Skip to main content
Log in

Evolution’s First Law?

Biology’s First Law: The Tendency for Diversity and Complexity to Increase in Evolutionary Systems Daniel W. McShea and Robert N. Brandon Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010 (184 pp; $55.00 hbk, ISBN 978-0226562254; $20.00 pbk, ISBN 978-0226562261)

  • Book Review
  • Published:
Biological Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • DesAutels L (2010) Sober and Elgin on laws of biology: A critique. Biology and Philosophy 25: 249–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghiselin M (1974) A radical solution to the species problem. Systematic Zoology 23: 536–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Lewontin RC (1979) The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 205: 581–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull DL (1978) A matter of individuality. Philosophy of Science 45: 355–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcot JD, McShea DW (2007) Increasing hierarchical complexity throughout the history of life: Phylogenetic tests of trend mechanisms. Paleobiology 32: 182–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan G (2010) Laws of biological design: A reply to John Beatty. Biology and Philosophy 25: 379–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg A, McShea DW (2008) Philosophy of Biology: A Contemporary Introduction. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marion Blute.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Blute, M. Evolution’s First Law?. Biol Theory 5, 194–197 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1162/BIOT_r_00038

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/BIOT_r_00038

Navigation