A01=Richard Owen
academic
adaptation
animals
archetype
Author_Richard Owen
biology
bones
britain
Category=PSAJ
Category=PSC
charles darwin
definition
developmental
discovery
empirical
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
essays
evolution
fieldwork
form
function
historical
history
homology
innovation
innovative
naturalist
organic
organs
research
richard owen
scholarly
science
scientific
scientist
skeletal
skeleton
species
theoretical
vertebrate
Product details
- ISBN 9780226641942
- Weight: 482g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 15 Jan 2008
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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The most prominent naturalist in Britain before Charles Darwin, Richard Owen made empirical discoveries and offered theoretical innovations that were crucial to the proof of evolution. Among his many lasting contributions to science was the first clear definition of the term homology: "the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function." He also graphically demonstrated that all vertebrate species were built on the same skeletal plan and devised the vertebrate archetype as a representation of the simplest common form of all vertebrates. Just as Darwin's ideas continue to propel the modern study of adaptation, so too will Owen's contributions fuel the new interest in homology, organic form, and evolutionary developmental biology. His theory of the archetype and his views on species origins were first offered to the general public in "On the Nature of Limbs", published in 1849. It re-emerges here in a facsimile edition with introductory essays by prominent historians, philosophers, and practitioners from the modern evo-devo community.
Ron Amundson is professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
