Book Description

Excerpt from Readings in Evolution, Genetics, and Eugenics This book has been prepared to meet a specific demand, long felt here and elsewhere, for an account of the various phases of evolutionary biology condensed within the scope of one volume of moderate size. The present writer has now for sixteen successive years presented in lecture form to large classes of students the subjects of evolution, genetics, and eugenics. Never have we been able to find a single book that would cover the required ground. In fact it has been necessary to require, or at least to recommend, as many as three books. It is believed that the present book will furnish adequate reading material for a major or a semester course in evolutionary biology. Some supplementary reading may be necessary in case an instructor wishes to emphasize one or more phases of the subject; but for a first course in the subject we believe that all of the essential reading material will be found within the text itself. An effort has been made to present the subject in the best pedagogical order. After a general introduction, a rather long chapter appears in which the whole history of the development of evolutionary science is outlined, together with the names and contributions of the leading evolutionists. Part II is a presentation of the evidences of organic evolution, beginning with the bodies of evidence most definite and direct, and ending with the less definite and more controversial. Part III deals with causo-mechanical theories of evolution with Darwinism as the central topic. Part IV concerns itself with genetics or modern experimental evolution, and Part with eugenics, or genetics as applied to human improvement. The book consists largely of excerpts, some long and some short, from both the older classical evolutionary writers and the modern writers. Our aim has been to select the most significant or characteristic passages from each author. In most cases this ideal has been attained, but it has sometimes happened that we have had to make our selection of material to meet a real need hi the book, and accordingly have selected from an author a passage he himself might not consider particularly characteristic of his work. We have succeeded, nevertheless, in welding together out of a collection of isolated chapters and passages what seems to us to be a close approach to a coherent unit. Unification has been accomplished by the aid of editorial connecting passages, introductory statements, criticisms, and summaries. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.