Product Description

This is the definitive edition of R.A. Fisher's classic work--probably the best known book in evolutionary biology after Darwin's Origin of Species. The book was the first attempt to assess and explain Darwin's evolutionary theories in terms of genetic evolution. Based on the original 1930 edition, the book incorporates the many changes Fisher made for the second edition as well as unpublished material taken from Fisher's own copy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #760314 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 318 pages

Review

"This work is cited in Books for College Libraries, 3d ed. Fisher's original 1930 text is reproduced here in facsimile, including the original preface, table of contents, list of colored plates (here included as black and white) and text. Providing a synthesis of Darwinian selection and Mendelian genetics and marking a turning point in the development of evolutionary thought, this work is one of the most frequently cited references in modern evolutionary biology. Added to the facsimile is a brief foreword about Fisher and the work's reception. An appendix provides an annotated list of other papers on genetical theory by Fisher."--SciTech Book News

About the Author
Sir Ronald A Fisher is one of the best- known statisticians of this century. After becoming disaffected with the UK academic environment, he moved to the University of Adelaide, to whom he entrusted the copyright of all his works. Professor Henry Bennett worked with him at the University of Adelaide and has access to all of Fisher's material, published and unpublished. Professor J H Bennett: University of Adelaide, Box 498, G.P.O., Adelaide, South Australia 5001 fax: 00 61 8 8303 4399

Customer Reviews

AN INTERESTING AND SIGNIFICANT ADDITION TO EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
Ronald A. Fisher(1890-1962) was an English geneticist, and one of the founders of population genetics. In the Preface to this 1930 book, he states, "The present book, with all the limitations of a first attempt, is at least an attempt to consider the theory of Natural Selection on its own merits." He articulates a number of principles such as, "The rate of increase in fitness of any organism at any time is equal to its genetic variance in fitness at that time."

He states that Natural Selection "affords a rational explanation of structures, reactions and instincts which can be recognized as profitable to their individual possessors. It affords no corresponding explanation for any properties of animals or plants which, without being individually advantageous, are supposed to be of service to the species to which they belong." He further argues, "the widely observed fact that mutations are usually recessive should not lead us to assume that this is true of mutations of a beneficial or neutral character."

However, he also admits, "A mutation, even if favorable, will have only a very small chance of establishing itself in the species if it occurs once only. If its selective advantage is only 1 per cent, it may well have to occur 50 times, but scarcely in mature individuals as many as 250 times before it establishes itself in a sufficient number of individuals for its future prospects to be secure."

He is nevertheless optimistic about the possibilities of variation: "It has not so often been realized how very far most existing species must be from such a state of stagnation, or how easily with no more than one hundred factors a species may be modified to a condition considerably outside the range of its previous variation, and this in a large number of different characteristics." He holds that "In this way it is by no means a supposition to be excluded as impossible that a character first manifested equally by the two sexes should, by the action of natural selection, later become sex-limited in its appearance."

Fisher was also a fervent believer in Eugenics; the last five chapters of the book offer Fisher's thoughts on "Reproduction in relation to social class," "Conditions of Permanent Civilization," "race-mixing," etc. He suggests that the decline of civilizations is related to lowered fertility of the upper classes. These ideas will certainly limit the appeal of his book to a modern reader.

An outdated classic
This book provided much of the theoretical foundation for the evolutionary theory known as the "modern synthesis," an attempt to reconcile Darwinian theory with Mendelian inheritance. It is written for the academic rather than for the lay reader.
Sadly, Fisher (a legend in mathematics for his contributions to statistics) did a poor job of digesting the consequences of Mendellian inheritance. He does an exquisite job of quantifying population dynamics but not of recognizing the practical implications of his equations.
For all that, this book is a staple of many college biology courses.