>Rudy Raff is a leader in the evo-devo field (that's evolution and
>development). Here's a bit from the preface to whet your appetite. I'd be
>interested in a plug from Paul Nelson who knows Raff's work well. If
>anything, this book demonstrates that evolutionary theory is alive and well
>even when dealing with the kinds of problems that intelligent design folks
>are throwing at us.
I recommend _Shape of Life_ unqualifiedly. Five stars. The book is chock-full
of interesting biology and even good jokes. I took several pages of notes.
As I've often said to friends (like Terry), if I were an evolutionary biologist,
I'd want to be a student in Raff's lab.
It would indeed be fun and instructive to discuss _Shape_ in depth
on this list. In fact, an upcoming issue (17:3) of _Origins & Design_
will feature some of the points raised by the book in relation to the
ongoing crisis in the conventional neo-Darwinian understanding of homology.
Could we start the discussion in a few weeks, however? I won't be
able to contribute as I'd like until then.
Anyway, here's my one sentence review of _Shape_: Given methodological
naturalism, this is how the history of life should be investigated.
(Of course if methodological naturalism is unsound, then one will want
to try something else altogether.)
Paul Nelson