in 1922. A prolific writer, he produced about a book a year. Mistress Wilding begins: Then drink it thus, cried the rash young fool, and splashed the contents of his cup full into the face of Mr. Wilding even as that gentleman, on his feet, was proposing to drink to the eyes of the young fool's sister. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Download Description
Not what some people seem to think based on the title.
Customer Reviews:
Not Captain Blood, but still good.......2007-01-05
Chronicling the fortunes of Anthony Wilding as he attempts to woo his lady and help the Duke of Monmouth in his uprising against King James, this book was an entertaining read. There's romance and adventure, intrigue and suspense. It was also interesting to have a story that kind of overlapped with the story of Captain Blood, who was wrongly condemned for involvement in the Monmouth uprising... for those of you who are ridiculously obsessed with Captain Blood, like myself : ) Overall, I'd recommend this though, if you can get your hands on it.
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